open the window, draw off the bed-clothes and hang them over a couple
of chairs, at the foot of the bed, and then carefully shut the door
on leaving the room. Wherever there is a window to open to air the
bed-room, the door should never be left open, as nothing is so untidy as
for any one passing by to see the beds unmade, and the washhand-stand
in disorder. She should next go round the lower rooms and drawing-rooms
to unclose the shutters, and open the windows, that all may be properly
aired; let her then proceed to prepare the sitting-room, which will be
first wanted, and in which the family are to breakfast. The grate is
the first thing to be attended to, as it is a general rule that what
is to make most dust in cleaning a room should be done first. Begin by
folding up the rug, and carrying it into the court below to be shaken,
then spread a covering sheet before the fire-place. If it is the season
when no fire is required, all that is necessary is to dust out the grate
and sweep the hearth, giving the shavings a shake from dust—if there are
shavings in the grate, or if white paper is beyond the bars removing
it if necessary, she should then rub the bars and sides of the grate
briskly with a soft cloth, which should be previously held before a fire
to remove the possibility of any dampness, for the slightest damp will
cause polished steel to rust. But in winter the grate will require much
more labour: having carefully spread the covering sheet, let her place
upon it the coal-scuttle and wood for kindling the fire, also her box,
which should be well stocked with the following articles. Emery paste for
polished steel, and black lead for grates which are not polished; soft
brushes for putting on the emery paste and lead, blacking and polishing
brushes, emery-cloth, now used for cleaning the bars in preference to
emery paper, and a soft leather for giving the last polish. It is only
now and then that the sides of a grate which is brightly polished will
require to be cleaned with emery paste, and then rubbed up, first with a
soft cloth, and then with leather; but every day the sides of the grate
will require to be rubbed with a soft cloth, which has been previously
heated, and the bars rubbed with emery-cloth, the dust and ashes having
been taken away in the dust-pan before this is done, and the sides of
the vent and the back swept down very gently, that the soot may not
fly out into the room, with a brush kept for the purpose. Much smoke
and discomfort may be avoided by the housemaid regularly, once a week,
when the room is thoroughly done out, sweeping the soot from the vent,
as high as the arm can reach; it is not possible to get a brush with
a very long handle up the vent, but in the bed-room story, where the
vents are shorter, the top almost may be reached by putting up first a
short hearth brush, then tying it to a longer handle, and to another and
another, as you raise it in the vent. It may appear almost unnecessary
to describe how it is to be got down again, but to prevent all distress
of mind to the young and inexperienced, it may be mentioned that it is
to be untied at the different joints as it is lowered again, and also
that when this operation is to be performed, which will be necessary
only once, or perhaps twice, during the winter, a fellow servant should
assist by holding a sheet before the vent to prevent the soot getting
out into the room. Great care must be taken, that after the brush has
been raised high in the vent, it be not flourished about in a triumphant
manner, but used with the greatest gentleness in removing the soot. As
soon as all has been cleared away, carried down stairs, and the grate
rubbed up and cleaned, proceed to lay the fire and to light it. If the
fire is properly laid, one half of the wood generally used would suffice;
a clever housemaid has been known to light even the drawing-room fire
(which requires more wood than the bed-rooms), with seven pieces of wood;
this however requires the skilful hand of what would be called, in the
language of the day, a _talented_ housemaid; with moderate abilities,
however, she maybe taught to light four fires with one bundle of wood,
but even this will require attention and the exercise of common sense. If
part of the ashes are left in a slovenly way in the bottom of the grate,
so as to prevent the air from passing up, the wood thrust in without
arrangement, a mass of cinders put on the top, and the window and door
kept carefully shut, what is to be expected but that, as soon as the
paper below the wood is lighted, the room should fill with smoke, and
the fire go out before even the wood is burned away? The chief art in
lighting a fire is to arrange it so that a stream of flame is carried up
amongst the small coals, till they are so warmed and kindled as to burn
of themselves: to effect this, the ashes and cinders should be entirely
cleared out from the grate; then, having put a piece of paper, crushed
together, in the bottom, and a few small pieces of the half-burned coal
quite at the back, lay the wood above the paper so as to rest on those
pieces of coal and on the front bar, taking care that they do not come
out beyond the bar; lay some of the pieces of wood across the others,
and, having formed this support for the coals, pile very small pieces,
not larger than a nut, and very loosely, upon the wood, so as to leave
room for the flame to pass up between them: the grate having been cleaned
from the ashes, the air which comes in from the bottom will feed the
flame, and drive it up through the spaces amongst the small coals, which,
lying loosely together, will soon take a red heat; a sprinkling of the
smallest coal should be added, as it flames easily, and is of assistance
to the wood.
It is a very general practice with housemaids to pile cinders on the top
of the wood, and then throw a quantity of small coal above them, the
consequence of which is, that the air, not passing through to carry up
the flame, the wood is burned away before the coals are lighted, and the
smoke, not being able to penetrate this cake of coal, puffs out through
the front bars of the grate, instead of going up the chimney, and soon
fills the room, and (as the door is very generally left open, and the
window kept shut), we may add the house also; for a careless servant,
instead of waiting a few minutes to see how the fire is disposed
to kindle, often leaves the room the moment she has set fire to the
paper in the grate, and, having returned to the under story before the
smoke begins, it is frequently first discovered by having reached the
drawing-room, and, on examination, the bed-room is found to be in such a
state from impenetrable smoke, that it is difficult to find one’s way to
the window to throw open the sash. The paper on the walls, the curtains,
and everything in the room, will receive more injury by being even once
thoroughly smoked in this way than by six months of careful use. Care
also should be taken that the register is opened before lighting a
fire; in rooms where there is not fire during the day the register is
generally shut, to prevent the back smoke getting down into the room,
and the first thing a careful servant should do is to open the register
before lighting the fire. Some chimneys vent better when the register is
only half screwed back, so as to open only half the vent; some require
to be entirely opened. A little attention will soon make the housemaid
acquainted with the degree of draught which is necessary to carry up the
smoke freely, and in most cases it will be found necessary to shut the
door and open the window before lighting the fire; it is not the proper
time to open the window after she has set light to the fire, for the
chimney, being the only part in the room open to the air, the draught
comes down the chimney, and brings out with it into the room the smoke of
the new-made fire, so that before she has time to get to the window to
open it the room is already half filled with smoke; she should therefore
open the window first, which will make the proper draught for carrying up
the smoke, and then set light to the fire.
There are very few chimneys that will not vent well if care is taken
to make a proper draught, and not to choke the fire up with too much
coal; very little should be put on at first, and more added as the fire
burns up. The general practice of putting the cinders next the wood,
is not favourable to lighting the fire quickly, or, with little wood;
a few cinders may be thrown at the back of the fire, and the rest had
better be carried down into the kitchen to be burned there, as small
sharp-pointed pieces of fresh coal kindle much more easily than cinders.
It is astonishing what a difference there will be, even in a very short
time, in the appearance of a room where there is carelessness in lighting
the fire; the curtains, the books, everything in the room, gets a soiled
appearance, and is unpleasant to the touch. Can there be anything more
disagreeable than to find one’s bed-room, at night, cold as a cellar,
from the necessity of keeping the window open to the last minute to
dispel the smoke which inattention at first has produced, and the smell
of which still adheres to every article, instead of finding a warm room,
a comfortable arm-chair turned towards a bright fire, a shining kettle
singing a quiet tune, and a clean-swept hearth? Some housemaids have a
habit of constantly turning the arm-chair away from the fire, and placing
it against the wall, and though, morning after morning, they find it
has been turned towards the fire, yet they never take the hint, unless
an express order is given; and even then, such is the force of careless
habits, that it is often not attended to, and they continue so long
steadily turning the chair from the fire, that it appears as if they had
made a secret vow against both warmth and comfort: an attentive servant,
on the contrary, will make use of her own common sense, and will not
always wait to be told. If the chair has been turned from the wall to the
fire, she will continue to place it there; if more than once she finds
the bed-quilt taken off and thrown aside, she will understand that it is
found too heavy to be an agreeable covering, and will in future fold it
off and leave only the light covering sheet on the bed; if a blanket
is pushed down, then let her not carry it away altogether, as there may
come a sudden change to cold, and much discomfort may be experienced,
but let her leave it tucked in at the bottom of the bed, with the rest
of the bed-clothes, and folded down in folds, leaving the end uppermost,
so that in a moment the blanket can be drawn up again over the bed: it
is vexatious when feeling chilly and half asleep, to find that the end
of the blanket has been carefully folded in, and that one must be colder
still, and broad awake, before there is a chance of finding it. Such
observations may be thought trifling and too minute, but the neglect of
many such trifles occasions much discomfort, particularly to those who
may be only occasional guests in a family; they may be days in the house
without seeing the housemaid to explain their wishes, and even if they
have the opportunity, they feel a delicacy in giving orders as to how
their fire should be lighted, or their bed-room comfortably arranged, yet
much silent annoyance, particularly to the invalid, has been occasioned
by a careless housemaid.
A few words may be added here as to carrying fire from room to room in an
open pan, and also on leaving the poker in the fire with a view to make
it burn up more quickly; both practices are attended with danger; sparks
may be blown about by the current of air through which the bearer passes
in carrying fire from room to room, and houses have been burned down,
and lives lost, by this practice. Leaving the poker in the fire is also
attended with much danger, for as the coals which kept it firm at first,
burn away, the poker gets loose and falls out, burning the rug through
to the floor, and, if not discovered in time, setting fire to the floor
itself.
To return, however, to the drawing-room again, after this somewhat long
digression. The grate having been cleaned, and the fire lighted, the
carpet should now be swept; this does not require to be done every day,
except round the table where the family may have been working, and at the
door, or in any other corners of the room most in use; and this may be
done with a soft hand-brush, making use of the dust-pan to carry away the
dust, or any shreds of paper, as you sweep. Using a carpet-brush every
day wears the carpet. Every article in the room should now be dusted, the
ledges round the walls, the window-frames, the mantelpiece, the backs
of the sofas and chairs, shaking the dust, from time to time, over the
window while doing it; also the writing-desks, work-boxes, and books, on
the different tables, should each be taken up and dusted separately;
a duster is preferable to a dusting-brush for all this, as it removes
the dust from the article entirely, instead of only scattering it to
alight somewhere else; but for the gilt frames of mirrors or pictures,
a soft feather-brush should be used. The covers of the sofas and chairs
should next be stretched free from creases, and wiped with a perfectly
clean duster, not that which has been in use for dusting the furniture.
A little management is required in this, as in all other well-regulated
arrangements: the duster used for wiping the chair-covers the one day
should be laid aside, and kept for dusting the furniture on the next,
so that each day a clean duster is made use of for the cushions of the
chairs and sofas; from this not being attended to, they are often more
_dirtied_ in being _cleaned_ than if they had been left with the dust
upon them; with careful management the drawing-room chintz will look long
well, even in London. The chair-covers should be stretched very tight
over the cushions; if put on loosely they will get into creases, and look
soiled in half the time; the cushions on the sofas should also be well
shaken up. Care also should be taken in arranging neatly the articles on
the different tables; if books are left scattered about, arrange them on
the table, putting two or three together, above each other, but do not
put a large book above a smaller one; arrange them according to sizes,
the largest first. A small basket should be kept on one of the tables,
into which should be put any small articles found lying about, such as
scissors, thimbles, odd gloves, &c., &c.; and before leaving the room
give a glance round to see that everything is in perfect order, and draw
down the blinds, and shut the door; but in summer leave a little bit
of the window open, to keep the room well aired, or if there is wind
and dust flying about, keep the window shut and air the room by leaving
the door open. If there are cut flowers in the room change the water
in which they are frequently, and pick out any withered ones: withered
flowers, which have remained long in the same water, not only give a very
untidy look to the room, but also produce a very disagreeable air. Too
great attention cannot be given to keep the whole house well aired, by
frequently opening the windows, both in the rooms and staircase. Some
housemaids have a horror of opening the windows, for fear of admitting
the dust, but the dust is not always flying about. Opportunities can be
seized, for instance, in a quiet summer evening, when the family are
walking out; all the windows and doors of the different rooms should be
thrown open for some time, and the house receive a thorough airing;
and besides this, each room should be aired at some part of each day by
leaving the window open.
The daily routine of the drawing-room work has thus been mentioned, but
once a-week more will be required, as the carpet, once a-week, should
be thoroughly swept with tea-leaves, and the hearth-rug carried down
to the court and well beaten. As soon as the rug has been removed, the
grate cleaned and rubbed up, the mantelpiece washed with a sponge and
soap and water, and the fire laid, shake the window-curtains, roll them
up to the top, and pin them, throw covering-sheets over the sofas and
chiffonnieres, remove the chairs to the next room or landing-place, and
having sprinkled the carpet over with damp tea-leaves, brush every corner
carefully, shifting the sofas and tables, so as to get at every particle
of dust that may have gathered under them, and leaving no remote corner
untouched in the hope that the eye of the mistress may not penetrate so
far. The carpet being swept, carry away the tea-leaves in the dust-pan,
either to be thrown out, or, if there is a scarcity, to be put through
water, and used a second time in sweeping the floors. The mirrors and
picture-frames should be lightly dusted with the feather brush, the
mirrors wiped, the furniture, before being carried back to the room,
should be dusted and rubbed up in the manner already mentioned, the
articles on the different tables dusted and arranged, the inside of the
windows wiped, and the china ornaments carefully dusted.[4] All this will
require so much time that, even with early rising, it may be necessary to
leave some part of the dusting-work to be done after breakfast, as the
hour for putting the heater for the tea-urn into the hottest part of the
kitchen fire, and taking the breakfast-cloth from the napkin-press will
have arrived, and preparations must immediately be made for breakfast.
Before laying the cloth let the housemaid wash her hands, and put on
a clean white apron, then, having dusted the table and spread the
table-cloth quite smooth upon it, taking care that the fold which
marks the middle of the table-cloth should be exactly in the centre of
the table, let her bring, on a large tray, the things necessary for
breakfast,—the teapot, slop-basin, cups and saucers, plates, knives,
silver forks, and tea-spoons, and having arranged them on the table, let
the tray be taken down stairs again for the cream, butter, eggs, rolls,
and bread; let the butter-dish be filled with the freshest spring-water
in summer, the colder the better, and in winter a few drops of warm water
should be added, not much, or it will oil the butter, but enough to give
the water summer warmth. In arranging all this on the table, attention
should be given that all that is necessary has been brought into the
room; that each person has, besides his cup and saucer, a plate, knife,
and fork; that there is a large knife for cutting bread, a butter-knife,
and a spoon for each egg-cup, the salt-cellars filled with salt, and a
couple of small breakfast-knives and of tea-spoons laid upon the table,
which last articles may at first appear to be the property of no one,
but which are generally of essential service, in making it unnecessary
for the servant to be rung for during breakfast; it is a rare thing when
more knives and spoons are not called for before breakfast is over, and
yet the difficulty of getting a servant to attend to this simple order is
very great; and if it should chance that on any one morning the spoons
or knives have not been made use of, they are sure to be omitted the
next. It is the same, often, with regard to the toast at breakfast or
tea; if all is not consumed on any one particular day there is less sent
up on the next, and often a gradual diminution takes place daily, till
the toast-rack presents itself with one solitary piece, which no one has
courage to touch. These are the tricks of lazy servants, who, to save a
few moments of trouble, bring much discredit upon themselves.
If a friend steps in at breakfast or tea, the maid, after having
announced him, should not leave the room till she has put a seat for
the guest, and should immediately return with a cup and saucer, plate,
and small knife, and not wait till the mistress of the family has had
to desire the bell to be rung to order these things. Should it be while
dinner is going on that a guest is announced, then the soup, meat
and vegetables should quickly be brought back if still warm, if not,
immediately warmed up, and replaced on the table. The maid-servant should
exercise her own judgment in all this, and not wait for orders, which may
make the visitor feel that he is giving trouble; common sense should tell
her that, if a guest comes at that hour he expects to dine, and that a
warm dinner is better than a cold one.
To return to the morning work, breakfast having been served, the
bed-rooms must now be attended to; the first thing is to open the
window in each room, and to strip the bed, which is done by placing
two chairs at the foot, hanging the bed-clothes over them, and raising
up the mattress (which is generally on the top of the feather-bed) in
an arch, so that the air can pass through between; having done this in
each room in succession, proceed to empty the slops in each, rinsing out
the basins, bottles, and ewers, with plenty of cold water, that fresh
water may be put into the bottles and ewers each day, and carefully wipe
the soap-box, tooth-brush-tray, &c.; the pail should never be left a
moment in the room after this is done, but carried down into the court
to be instantly emptied, well rinsed out with water and left in the
air; two pitchers of water should next be carried up, the one with soft
water for the ewers, and the other with spring-water for the bottles;
but if it is sweeping-day when the room is to be completely done out, a
wooden pail should be brought up with warm water, and all the chamber
utensils carefully washed with soap and a sponge before the ewers are
filled with fresh water, the bed in each room should next be made up,
and a fellow-servant is required to assist in this. Few things are more
unpleasant than an ill-made bed; it is generally the first thing which
strikes guests on being shown their bed-rooms; if the bed looks as if it
had been well shaken up, perfectly smooth, and the counterpane nicely
put on, folding neatly over at the corners, pleasant anticipations of
the night present themselves, and a good opinion of the housemaid is
immediately formed; a well-made bed gives promise that other things
will also be well attended to; it is, in fact, one of the tests of a
well-trained housemaid. In making up the bed, the mattresses should be
turned every day, and if there is a feather-bed, it should be turned,
shaken up, and beaten, that the feathers may not get into lumps, then
smoothed and made perfectly flat, the feathers being spread equally
over the whole surface, before the mattress is laid on the top. Some
housemaids have a way of shaking the feathers into the middle of the bed,
leaving the sides in such a sloping condition, that there is some chance
of passing part of the night on the floor, others of shaking the feathers
to the top of the bed, forming an inclined plane, so that the constant
feeling of sliding down lower and lower leaves people very uncertain as
to where they are to find themselves at last. It is impossible to make
a bed too flat or smooth, the bolster and pillows being well shaken up
also; the binding blanket should next be spread, and tucked in, and in
putting on the under sheet, care must be taken to put it on as tightly as
possible, so that not a crease should be seen, and the sheet should be
tucked under the lowest mattress, so as to cover the whole bedding; it
is very untidy to see the sheet tucked in under the upper mattress and
feather-bed, as is frequently the case, leaving the rest of the bedding
uncovered, besides exposing it to dust and smoke (the counterpane not
being sufficient protection); the blankets being spread, should be tucked
in during the day, but at night, if broad enough, should be allowed to
fall over at each side, and only tucked in at the foot of the bed. The
top sheet is next to be put on, and lastly the counterpane, which last
in the evening should be taken off, and folded up, leaving the top sheet
only during the night, the curtains, being put neatly into folds, should
be turned in on the counterpane at each side of the top and foot of the
bed, and if it is the day for the room being thoroughly cleaned, the
valences should be turned up all round, and the whole covered up with
a large dusting sheet: the washhand-stand should also be covered, the
grate having been cleared out, rubbed up, and the fire laid as already
directed. If there is room on the landing-place, the chairs should be
rubbed up and removed before the sweeping begins; if there is not, let
them be collected in the middle of the room, moved up when the top of the
room is swept, and rubbed up and dusted afterwards. The carpet being all
strewed over with tea-leaves and brushed—a sweeping-broom, with a wet
cloth wrapped round it, should be put in under the bed, and gently moved
about, so as to collect the dust which gathers there, without raising it
so as to settle in the bed, and the same should be done under the chest
of drawers, or any other piece of furniture too heavy to be moved. The
sweeping being over, and the dust-pan, with the dust and tea-leaves,
carried away, that the draught when the windows are opened may not blow
the dust about again, the wardrobe, chest of drawers, looking-glass, &c.,
&c., should then be rubbed up, the window-frames, the chimney-piece, the
pannels of the door, and everything in the room carefully dusted, and the
chairs brought back to their proper places; the housemaid goes to another
room to commence the same work there, leaving the bed and washhand-stand
covered for a little while, till the dust which is flying in the air will
have settled. As soon as this is the case, she has only to remove the
covering sheets, to fill the bottles and ewers with fresh water, to place
the looking-glass in a safe situation, that it may not be blown over by
the window being open, and carefully to shut the door, that no dust may
fly in from the other rooms; if it is summer and the blinds are let down
to keep the room cool, care must be taken not to leave the blind loose,
so as to blow about at the risk of breaking the window or looking-glass;
the blinds should be only half drawn down, or if more is necessary, the
window may be left only a little open.
The brushing the carpet, and removing and rubbing the furniture, are
not in general required to be done more than once a week; but as every
day cleaning the grate, making the bed, wiping everything on the
washhand-stand, and dusting everything in the room, are necessary, most
of this work will have to be done in the early part of the forenoon, for
probably before one chamber even is finished, the housemaid will be rung
for to take away the breakfast-things. The urn is the first thing to be
removed, then the plates, put one above another, the cups and saucers,
knives, forks, and every other article collected together with the least
possible noise, should be carried away on a large tray, taking care not
to put more on at one time than it can safely hold, for it is painful
to see the way in which some servants load the breakfast-tray so as to
clear the table of everything at once, decidedly indicating that they
would rather risk the whole being broken, than have the trouble of
returning to the room a second time. On removing the cloth, any crumbs
which may have fallen on the carpet, should be swept into the dust-pan
with a small brush, kept in a corner of the room for that purpose; the
carpet should never on any account be touched with the hearth-brush; a
most slovenly practice, and all from a miserable saving of trouble, for
if no second brush be kept in the room for this purpose, the time which
it will take the housemaid to fetch her own carpet-brush, will be short
compared to that which she must bestow on brushing the carpet again and
again with tea-leaves, to get rid of the dust and soil which it has
contracted during a week of improper management. It is not cleaning a
room once a week, and giving to it little time and trouble, that will
give it a clean, fresh appearance; it is attention in doing a little
daily, and in doing that little in a proper manner. A carpet had better
not be brushed at all, than touched with a dirty brush, and the chintz
covers are less injured even by the dust lying upon them, than by having
it rubbed off with a soiled duster, which may have been used the moment
before in rubbing the furniture, or in wiping the fire-irons. The crumbs
having been swept away, fresh coal should be put on the fire, and the
hearth-brush used in sweeping in the hearth before the maid leaves the
room.