Attachments

So I'm putting the finishing touches on my lips in the bathroom this morning, when suddenly - out of nowhere - comes this terrific explosion and sound of shattering glass. From the kitchen.

I jumped, then cringed inwardly, ticking off the things I'd last done in my kitchen. Had I left the glass I'd just washed on top of a burner that hadn't been turned off --- as happened in The Casserole Dish Disaster of 2007? Had some of the leftovers in my fridge imploded? I reluctantly tiptoed out towards the kitchen and what should I see but my ceiling fan with a bare bulb and the glass globe in fragments. Everywhere.

Scratch what I said a few weeks ago about cleaning those lighting fixtures. Maybe that's not such a good idea after all!

It's Thursday evening. The glass has been cleaned up - at least all the glass that's visible to the human eye (I'm sure my feet will find some more) --- and it's time to get cracking on my weekly cleaning of the bedroom. I think I'd also like to start using some of the tools on my vacuum cleaner to really get into the edges of the room where the carpeting meets the wall. As nice as it is just to vacuum those wide, open spaces, it's the edges of my bedroom that seem to accumulate the most dust and little bits of paper and things. The Manual has lots of advice to offer on operating and caring for vacuum cleaners. Here are some of the gems:

Operate the cleaner slowly in a straight line, lengthwise of the rug.

Go over each section twice to remove embedded dirt and grit.

Familiarize yourself with the attachments and their uses. Once you discover how easy it is to attach them and how many tasks they make easy, there will be no danger of their becoming a poor investment through lack of use.

Pick up pins, hairpins, tacks and any small sharp objects before using the vacuum cleaner.

Empty the dust bag after each use (suction action is lessened by dirt in the bag. Shake the dirt into a deep waste basket lines with a paper bag, to avoid scattering dust.

Appliance-topia

I've just picked up a new filter for my vacuum cleaner and I'm looking forward to beating back the dust in my bedroom this evening. It's startling to realize how much dust collects in that room over the course of a week. (After all, I hadn't cleaned my bedroom in several months when I added it to my housekeeping routine!) Even in only seven days, this fine accumulation of dust settles on every surface. Including the carpet, I'm sure - though it's not visible. I feel a bit like a soldier patrolling the perimeter of my territory when I'm in there with my dustrag and vacuum cleaner. Once a week, I don my uniform (a flowered apron will do nicely, thank you), arm myself with weapons, and head out into the wilds to keep the enemy at bay...

In other household appliance news, I solved a mystery about my iron that's been nagging at me. Every week, about the time I had only one or two pieces left to iron, it would suddenly start to cool and the water inside would started leaking out. I'd turn the heat down, take the plug out of the electric outlet, plug it back in, try to reheat it - nothing. Tried a new outlet and that seemed to work once in restarting the iron. It's not an old iron. The only thing I could think of was that it might be one of those automatic shut-off irons and I was taking too long to finish the work. So it happened again last night and - just when I started cursing - I poked at this button on the handle which is usually lit up. And it worked! The iron heated right back up... I'm still not sure what happened, but I'm happy I've found a way to coax the iron to get back to work again. I guess I'm a slow ironer!

Have any of you ever come across a recipe for Chili Dressing? My vintage dinner menu for this weekend includes a Chili Dressing for the salad and the cookbook doesn't have a recipe for that particular dressing. They do have a Chili Sauce Mayonnaise dressing and both the Russian and Thousand Island dressing recipes contain chili sauce, but nothing specifically called Chili Dressing. I may substitute one of these other recipes, but I thought I'd see if any of my dear readers have any ideas. Here's the full menu:

French Fried Potatoes
Beets
Tossed Greens with Tomato
Chili Dressing
Banana Ice Cream
Molasses Cookies

This is a Friday night menu, so the non-vegetarian dish I'm omitting is a baked fish. If I can find some Banana Ice Cream at the supermarket, I'll make that my store-bought contribution. If I can't find any, I'll skip the Ice Cream and treat myself to some canned Beets. The whole Beets are so hard to clean up after!

Investing in the Home

The serving of fruit in my 1944 breakfast menu this morning was a berry-licious first!

Strawberries
Poached Eggs on Toast

Tomorrow, I'm heading one more year back in time to a menu published in 1943...

It's Wednesday - which here in the Jitterbug household means I did a little marketing. I made a couple stops on the way home from work. Picked up a few groceries, and started collecting some of the items I'll need to build my cleaning basket: a large cellulose sponge, a flannel polishing cloth, and a new pair of scissors (so I don't have to keep using the scissors from my mending basket on household jobs!). These "light" marketing trips on Wednesdays haven't done much yet to make my pantry more organized, and I suspect they're not going to make a real difference until I've added a longer trip to the supermarket on Saturdays. For now, I'm just content to try and make a shopping on Wednesday evenings a matter of routine.



As I was taking another look at the bedroom cleaning routine today, I realized that the manual recommends using either a carpet sweeper or vacuum cleaner when giving each room in the house its daily once-over, but when you clean each room more thoroughly once a week only a vac will do. Boy, do they make good use of the attachments. Mine can go untouched for a year, but the authors of the manual advise using your attachments every time you turn around! The vacuum is used to brush fabrics, dust in all those tall or hard-to-reach places - and of course to clean the carpet. Housewives in the '40s who were able to invest in a vacuum cleaner must have felt as if the appliance replaced several hours of work per week that hired help might have provided their mothers a generation before. Vacuum cleaners were a hefty investment. The $48.50 price tag on the Hoover above (plus trade) would be equivalent to more than $700 today!

Week Eleven: The Mission

I'm venturing into the hardest part of housekeeping for me: cleaning. Straightening up is one thing, laundry - you can't get away without doing that --- but cleaning is a whole new ballgame. It's always been something I do sporadically. When I get a burst of energy, when I've got guests coming over, when I just can't stand it any longer. This week's mission - and the missions for the next several weeks - are going to be super challenging.

Now, the authors of the manual suggest that the '40s housewife give each room in the house a daily cleaning shortly after breakfast. Once a week, she should return to each room and clean it more thoroughly. (The day of the week doesn't matter very much, but they do recommend once in passing that bedrooms and bathrooms be cleaned on Thursdays.) Since I work outside the home full time, I'm not going to be able to clean every room on a daily basis. My plan is to hit each room once a week and fold the daily and weekly chores into one.

This week - the bedroom. (There's only one in my place.) On Thursday evenings. The manual walks its readers, step by step, through daily and weekly cleaning routines for every room. I've blended the bedroom routines together and typed 'em up below. There are also several steps marked "if necessary" and "when necessary." What I've decided just for now is to skip those extra items while I work to make cleaning a habit. This is going to be a battle supreme with my inner slob, and I don't want to make things any harder on myself than necessary! So here it is - a barebones once-a-week housekeeping routine for the bedroom:

1. Remove all bed covers; stretch over end of bed, or over chairs, off the floor. Remove soiled bed linen; place near door to be taken out. Place mattress pad over chair near window to air.

2. Collect lamp bases, bric-a-brac and dressing table fittings that need polishing or washing, and dresser scarves to be laundered.

3. Bring in cleaning equipment: vacuum cleaner and attachments, dust mop, cleaning basket, dust cloth, damp cloth. Bring in fresh bed linens.

4. Turn mattress end for end. Make bed.

5. Brush draperies (or use brush attachment of vacuum cleaner). Dust mirrors, pictures, lighting fixtures, lamps, woodwork.

6. Dust radiators (covers and coils) or registers. Brush baseboard or use brush attachment of vacuum cleaner.

7. Remove cushions from upholstered furniture. Use brush attachment of vacuum cleaner on furniture (getting into all crevices) and cushions. Replace cushions. Straighten covers. Plump up pillows.

8. Dust furniture. Rub wood surfaces of furniture to polish. Wash glass table tops.

9. Use vacuum cleaner for cleaning of rugs and carpets.

10. Polish or wash accessories and return to place with other objects removed during cleaning.

11. Final touches: Straighten draperies, shades, curtains, etc. Take out cleaning equipment and waste basket. Bring back clean ash trays, accessories, flowers and waste basket. Close windows if desired.