er toilet towels. Dust
the room, arrange every thing in place, and, if in summer, close the
blinds, and darken till evening, that it may be as cool as possible.

Sweeping days for bedrooms need come but once a week, but all rooms used
by many people require daily sweeping; halls, passages, and dining and
sitting rooms coming under this head. Careful dusting daily will often do
away with the need of frequent sweeping, which wears out carpets
unnecessarily. A carpet-sweeper is a real economy, both in time and
strength; but, if not obtainable, a light broom carefully handled, not
with a long stroke which sends clouds of dust over every thing, but with a
short quick one, which only experience can give, is next best. For a
thorough sweeping, remove as many articles from the room as possible,
dusting each one thoroughly, and cover the larger ones which must remain
with old sheets or large squares of common unbleached cotton cloth, kept
for this purpose. If the furniture is rep or woolen of any description,
dust about each button, that no moth may find lodgment, and then cover
closely. A feather duster, long or short, as usually applied, is the enemy
of cleanliness. Its only legitimate use is for the tops of pictures or
books and ornaments; and such dusting should be done _before_ the room is
swept, as well as afterward, the first one removing the heaviest coating,
which would otherwise be distributed over the room. For piano, and
furniture of delicate woods generally, old silk handkerchiefs make the
best dusters. For all ordinary purposes, squares of old cambric, hemmed,
and washed when necessary, will be found best. Insist upon their being
kept for this purpose, and forbid the use of toilet towels, always a
temptation to the average servant. Remember that in dusting, the process
should be a _wiping_; not a flirting of the cloth, which simply sends the
dust up into the air to settle down again about where it was before.

If moldings and wash-boards or wainscotings are wiped off with a damp
cloth, one fruitful source of dust will be avoided. For all intricate work
like the legs of pianos, carved backs of furniture, &c., a pair of small
bellows will be found most efficient. Brooms, dust-pan, and brushes long
and short, whisk-broom, feather and other dusters, should have one fixed
place, and be returned to it after every using. If oil-cloth is on halls
or passages, it should be washed weekly with warm milk and water, a quart
of