I promise you that I'm not in any way trying to sell you books. I just read a lot, and frequent used book stores and estate and yard sales looking for unusual, old books with practical information. Today, I've got a "cleaning encyclopedia of what to use and how to use it" for you; it's called How To Clean Everything by Alma Chestnut Moore (published in 1961 by Simon & Schuster). After looking through, and reading many other hints and tip books from "cleaning gurus," I found this old book to be the best.
You know the saying, "Everything old is new again" because trends seem to run in cycles. Well, the trend of using natural household products such as vinegar and baking soda has become the "It" way to clean your house because you're being "green". What's funny to me, is that many housewives have used these products for years, basically, for their cost effectiveness and trust in great American brands such as Arm & Hammer, Morton's and Heinz. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you're not sure of how to pronounce all of the chemicals in the spray bottle, you might not want to rub the stuff all over your baby's high chair!
The knowledge of the use of vinegar to clean windows has been passed down from grandmas to moms to daughters for years. Table salt has had many uses since Roman times (when it lost its savor it was tossed out into the streets). Baking soda is a wonderful cleaner that is non-abrasive so I always clean my cook top with it. And, recently, my Dad just sent me a long list of uses for hydrogen peroxide. The notable thing about this book from 1961, is that most of the ingredients listed to clean with are these old stand-bys that you can buy at the dollar stores or the grocery store. This book is written for quick reference; because every cleaning problem or particular item to be cleaned is in alphabetical order it's very handy to use.
So, if your little one just spilled...Oh, I don't know...Pepto Bismol on your carpet (that's right, I raised three boys!) you can quickly look up what you should do next. (I once knew a woman who's children "buttered her couch" with soft spread margarine while she was on the phone making trip arrangements with a travel agent! Just thought I'd throw that in because it's funny to me every time I think of it!)
Anyway, I hope you have luck in finding this useful cleaning tool. Have a great Wednesday. Tomorrow, I will be giving out some recipes from my clippings box of ones that I want to try soon. Please leave me a comment if there's any old recipe that you've been hunting for. I probably have it here...somewhere.
Sounds great! I use these products all the time too because I was "green" before it was fashionable, but you said it best when you wrote, "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you're not sure of how to pronounce all of the chemicals in the spray bottle, you might not want to rub the stuff all over your baby's high chair!"
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for those recipes for Vintage Recipe Thursday. I found your comment. Don't worry about missing a week, just join us as often as you can. :-)