AFTER MEAL TIME

To no other department of domestic work perhaps is so little thought given or so little science applied as to the routine work of clearing the table and washing the dishes after mealtime. Any way to accomplish the object, seems to be the motto in very many households. But even for these prosaic tasks there is a best way, which, if employed, may make of an otherwise irksome service a really pleasurable one.

CLEARING THE TABLE.--First of all, put back the chairs, and brush up the crumbs from the floor, then collect all untouched foods and store them away in clean dishes; next gather the silver, place it handles upward in pitchers or other deep dishes, and pour hot water over it. For gathering the silver a compartment tray in which knives, forks, and spoons may be placed separately is important. Many of the scratches and marks on their silver ware, which housekeepers deplore, come from the careless handling together of forks, knives, and spoons. Now in a deep basin upon a tray, collect all the refuse and partly eaten foods, carefully emptying cups, gla.s.ses, finger bowls, etc., and sc.r.a.ping all dishes which contained food as clean as possible; for no crumbs or particles of food should be introduced into the dishwater. Pile the dishes as fast as cleaned upon a second tray in readiness for washing.

It saves much liability of breakage in transferring from the dining room to the kitchen, if each kind of soiled dishes is packed by itself.

Wipe carefully, if not needing to be washed, and replenish all salts, granola cups, and sugar bowls before putting away. Gather the soiled napkins for the laundry, and put those clean enough to be used again in their proper places. Especial care must be taken, however, so to designate those reserved for future use that each shall receive the same again, as nothing is more disgusting to a sensitive person than to be tendered a napkin which has been used by some one else. Some form of napkin holder should be considered an essential part of the table furnishing. If rings cannot be afforded, ordinary clothes pins, gilded and decorated with a bit of ribbon, make very pretty subst.i.tutes.

Brush the tablecloth, fold in its creases, also the sub-cover of canton flannel, and lay both away until again needed.

_Washing the Dishes._--Plenty of hot water and clean towels are the essential requisites for expeditious and thorough dish-washing. A few drops of crude ammonia added to the water will soften it and add to the l.u.s.ter of the silver and china. Soap may be used or not according to circ.u.mstances; all greasy dishes require a good strong suds. There should also be provided two dish drainers or trays, unless there is a stationary sink with tray on which to drain the dishes. For washing gla.s.sware and fine china, _papier-mache_ tubs are preferable to anything else, as they are less liable to occasion breakage of the ware. If many dishes are to be washed, frequent changes of water will be necessary as the first becomes either cold or dirty. Perfectly sweet, clean dishes are not evolved from dirty dishwater. The usual order given for the washing of dishes is, gla.s.ses, silver, fine china, cups, saucers, pitchers, plates and other dishes. This is, however, based upon the supposition that cups and saucers are used for beverages, and plates are soiled by the use of various greasy foods; but in families where tea and coffee and animal foods are dispensed with, and saucers are used for grains with cream dressing, the plates are often cleaner than the saucers and should be washed first.

The general rule to be followed is always to wash the dishes least soiled first, and all of one kind together. The latter item is specially important, since much of the nicking of dishes and breaking of handles from cups, covers, and pitchers is the result of piling dishes promiscuously together while washing.

It is quite as easy to finish washing one kind before beginning on another as to do it in any less safe and systematic way, and if wiped in the same order, it does away with the need of sorting when putting the dishes away.

If for any reason the dishes must wait for a time before being washed, the best plan is to pack them carefully into large pans, cover with warm water, and let them soak. When ready to wash them, prepare hot suds and clear water for rinsing in additional pans. Do not use too hot water, as a high temperature will break gla.s.s and "check" the enamel of ordinary ware. The law of expansion holds good with both china and gla.s.sware, and all gla.s.s and glazed wares should be dipped into hot water in such a manner that all its surfaces may receive the heat and expand together.

All dishes used for milk should be first thoroughly rinsed in cold water before being washed in hot water or suds.

Be sure that the inside of all cups and pitchers is thoroughly clean. It is a good plan to have a mop made by fastening finger-lengths of coa.r.s.e cotton twin to a suitable handle, for washing the inside of pitchers.

In cleaning forks, spoons, or cups, which have been employed in beating or eating eggs, rinse them in cold water before putting them into hot suds, as hot water cooks the egg and causes it to adhere. Common table salt is said to be excellent for removing the egg tarnish from silver.

Clean Dover egg beaters by beating a dish of cold water, or by holding under a stream of cold water from the faucet, then carefully rinse and wipe perfectly dry. Do not put the upper part of the beater into hot water, as it will remove the oil from the wheels so that they will not work easily.

Grain-boilers and mush-kettles should be allowed to cool, then filled with cold water and allowed to soak during the meal hour, when they can be easily cleaned.

Tin dishes should be washed with hot suds as soon as possible after using.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Wire Dishcloth]

For cleaning; iron pots, use soft water and soap or washing-soda with a wire dishcloth or kettle sc.r.a.per. If the food adheres to the sides, fill with cold water and soak. Kettles and all dishes placed over a fire should be cleaned on the outside as well as the inside. To remove the soot, rub first with pieces of dry paper and afterward with damp paper; then wash with hot suds and a cloth. Kettles and saucepans burned on the inside may he cleaned by putting a little cold water and ashes in them and allowing them to soak on the range until the water is warm.

Porcelain-lined and granite-ware utensils stained from food burning on, may be cleaned after soaking for a time in a solution of sal-soda, which may be prepared by pouring boiling water over the soda in the proportion of two pints of water to one pound of sal-soda, and stirring until dissolved. It may be prepared in quant.i.ty and stored in a stone jar until needed.

Wash wooden ware and bread boards with cold water and sand soap. In sc.r.a.ping dough from the bread board, always sc.r.a.pe with the grain of the wood and be careful not to roughen the surface.

Steel knives and forks with ivory or wooden handles should not be put into dishwater. Hot water will expand the steel and cause the handles to crack. Wash them thoroughly with the dishcloth, scour with bath brick, and wipe dry.

All tin and iron dishes should be thoroughly dried before putting away, to prevent rusting.

If draining is considered preferable to wiping dishes, a good plan, if one has not a patent dish drainer, is to fold an old tablecloth in several thicknesses and spread upon the table. Wash the dishes carefully and rinse in hot water. Place a cup or bowl bottom upward, lay a plate on each side, then one between and above them, with two more on the outside, and so on, not permitting them to touch more than necessary.

DISHCLOTHS AND TOWELS.--No dishes or utensils can be well cared for without good, clean dishcloths and towels, and plenty of them. An excellent dishcloth may be either knit or crocheted in some solid st.i.tch of coa.r.s.e cotton yarn. Ten or twelve inches square is a good size.

Several thicknesses of cheese-cloth basted together make good dishcloths, as do also pieces of old knitted garments and Turkish toweling. If a dish mop is preferred, it may be made as follows: Cut a groove an inch from the end of a stick about a foot in length and of suitable shape for a handle; cut a ball of coa.r.s.e twine, into nine-inch lengths, and lay around the stick with the middle of the strands against the groove; wind a fine wire or cord around the twine to fasten it in the groove; then shake down the twine, so it will lie all one way like a mop, and fasten it to the handle by tying a second cord around it on the outside.

Towels for drying dishes should be of three different grades,--fine ones without lint for gla.s.s, silver, and fine china; coa.r.s.er ones for the ordinary table ware, and still another quality for pans, kettles, and other kitchen ware. The right size is a yard in length and half as wide, with the ends hemmed. As to material, fine checked linen is usually employed for gla.s.s and silver towels, and crash for ordinary dishes, for iron and tinware towels which have become somewhat worn, or a coa.r.s.e bag opened and hemmed, may be used. Old, half-worn tablecloths may be cut into excellent dish towels.

It is of the greatest importance that all dishcloths, mops, and towels be kept perfectly sweet and clean. Greasy dishcloths and sour towels are neither neat nor wholesome and are a most fertile source of germs, often breeding disease and death. After each dish washing, the dishcloth, towels, and mops should be thoroughly washed in hot water with plenty of soap, well rinsed and hung up to dry either upon a line out of doors or a rack made for the purpose near the kitchen range. If care is always taken to clean the dishes as much as possible before washing and to change the suds as often as they become dirty, the towels will not be hard to keep clean and sweet-smelling. Those used during the week should go into the wash as regularly as other household articles. Dish towels are also much better for being ironed. It gives them a "surface" which facilitates the drying operation.

THE CARE OF SILVER, GLa.s.s, ETC.--If silver is well washed in hot water containing a few drops of ammonia, and carefully dried with a fine, soft towel, it will keep bright for a long time without other cleaning. If special cleaning is necessary, try the following: Place the silver in a pan of hot water, then with a soft cloth, soaped and sprinkled with powdered borax, scour the silver well; afterward rinse in clear cold water, and dry with a clean cloth. If a more thorough cleaning is needed, apply moistened Spanish whiting with a silver brush and soft flannel, afterward polishing with dry whiting and chamois skin.

Frequent scouring should be avoided by careful washing, as too much rubbing wears out plated ware and dulls the best of silver. Silver ware and plate which is not in ordinary use can be kept from tarnishing by varnishing with collodion, a solution of gun-cotton in ether. The articles should be carefully brushed in this colorless varnish with an elastic brush, taking care that the entire surface is covered. The film of collodion will protect the underlying metal from the action of the sulphurous vapors to which is due the blackening of silver.

Tinware which has become blackened may be made to look bright and shining again by rubbing with a damp cloth dipped in sal-soda. Afterward wipe dry. Sand soap or sapolio may be used for the same purpose.

Cut-gla.s.s ware which has become in any way blurred or tarnished can be restored by polishing it with a soft piece of newspaper. First rub well with a piece slightly moistened and afterward repeat the process with dry paper. Rubbing with a soft brush dipped in fine, soft whiting is another method often employed for the same purpose. Cut-gla.s.s water-bottles dim or stained on the inside are best cleaned by rinsing with dilute muriatic acid, then carefully rinsing several times in clear cold water to remove all trace of the acid, which is a poison.

All fine china should be handled carefully in washing and drying. There will be less danger of breakage if the china is gradually heated by allowing it to stand in a pan of warm water before being put into hot water. The same is true of all table ware, and is of especial importance in cold weather.

Bra.s.s faucets and other bra.s.s or copper articles may be cleaned by rubbing with whiting wet with aqua ammonia.

Yellowed ivory handles may be restored to their original whiteness by rubbing with sandpaper and emery; mineral soap or pumice stone may be used for the same purpose. Nice table cutlery packed away for a season may be kept from rusting by covering the metal portion with a thin coating of paraffine. Rust may be removed from steel by scouring with emery and oil; but if there is much corrosion, some weak muriatic acid will be needed. This, however, will take some of the metal with the rust, and must be washed off quickly.

Trays and j.a.panned goods should never have boiling water poured over them, as it will make the varnish crack and peel. If a tray is badly soiled, wet with a sponge moistened in warm water and soap, and rub with a dry cloth; if it looks smeary, dust on a little flour and rub again.

Marks and scratches may sometimes be removed by rubbing with a flannel cloth dipped in sweet oil.

CARE OF THE TABLE LINEN.--Much of the attractiveness of the table depends upon the linen used; if this is not well cared for, the finest table ware cannot make up for the defect.

Stains upon table linen made by acids and vinegar may be removed by simply washing in clear water; berry stains are easily taken out by pouring boiling water over them; peach stains are best removed by soaking for some time in cold water and then washing with soap before allowing warm water to touch them. Chlorine water or a solution of chloride of lime will remove fruit stains, and vegetable colors. Coffee stains rubbed with a mixture of warm water and the yolk of egg, are said to disappear when the mixture is washed off with clean warm water. Sour b.u.t.termilk well rubbed into the material, dried in, and afterward washed out in several waters, is said to be effectual in removing tea stains.

All stains should be removed as soon as possible after being made, and always before putting the linen into the wash.

In washing table linen, housekeepers should remember that hard rubbing is the worst wear which it can receive. If soaked over night, a gentle squeezing will usually be quite sufficient to remove all soil, or if a little borax (a handful to ten gallons of water) or household ammonia in the proportion of two tablespoonfuls to a pail of water be added, two or three hours" soaking will suffice. Care should also be taken in hanging and fastening properly upon the line. Fold the cloth over the line six or eight inches at least, and in such a manner as to keep the thread straight, and fasten with three or more clothes pins. Table linen is often sadly frayed at the corners by being pinned so that all strain comes upon the corners, and if left to whip in the wind, is soon ruined.

Napkins in summer are much nicer if dried upon the gra.s.s. Only the merest trifle of starch, if any, should be used for table linen.

Table linen should be taken from the line while still damp, folded evenly lengthwise with the selvage together, then folded lengthwise again, rolled tight, and wrapped in damp towels so that the outside will not become dry, and ironed the same day. The irons should be heavy and as hot as possible without danger of scorching, and the board should be well padded with several thicknesses of flannel. Iron the linen in single folds, keeping a damp cloth over portions which will not be immediately reached. When the entire surface has been ironed, fold evenly lengthwise and with the selvage edges toward the ironer, again go over the entire upper side; then fold with the just completed portion inside, iron again, and so continue until the whole is ironed and folded. Both napkins and tablecloths are ironed in this way. They should be thoroughly dried with the iron and well aired before being laid away, in order to bring out the patterns well and to give them the desirable glossy finish.

Colored table linen should be washed in tepid water containing a little powdered borax, which serves to set the color. Very little, if any, soap should be used. Rinse in tepid water containing a small quant.i.ty of boiled starch; dry in the shade, and iron while yet damp.

Table linen should be carefully darned at once when it begins to wear and become thin, and may thus be preserved for a long time. When new, it should be washed before being made up, and the threads raveled or drawn, so as to make the ends exactly straight. Napkins should be washed before being cut apart. When not required for regular use, the linen should be folded loosely, and laid away without ironing in some place where it will not be subjected to pressure. When needed, it can be quickly dampened and ironed.

THE GARBAGE.--What to do with the waste acc.u.mulating from preparation of foods is a question of no small importance. The too frequent disposition of such material is to dump it into a waste-barrel or garbage box near the back door, to await the rounds of the scavenger.

Unless more than ordinary precautions in regard to cleanliness are observed, such a proceeding is fraught with great danger. The bits of moist food, sc.r.a.ps of meat, vegetables, and other refuse, very quickly set up a fermentative process, which, under the sun"s rays, soon breeds miasm and germs; especially is this true if the receptacle into which the garbage is thrown is not carefully cleaned after each emptying.

A foul-smelling waste-barrel ought never to be permitted under any circ.u.mstances. The best plan is to burn all leavings and table refuse as fast as made, which may be done without smell or smoke by opening all the back drafts of the kitchen range, and placing them on the hot coals to dry and burn. Some housekeepers keep in one end of the sink a wire dish drainer into which all fruit and vegetable parings are put. If wet, the water quickly drains from them, and they are ready to be put into the stove, where a very little fire soon reduces them to ashes. All waste products which cannot well be burned, may be buried at a distance from the house, but not too much in one spot, and the earth should be carefully covered over afterward. Under no circ.u.mstances should it be scattered about on the surface of the ground near the back door, as heedless people are apt to do.

If the table refuse must be saved and fed to animals, it should be carefully sorted, kept free from all dishwater, sour milk, etc., and used as promptly as possible. It is a good plan to have two tightly covered waste pails of heavy tin to be used on alternate days. When one is emptied, it may be thoroughly cleansed and left to purify in the air and sunshine while the other is in use. Any receptacle for waste should be entirely emptied and thoroughly disinfected each day with boiling suds and an old broom. This is especially imperative if the refuse is to be used as food for cows, since the quality of the milk is more or less affected by that of the food.

TABLE TOPICS.

A woman cannot work at dressmaking, tailoring, or any other sedentary employment, ten hours a day, year in and out, without enfeebling her const.i.tution, impairing her eyesight, and bringing on a complication of complaints; but she can sweep, cook, wash, and do the duties of a well-ordered house, with modern arrangements, and grow healthier every year. The times in New England when all women did housework a part of every day, were the times when all women were healthy.--_Harriet Beecher Stowe._

The best ways are commonly the easiest ways and those that give most comfort to the household. _Know how_ is a great labor-saving invention, on which there is no patent.--_Sel._