Washroom

“ Directly to the left of the bureau, with the door to the outside closet intervening, is a broken-down washstand, on which is a basin half full of water, a bottle of tooth-powder, tooth brushes and holder, soap and soap-dish, and other cheap toilet articles, and a small drinking-glass. Hung on the corner of the washstand is a soiled towel. Hung on the rack across the top of the washstand one can see a pair of stockings. On the floor in front of the washstand is a pitcher half full of water; also a large waste-water jar of the cheapest type. ”

“ One room which we have investigated has in one corner a sunken marble tub and in the center the radiator. The gold work in this room is beautiful, but practical, of a design that takes plumbing into the arts.
The thoroughly equipped woman’s bathroom must have the usual tub, showers, lavatory, watercloset seat, a closet or two in the walls, a table, towel rack, brackets for soap and sponge, hooks for hanging things, scales, rugs, a chair or stool, toilet paper receptacle, mirrors and tiling for floors and wall. ”

“ Of washing arrangements, it is not possible to speak in any arbitrary fashion. Here is a modern French washing-stand (Fig. 16) made, however, to close up, which is always an objectionable thing, in my opinion, though it may often be a convenient one. Let your basin invariably be as large as possible and your jug of a convenient form, to hold and pour from. Every basin-stand should be provided Fig. 15. with a smaller basin and jug and allow at the same time, plenty of space and accommodation for sponges and soap. ”

“ And on the back porch we put a lavatory to wash our face and hands in, when the bathroom door happened to be locked. Sometimes we kids would come in to wash up after unloading a load of hay, and when two or three of us were using the lavatory at the same time, one of us might casually flip a few drops of water in another one's face. ”

“ It can be ornamented, so as to look well anywhere. A little frame, or towel-horse, by the washstand, on which to dry towels, is a convenience. A washstand should be furnished with a sponge or washcloth, and a small towel, for wiping the basin after using it. This should be hung on the washstand or towel-horse, for constant use. A soap-dish, and a dish for toothbrushes, are neat and convenient, and each person should be furnished with two towels; one for the feet, and one for other purposes.
It is in good taste to have the curtains, bedquilt, valance, and window-curtains, of similar materials. ”

“ Armed with the crude washing equipments of the ancient Egyptians—only a stone slab, or at best a wooden tray resembling our bread-trays—they make their week's washing whiter than the whitest. However it is accomplished, the fact remains that without boiling, washing-soda, washboard, tub or bucket, and even in many cases without soap, this perplexing branch of domestic life is brought to perfection. ”

“ But if we cannot make the bathroom what it ought to be, the supreme and perfect shrine of the supreme moment of the day, the one spot in the house on which no expense or trouble is spared, we can at least bring the bath itself up to date. I don’t now, as I did, lay much stress on having a bath with fifteen different taps. ”

“ The washing is confined to the kitchen or wash-house, and the effect visible in the dining-room is in cold or badly cooked meals; with a few other matters not necessary to mention here. But in the house-cleaning—oh, dear! Like the dove from the ark, a man finds no place where he can rest the sole of his foot. Twice a year, regularly, have I to pass through this trying ordeal, willy-nilly, as it is said, in some strange language. To rebel is useless. To grumble of no avail. Up come the carpets, topsyturvy goes the furniture, and swash! ”

“ After looking at these things, we proceeded to view one of the model washing houses, which had been erected for the convenience of poor women. We entered a large hall, which was divided by low wood partitions into small apartments, in each of which a woman was washing. The whole process of washing clothes in two or three waters, and boiling them, can be effected without moving from the spot, or changing the tub. Each successive water is let out at the bottom, while fresh is let on from the top. ”

“ In its place, we have at one side of the kitchen, a sink, with cocks for hot and cold water immediately over it. The tables and drain-board are arranged to simplify the operations of dish-washing. The water, instead of being carried to the yard or alley, finds its way naturally into the drain through the sink. Modern laundry arrangements make it unnecessary to carry great tubs of water outside, or to delay wash-day on account of the weather, or to bring in the frozen clothes during the cold winter days. The bath-room, with the tub, the water-closet, and the wash-stand, is on the second floor. ”

“ If one has an attic or a cellar, temporary lines can be put up in either or both; if one has not, there may be room for a line or two in the kitchen and the clothes horse must help out. If there is no place where clothes can be hung in the house, either put the washing off, or get all the white clothes to the stage of the second rinsing, then put them into the tubs with clean water and leave them till the storm is over. ”

“ Most of the washings in this country are done in the kitchen. The wash-boiler is on the stove, and the servant or mistress of the house, or both, attempt to wash and do their cooking without seriously disturbing the routine of meals. There is a fussiness about everything pertaining to that day, which creates an atmosphere of blueness which is proverbial. The steamy, crowded kitchen, the almost inevitable wetness or slipperiness, the great physical exertion required, the carrying of water, the lifting of tubs, are all uncomfortable, and the work is done at a great disadvantage. ”

“ In every hotel and boarding house these tools of cleanliness are used by thousands of different people. In every city there are Toilet Supply Companies who furnish a combination towel-rack, looking-glass, comb and brush-holder, and take the dirty towels away, leaving clean ones every morning. ”

“ When you wash any of the rooms toward the street over night, throw the foul water out of the street door; but be sure not to look before you, for fear those on whom the water lights might think you uncivil, and that you did it on purpose. If he who suffers, breaks the windows in revenge, and your lady chides you, and gives positive orders that you should carry the pail down, and empty it in the sink, you have an easy remedy: when you wash an upper room, carry down the pail so as to let the water dribble on the stairs all the way down to the kitchen ”

“ Every other act necessary to the cleanliness of a house can be done without turning it upside down and driving the family to the club or the tavern except—taking up carpets. Rugs can be gathered up and taken to the lawn or the roof to be cleaned. The walls and floor of a room can be wiped within an hour. Windows can be washed and furniture and brasses polished with people sitting undisturbed in the room where it is being done. ”

“ In view of the importance of sanitation, more thought than is ordinarily allotted to it should be given to the lavatory. Where there is room to spare, it is best to have the bath separate from the toilet, in order to prevent inconvenience in use. ”

“ Every water-closet, urinal, sink, basin, wash-tray, bath, and every tub or set of tubs, must be separately and effectively trapped, except where a sink and wash-tubs immediately adjoin each other, in which case the waste-pipe from the tubs may be connected with the inlet side of the sink-trap ”

“ Closets.—When a room is being prepared for cleaning, the floor and baseboards of the closet should be wiped with a dry mop or cloth—anything which will not make a dust—and the door tightly closed. Once in a while, before the cleaning of the room if there is time, if not, on some other day, the clothing should be removed from the closet, the walls wiped, and everything washed which can be,—hooks, wire hangers, the rods on which these hang, shelves and floor should be washed with water in which has been put a generous quantity of ammonia, borax or boracic acid. ”

“ Men who spend days and weeks in tramping through the woods, without a change of clothing, can not preserve the most presentable toilet, and the washing of clothing, which at other times was done by those at home, was looked after to a greater or less degree by him who was many miles away. ”

“ Here, in this apartment, paved with red brick, we see several pieces of canvas drying. It is a large room, very clean, here and there a washing trough, and in one corner two or three large horizontal baths. The appearance is that of a wash-house, except that all the assistants are men, and not washerwomen; there is plenty of water everywhere, and the floor is well drained to allow of its running off. We are to be favored with a sight of the whole process, and this is the first operation.
Into one of the horizontal baths, measuring about 5 by 4 feet, is put the salting solution. ”

“ Where there is a laundry in the upper story of the house, or other convenient place for erecting a copper and its appurtenances, a plan similar to the above may often be conveniently adopted in private houses, for the supply of a bath upon the principal bed-room floor. An attempt is sometimes made to place boilers behind the fires of dressing-rooms, or otherwise to erect them in the room itself, for the purpose of supplying warm water ”

“ The steam and odor from the washing, which not only fill the kitchen but permeate the house, are enough to render whatever food there is in the kitchen [Pg 41] unfit for use. It is altogether possible to arrange in the cellar of any house that is being built, and in many that are already built, at a trifling cost, a laundry in which the washing and ironing may be comfortably done. ”

“ Probably the abundant supply of water accounts for the universal washing, for, not content with washing everything inside a house, they wash the outside too, and even the bark of any trees which happen to lie within the zone of operations. ”

“ It is well to rinse a basin, sink or tub after it is used, and one must be particular that the closet flushes generously, for the water left in the loop should be clean water. If one merely allows the water from tub or basin to sink through the outlet some of that water remains in the loop, and it is water which contains impurities washed from clothes or bodies. You see the practice of rinsing bathtubs and basins has more in it even than courtesy. ”

“ The most durable stuff to nail up garden trees, is leather soaked in oil, and then drained before use. Old shoes and harness will thus be of use when no longer of service to the body.
154. General Washing.—Counterpanes, blankets, bed-hangings, &c., should be washed in summer, as they will then dry quickly, and be of good color.
By putting linen and cotton stockings to soak the night before they are to be washed, much soap and labor will be saved.
If clothes remain long dirty, they will not only require more soap and labor, but be much injured in washing. ”

“ Only the sick are idle; not a stove or cooking utensil but is called into requisition; while tubs, washboards, etc., are one-half mile distant, where washing is being done by the side of a stream of water beneath the shade of waving branches. ”

“ The floors are in a very much worse condition than the street pavements, and when they are supposed to clean them they do it with about a pint of dirty water. When they wash, which is rarely, for washing to them seems an unnecessary work, they do it in a quart or two of water, and sometimes boil the things in some old saucepan in which they cook their food. They do this simply because they have no larger vessel to wash in. The vermin fall off the walls and ceiling on you while you are standing in the rooms. ”

“ The umbrella that washes the dishes with a wiper and wipes the dishes with a washer every morning stood up and said, "I am the umbrella that washes the dishes with a wiper and wipes the dishes with a washer every morning." ”

“ When the bathroom has been used it should be properly aired, and the moment it is quitted the housemaid should go in, throw up the window, top and bottom, and take away and dry the towels. If the weather is cold, the fire or gas must be kept going night and day to keep out the frost, and always the floor must be wiped over and the bath blankets hung up until they can be properly dried, then will the room remain nice much longer than it otherwise would. ”

“ But before making this answer, I thought of the great conveniences for washing presented by our residence, surrounded as it was, at high tide, by water.
"Why, we live in a stationary washtub," I said smiling. ”

“ The foreman said that that room would be the bathroom. No plaster was on the walls yet, but the laths were all on. And there wasn't any bathtub yet, nor any basin; only some pipes sticking up out of the floor. ”

“ The little old woman in charge (note that this is another way for a little old woman to earn an honest living) notes your hour, and stokes up her stove according to the schedule of the day. When you arrive you are shown into an immaculately clean tiled bathroom, with an enormous tub, lined with a clean sheet (it has been definitely decided by doctors that this precaution obviates any possibility of contagion) and filled with clear, sparkling hot water. ”