Next time you reach for the trusty old Jif beneath the sink, pause and take a look at this delightful handbook full of traditional household cleaning methods and tips, says Elspeth Waters.
These days, if something needs cleaning, we reach under the sink for the Cillit Bang, Jif or some other noxious-looking substance claiming to banish all dirt and germs. And if something needs mending, well, we either drop it off somewhere to let the professionals have a tinker with it or, more often than not, we simply replace or even upgrade it, such is the time-poor-cash-rich mentality we’ve found ourselves in. However, if you cast your mind back, chances are you might remember some valuable titbit of advice that your Granny, or an Aunt, or even your Mum used to chant… some magic use for vinegar, or how to get chewing gum out of your hair (sadly, in my case, only scissors would do in one particularly grievous incident!).
Just as we’ve seen a return to traditional food production methods and retro clothing, now the wartime “make do and mend” philosophy is back with a vengeance. Alongside the WI Practical Know-How series featured on the site this week, Linda Gray’s charming little book, Household Hints and Tips, really is a delightful handbook for anyone who wants to clean their house and everything in it, with more traditional, and well proven, methods.
Written in the style of a 1950s cookbook, with a few simple illustrations of things like jugs, shirt collars and buckets, Gray’s helpful advice is just as straightforward. Inspired by Good Housekeeping articles dating back to 1922 (only in those days, the ‘lady’ of the house left such menial tasks to the domestic help, of course), Gray promises what every woman dreams of: a clean and tidy haven that’s easy to achieve and won’t cost the earth.
As well as telling us how to do the usual things like bathrooms and kitchen sinks, Gray adds more quirky tips. In the opening chapter, “How to Clean Everything” using household items, such as lemon and linseed oil, we learn how “To a cherish a piano”, which, since it needs a dash of gin or vodka, is the perfect excuse for bringing cocktail hour forward. Gin works equally well on diamonds, apparently, too, so next time you’re dashing out and your tiara’s looking a tad tainted, you’ll know what to do!
From getting rid of sweat smells (here, quaintly described as perspiration odours) to whitening cauliflower, Household Hints & Tips is an essential addition to any modern bookcase. After all, if turps and vinegar was good enough for our grandparents, then surely, it’s good enough for us too.
Household Hints and Tips by Linda Gray is published by Ebury Press.
