Cleaning Floors In The 19th Century

Bath brick pictured left was.

Cleaning floors in the 19th century.

Topsy turvy the order of the day american writer susan fenimore cooper daughter of james fenimore cooper described the upheaval involved in spring cleaning in cooperstown new york in april 1848. Not too long ago as i was researching information on hardwood floors and finishes during the 1800 s in north america when i stumbled upon a great online library that had thousands of old books periodicals catalogues postcards brochures and photos amongst other cool things from that era. When the industrial capabilities of mass production made tiles widely available at the end of the 19th century tile floors were more widely installed and have remained a symbol of the era itself. Some enterprising families and businesses would use crushed quartz for flooring as.

On the golfields the early arrivals had to contend with the most basic of dwellings. You had to hang up the carpet and beat it with a carpet beater a handle and large flat paddle usually made of cane. Yet if you don t clean them correctly they can warp rot and become permanently stained. It made it far.

Plain strips of tongue and groove flooring usually in oak was now throughout most custom made and spec houses in hallways ground floors and upper floors. In 18th and 19th century london flanders tile and hearthstones were sold by street vendors with hand carts. However cleaning carpets was no easy task in the 19th century. Spare a thought for 19th century housekeepers for whom spring cleaning involved considerable time elbow grease and disruption.

Mop up spills promptly and if you have. The big enemy is water. This warm and cozy kitchen sits in a converted 19th century barn. If there are scratches that stand out after cleaning the hardwood floor simply take a crayon the color of the floor and rub it on the scratch to fill the gap.

Then continue to rinse your floor with clean water until the water is colorless. What radically changed the look of floors during the second half of the 19th century was the shift to tongue and groove strip flooring. Cleaning wood floors presents a quandary. You may be sure your work is well done then and you may proceed to dry the floor with a clean mop or clean floor cloth.

Whether painted or naked wide board softwoods held the floor in houses grand and small well into the middle of the 19th century. Sweeping beating and scrubbing keeping the floors clean in the 1850s was a never ending challenge. Carpets were mass produced in britain from the mid 19th century and they became much cheaper. Tents and timbers huts most of which had dirt floors.

By the last decade of the 19th century and well into the 20th hardwood floors became the norm for all new construction.