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Summer Hygiene

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jul 3, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 27.

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Summer Hygiene.

By A. M. H.

IN caring for the bath-room in summer, cleanliness is the great essential, especially of the waste-pipes, as the most cases of typhoid fever and other diseases are often to be traced to carelessness in this matter; and altho every drain in the house should be flushed thoroly and often, more than usual care should be taken in warm weather.
Keep the cellar sweet and dry, and after the cellar has been thoroly cleaned, generous coatings of whitewash will add to the cleanliness of the place and the safety of the family health. Every housekeeper should look well to all corners of the pantry, cellars, and outbuildings, that all decaying vegetables or fruits may be cleared away. Make it convenient to burn all rubbish at once, then put about one-half bushel of lime all under and around the house. A few minutes' time each morning will keep things in the bath-room clean and bright, and this should never be omitted.
The mistress should herself look after certain sanitary precautions. A strong solution of borax and boiling water should be poured down the waste-pipes every few days, and the same solution should be used to cleanse and disinfect the kitchen sink. The borax kills disease germs and removes disease-breeding impurities. While so many other disinfectants are unsafe, such as copperas and carbolic acid, the borax is harmless and yet very effective.
Much illness and malaria has been traced to drain pipes that are not carefully looked after as they have become clogged with poisonous matter. Straw mattings that are in constant use need a thoro cleaning every week; and matting can be kept clean and fresh-looking by first sweeping it very thoroly, and then going over it with a cloth wrung frequently out of strong salt water. This water not only removes the surface dust, but leaves the covering in a sanitary condition, as well as bright and clean.
A. M. H.