How to Clean Everything: An Encyclopedia of What to Use and How to Use It

by Alma Chesnut Moore

How To Clean Everything is a comprehensive and indispensable guide to cleaning and caring for practically anything in and around your home.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published May 15, 1952

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Wright]

Good resource book. A little outdated.

I especially found it helpful to read about how to remove different types of stains (grease v. non-grease).

I also was inspired to actually clean the hard water stains on my sinks, toilets, and bathtubs.

[Steven Peterson]

This is a terrific resource for those of us who find that things get stains, or are otherwise messed up. The author notes that (page 7) "This book is for [those:] who dislike housework but like nice homes." And, from my experiencde, this is a nice help for the home front.

For instance. . . . Did you get tomato sauce on a shirt or on your pants? Page 294 gives some tips. First, sponge the stain as soon as possible with cold water. This may take care of the problem (although it never does for me). Second, if a stain remains, "work undiluted liquid detergent into the stain and rinse" (page 294). Normally, this takes care of the problem for me. . . .

There are many other hints. Including what to do with stains on rugs or how to clean refrigerators or how to clean walls or cleaning out sinks. . . .

This has been a good book for me; I have taken care of many problems by referring to this book. Does the advice always work? No. Does it usually work? Yes.

[HeavyReader]

This is a utilitarian how-to-clean book, nothing cutesy or sassy about it. If you need the lowdown on anything cleaning related from "abrasive" to "yellowing" this is the book for you. (I'm particularly glad that I now know how to clean Turkish towels. Ha!)

[etherealfire]

Inherited from my mother-in-law first year of marriage. Everything is in there! Not just cleaning but care of things - yes, I was that uninformed and I'm still an inconsistent housekeeper. But the tips in the book were a big help as I was really and truly and completely clueless.