How to Clean with River Sand & Vodka
In the 19th century there weren’t special household products for each kind of stain and cosmetics weren’t as prevalent as they are now. But people still had to maintain their hygiene, homes, and wardrobes – sometimes in truly surprising ways. Thanks to Lucyna Ćwierczakiewicz, the celebrated cookbook and domestic management guide author, we can read about some old-school methods and the peculiar cleaning agents they involved, such as… tea leaves, river sand and vodka.
Whatever You Wish to Clean
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Portrait of Lucyna Ćwierczakiewicz, photo from Biesiada Literacka magazine, 1901, photo: wikipedia
When discussing 19th-century Polish literature, it’s often omitted that one of Poland’s most popular authors of the time was a woman. Lucyna Ćwierczakiewicz (1829-1901) was an extraordinarily successful and celebrated writer of cookbooks and domestic management guides – some of the most popular books at the time. She also wrote for the press, where her tips, recipes and fashion recommendations appeared for almost thirty years without pause.
Lucyna Ćwierczakiewicz was hard-working and determined, which is why it came as no surprise that she became so incredibly successful. As an advocate of scientific rationality, personal hygiene and women’s emancipation, she gained the respect of intellectuals, such as writers Eliza Orzeszkowa and Bolesław Prus. One of her best-remembered works is 365 Obiadów za 5 Złotych (editor’s translation: 365 Dinners for 5 Zlotys), in which she provided a different, affordable menu for every single day of the year.
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Her 365 Dinners for 5 Zlotys was the most often read book of the time and it held an honourable place in thousands of Polish households – right next to the Bible. Her later cookbooks sold more copies than the works of Mickiewicz and Słowacki; the salon she ran in Królewska Street was frequented by the biggest names in the capital; and with a year’s salary she could purchase three estates!
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Quote from ‘Pani Od Obiadów’, a 2018 book about L. Ćwierczakiewicz by Marta Sztokfisz, Wydawnictwo Literackie publishing house
While Ćwierczakiewicz was most well-known for her amazingly popular cookbooks, in this article we’ll take a closer look at one of her non-culinary titles, the 1887 Cokolwiek Bądź Chcesz Wyczyścić czyli Porządki Domowe (Whatever You Wish To Clean or Household Tidiness). Her book contains a wide array of old-school cleaning tips which can seem… quite surprising from today’s perspective. More surprising, for sure, than Ćwierczakiewicz’s culinary recipes, which could easily be used to make a modern-day dinner any day of the year.
Whatever You Wish To Clean lets us get a small peek into the households of 19th century Poles. We’ll find that that people used the most peculiar things for cleaning, like river sand, tea leaves or even vodka! It’s worth adding that these weren’t obscure, backward methods – they were provided by a modern-thinking expert on household maintenance, well-informed about the international trends of the day. Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the more surprising old-school ways of cleaning things suggested by Ćwierczakiewicz.
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Vodka, photo: Agata Grzybowska / AG
If you happen to own a silk dress you might be interested to know that you can clean such a delicate garment with none other than… vodka. However, it takes a little more effort than just pouring a bottle of the spirit all over the dress to get the job done.
According to Ćwierczakiewicz you need to make a solution consisting of a quart of clear vodka, half a quart of water, a quarter of a pound of soap and a tablespoon of clear honey. After heating and stirring this mixture until it begins to foam, dip a flannel cloth in it and use that to scrub the stain off the dress. Later, wash the foam away with room temperature water and make sure the dress is hung over (pun intended) a line for it to dry.
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A silk dress can go nicely with a straw hat. About the latter kind of apparel Ćwierczakiewicz writes in her book that:
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A straw hat that’s been worn from the start of spring is already quite dilapidated in the summer.
She goes on to explain how you can refresh your worn hat with a bit of lemon juice. First you need to take a stiff brush and use it to remove any dust from the hat. Then, squeeze two lemons into a bowl and put some finely powdered sulphur into another bowl. Now you can dip your brush in the lemon juice and scrub the hat with it. After a part has been covered with the juice, dip the brush in the sulphur and scrub the same part again. When the whole hat’s been cleaned this way, you can remove any leftover sulphur with a clean brush. Thanks to this procedure, your straw hat is bound to look devilishly elegant and fresh like a lemon plucked straight off the tree.
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A toothbrush, photo: Axel Drosta / East News
If your goal is to look show-stoppingly elegant, aside from a prim straw hat and a beautiful silk dress, you may consider wearing diamonds. Diamonds are forever, as everyone knows, but that doesn’t mean that they’re always clean! In Whatever You Wish To Clean, Ćwierczakiewicz informs the reader that:
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After being worn for a while diamonds lose their sparkle.
The answer to this appalling problem comes in the simple form of… a toothbrush. To bring back the shine to your precious gemstones you need to brush them with ‘a brush as small as a toothbrush’ dipped in a solution of cold water and soap. When you’re done with that you just need to remember to dry the diamonds with a leather cloth. That way you won’t leave any horrible soap stains on them. Interestingly (and luckily), Ćwierczakiewicz’s advice applies to both real and fake diamonds. Diamonds truly are forever…
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Hazelnuts, photo: Piotr Placzkowski / Reporter / East News
Apart from recommending the toothbrush as a utensil for cleaning diamonds, Ćwierczakiewicz, a promoter of hygiene, advocates also its primary use – for the cleaning teeth. She says that:
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Maintaining and cleaning your teeth diligently can preserve them for a long time. A medium-hard toothbrush and lukewarm water should be used daily.
And there would be nothing surprising here if not for the kind of toothpaste she recommends. The author advises her readers to brush their teeth with… powdered hazelnut husks. She says that even ‘the dirtiest of teeth’ will become ‘radiantly white’ thanks to this curious cleaning agent. She also explains how to make the powder: remove the husks from the nuts, dry them and later powder them – that doesn’t seem like a tough nut to crack.
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Egg yolk, photo: East News
Another piece of hygienic advice given by Ćwierczakiewicz concerns the human face. She says that washing it with soap or other cosmetics may be detrimental to one’s complexion and she recommends using… egg yolk instead.
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Once or twice a week, in the evening, wash your face with egg yolk – rinse thoroughly with soft water and dry with a towel, pressing it on the face so that the moisture soaks into the cloth.
The author adds that egg yolk ‘is a wonderful substitute’ for soap and that she knows this from her own experience. Indeed, some kinds of soap can dry your skin leading to cracks in one’s skin. If you want to avoid that you may consider cracking an egg open…
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Almond flakes, photo: Forum
Keeping your teeth and face in good condition is important but so is taking care of your hair. That’s why in her book Ćwierczakiewicz gives advice on how to get rid of dandruff. She writes that to get the job done you’ll need to use… almond flakes.
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Rub almond oil into the skin of your head and all over your hair, afterwards sprinkle the skin of your head with almond flakes so that the entire head is covered, and strongly rub your head and hair.
Later you just need to comb the almond flakes out of your hair, and voilà! You’re dandruff free. Ćwierczakiewicz seems to be pretty sure of her recommendations in this regard since she says that this is ‘the only method’ of tackling dandruff. Interestingly, if you take her advice on toothpaste, facial soap and anti-dandruff shampoo you can start a whole collection of organic personal cosmetics!
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Chalk, photo: Dariusz Lewandowski / East News
Often when taking care of your appearance, a mirror can come in handy. But what if while taking care of your personal hygiene your mirror gets a bit dirty? Fear not, Ćwierczakiewicz has an answer! In Whatever You Wish To Clean she provides advice on how to clean dirtied mirrors. According to her, the trick involves using… chalk.
First you need to prepare a solution composed of half a quart of water and four tablespoons of vinegar. Next you have heat it up and dilute a piece of chalk in it. After the mixture cools down you can dip a piece of cloth in it and use it to clean your mirror. Later you need to dry the mirror with another piece of cloth. Thanks to this simple method you can easily chalk up your success in cleaning your mirror to chalk!
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Rain water, photo: Arkadiusz Ziołek / East News
Nowadays, when you look into the mirror to see how you’re dressed you seldom see ostrich feathers. But back in the late 19th century they were the height of fashion. Some of the ostrich-feather items from this era even went on to become museum exhibits:
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The ostrich-feather fans in the collection of the National Museum in Kraków come mostly from the years 1875-1910. In those years the fashionability of ostrich feathers reached its peak.
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Quote from the website of the National Museum in Kraków
Addressing what must’ve once been a popular demand, Ćwieczakiewicz advises how to clean ostrich feathers. She says that the best way to do it is to use… heated rain water. Pour it into a deep vessel, add a bit of soap and dip the feathers in it. Then pull the feathers through your fingers until they’re clean and later dry them by gently petting them. Surely, getting your ostrich feathers nice and clean is bound to put you in high feather…
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A beach on the Vistula river in Warsaw, photo: Łukasz Szczepański / Reporter / East News
Feathers can also be used for making quill pens. These are usually dipped in inkwells and their use can lead to the creation of ink stains. A particularly careless writer might dirty not only his desk with ink but also his floor. Should you yourself ever encounter the inconvenience of having ink stains on your floor consider turning to Ćwierczakiewicz for advice. In her book she writes that you can tackle them using… river sand.
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It’s very hard to remove old ink stains from wood, at first it’s best to rub them with fresh river sand, then you need to pour a solution of eight lots of soft water and one lot of vitriol [sulphuric acid ] over them, and when the stains are gone you have to scrub those places with lye or soap and water.
To turn Ćwierczakiewicz’s recommendation into a slogan: not even ink can withstand / the power of river sand…
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Tea leaves, photo: Michał Kosć / Reporter /East News
On a floor, more commonly than the occasional ink stain, you can find a carpet. In Whatever You Wish To Clean Ćwieczakiewicz devotes a couple of pages to the proper maintenance of carpets and her by far most surprising piece of advice pertains to dusting them. She says that you can do that using… tea leaves leftover from brewing tea.
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To keep your carpets clean of outside dust once in a week you have to sprinkle the whole room with moist leaves left over from brewing tea and then, using a good whisk or brush, clean the carpet without interruption.
The author adds that you might want to rinse the leaves beforehand to deprive them of any colourants and that the purpose of the whole procedure is to ‘delicately catch the dust.’ So, if you’re looking to keep your carpets clean this method might just be your cup of tea…
Author: Marek Kępa, August 2019