Cleaning Up

How many cleaning tools and products are in your home—including appliances? Which are your favorites, that you would not want to do without?

Homemakers in the 1940s—especially those in Britain during World War II—had comparatively few cleaning tools and products to choose from. Even detergent was a new invention, still in development in the 1930s. It was not available in England during the war. Everything from babies to dishes to laundry was washed with soap or soap flakes. The shortage of animal and vegetable fats needed to make soap led to the rationing of even this basic cleaner in England, beginning in February 1942.

Floors & Beyond

Cleaning was done with simple tools—broom, dustmop, mop and wringer bucket, and perhaps a carpet sweeper. Rugs were taken up twice a year, thrown over a clothesline, and the dust removed with a wire rug beater. Pine oil, Murphy’s Oil Soap, or ammonia (NEVER combined with bleach) would have been common floor-cleaning products.

Linoleum, wood, rubber and asphalt tile floors also needed waxing. Until the 1930s, women did this on hands and knees, rubbing wax onto floors and then buffing with rags. New products like Tavern Non-Rub Floor Wax and Johnson’s Glo-Coat were a welcome improvement.

Homemakers used powdered cleansers like Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend on enameled kitchen sinks and bathrooms. Bleach was another option. Lysol and Listerine—known as an antiseptic at the time, not a mouthwash—were also available, along with baking soda, washing soda, borax and vinegar.

Minor plumbing issues were handled with a plumber’s helper, and insects were treated with products such as Flit Household Spray. This DDT-containing chemical was poured into a hand sprayer and pumped where needed—usually running everyone out of the house until the smell evaporated.

Rubber sponges or squeegees helped remove pet hair from upholstery and newspaper—if any was left after paper drives—brilliantly cleaned window glass. Windows could be frost-proofed for winter by applying a solution of two parts alcohol and one part water; then, wiping with a clean cloth.

Specialty Products, Laundry & Dishes

Specialty products like saddle soap or Wright’s Silver Cream were available, and heavy-duty jobs could be tackled with Brillo pads—as long as metal was available. Latex gloves were relatively new and much-liked. Unfortunately, they were hard to get after the Japanese gained control of rubber-producing areas such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Laundry was often done by hand using a washboard, or perhaps in an electrically heated tub kept in the kitchen. Very few homes in Britain had washing machines; these were only beginning to be available in the United States. Besides soap flakes, the stain-removing laundry soap, Fels-Naptha, was commonly used. Either Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing or bleach brightened whites.

Small, portable dishwashers were also becoming available in the United States, along with refrigerators. These might have included an icebox large enough for a few ice cube trays or frozen items. There were very few refrigerators in Britain during World War II, and no freezers.

Whatever the product, military needs took precedence. Those on the Home Front were supplied with what remained. The military needed a great deal of cleaners for guns and motors, as well as for sanitation on army camps and ships. For everyone, military or civilian, the focus was on maintaining health. People had learned this the hard way following World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic. The death toll from those was incredibly high. Preventing disease outbreaks was a major concern.

Keeping a clean home during World War II required more elbow grease than most of us use today. It was done along with all the other war duties. Homemakers saved food scraps for pig bins and bones for soap, glycerin, glue and fertilizer. They recycled paper, rags, bottles and aluminum. And, they made meals with few convenience ingredients and very few labor-saving devices.

For me, it is difficult to imagine how they did all these things. They might have mopped to tunes on the radio or gramophone. In New England, some would put a branch of pine or fir into simmering water for an air freshener; this would have been an extreme luxury for homemakers in Britain, who struggled for enough fuel to cook food. There were no earbuds or scented candles; no foot-pump mop wringers or tiny surface steamers. There were very few vacuum cleaners. Loads of laundry had to be ironed. And all this, after queuing for food in various shops and perhaps a war job. It is no wonder they are called The Greatest Generation—they managed all of these things while saving the world!

References

Swan Soap advertisement. Life, Vol. 17 No. 9. August 28, 1944. Chicago, IL: TIME Inc., p. 36.

Bon Ami advertisement, unknown source.

Tavern Non-Rub Floor Wax advertisement. Good Housekeeping, Vol. 118 No. 3. March 1944. New York, NY: Hearst Corp., p. 97.

Cartoon. The Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 216 No. 52. June 24, 1944. Philadelphia, PA: The Curtis Publishing Company, p. 72.

Rinso advertisement. Picture Post, Vol. 6 No. 3. London: Hulton Press, Ltd., January 20, 1940, p. 3.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Psalm 51:7