Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/137

 Winter Uses for the Electric Fan

���HAVE you ever thought of the vari- ous uses to which the electric fan in your home can be placed other than lowering the temperature and mak- ing it comfort- able in the room w h e n the ther- mometer is high outside ? Ho w really indispens- able it is in innu- merable w a y s, and how much it does in preserv- ing health in the Drying Paint j^^^^^^ ^^^ keeping

the rooms cool and fresh ?

If you have just finished painting a door, wall or window sides, let your elec- tric fan run in the room for two or three hours, and the paint will not only dry faster, but it will be free from the dust that often sticks to wet paint. If you have varnished your floor, place your electric fan so that the air it stirs up w^ill have free access to the wet varnish. Your floor will look brighter than if per- mitted to dry in the usual way.

I f you h a \' e used enamel paint to give your bath- tub a new and bright appear- ance, use your fan to dry the enamel ; the sur- ^' .-l^ face will be much

--* -""""'^v — U — I 1 smoother and of

greater firmness. It is a wise plan from the sanitary viewpoint to allow your electric fan to run for at least a quarter of an hour in the bed chamber before you retire. It cools and freshens the air, making the chamber both more comforta])le and healthful for the night. Before you work in your office, library or den, let your fan run a half hour. You will not be liable to the slight head- ache, so often felt after a brief time at work in a place where the air is close.

Dust cannot accumulate where there is a free circulation of air, especially fresh air, and it is very noticeable that a room

���Keeping Milk Cool

���Drying the Wash

��in which an electric fan is allowed to run seldom has dust. Since dust breeds germs, the prevention of dust likewise prevents germs.

The electric fan keeps the temperature of drinkables down. Open a cupboard in which there are milk, wine, or bever- ages of any kind and allow your electric fan to run immediately in front of it, so that its cooling blast will strike the bottles. The temperature drops rapidly.

The electric fan has other offices in the home. The wise housekeeper will place her laundry after its return from the wash for an hour or two where the electric fan can "bio w " on it. A n y dampness remaining after drying and iron- ing at the laun- dry is removed, any odor of soap is destroyed, and a fresh sweetness imparted to the linen. Fine linens and laces preserve their whiteness better if dried by the fresh air; artificial hot drying injures expen- sive materials, and in damp weather they cannot be dried properly merely by being suspended in a room where there is little circulation, of air.

If there is an odor in the room, due to fresh paint, varnish or recent paper- ing, turn on your electric fan and note h o w soon this odor will dis- appear. This is also true of smells from fur- naces, ovens, or stoves.

In the sick room fresh air is of i)aramount im- portance. A free access of pure air is often the safeguard against those min- istering to the wants of the sick.

There is indeed no season of the year in which its usefulness cannot be prov- en, and winter is no exception.

���Airing the Sick Room

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