The Housewife's Handbook: Victorian guide to homekeeping found in an old trunk - including an 11-step routine to cleaning a bedroom

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 13:48, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 13:49, 9 June 2026 Many of us might consider cleaning the bedroom to be little more than a case of making the bed, vacuuming the carpet, dusting the bedside table and perhaps wiping down the windowsill. But in Victorian Britain, the chore was an 11-step procedure for housewives who wanted to do the job correctly, according to a newly-unearthed late 19th century notebook. The handbook, which would horrify feminists today, also suggests the best types of linoleum floorings for each room of the house.  A 'light coloured' lino was considered the ideal choice for a bedroom because it is 'cleaner, more cheerful looking' and does not 'show dust so easily'. In an era when a woman's place was considered to be in the home, the 'housewifery notes' complied by Margaret Pimlott, of Bowden, Cheshire, also include diagrams and instructions for cleaning lavatory drains, baking cakes and infant feeding. The 130-year-old notebook was found amongst family papers in a trunk in an attic at a Cheshire home by a descendant during a recent clear out. Mrs Pimlott included the sobering statistic that one in three babies died before the age of one and added that 'the high death rate shows how ignorant and careless mothers are with children'. Her book includes illustrations of four different kinds of brushes, including a 'domestic brush' most commonly used for 'sweeping up the floor'.  The auctioneers selling it said it is a 'fine piece of social history' which captures the social customs and gender roles of the less progressive Victorian age.  ‘Choice, Care and Cleaning of Linoleum' - the book suggests 'patterns in light colours are the best for Halls and Kitchens' Margaret Pimlott's notebook was found with family papers in a trunk in an attic of a Cheshire home Simon Grover, valuer at Trevanion Auctioneers, of Whitchurch, Shropshire, said: 'The notebook was found with family papers in a trunk in an attic of a Cheshire home.  'It is really unusual and beautifully written, so you can tell that a lot of care has gone into it.  'It is a fine piece of social history and very much of its time with the woman's roles and responsibilities.  'There was a job for everything and I'm struck by how there were so many different types of brush, when we would just use one today, and the women made their own boot cream and furniture cream.  'Very high standards were expected to fulfil the housewife's role.' The book includes examples of different brushes and the meticulous guide to cleaning a bedroom The 11-step guide to cleaning a bedroom reads:  1: Roll up all mate and remove from the room  2: Strip the bed and leave for a time to air  3: Attend to the waters at the washstand  4: Brush the mattress, dust the bed-stead well and make the bed, covering over with a dust sheet  5: Wash or dust all small ornaments. Place on bed and cover with a dust sheet  6: Take down pictures, clean with a wash leather. Put out of the room. Dust and polish all small furniture and cover with a dust sheet  7: Polish all large furniture and cover with a dust sheet  8: Sweep the walls with a soft clean broom  9: Sweep the floor towards the fireplace  10: Place down a hearth cloth and clean the fireplace  11: Clean the windows, dust or wash A recipe for 'Everton Toffee' suggests boiling 1lb of syrup with 1lb of 'moist sugar', half a pound of butter and 4lb of almonds.  The Premier League football club of the same name, based in Liverpool 32 miles from Bowden, were nicknamed the Toffees because of local toffee shops in the area dating back to the 1700s.  Mrs Pimlott's handbook, which is expected to fetch £100, sells tomorrow. In March 2007, a 280-year-old book called The Compleat Housewife or Accomplish-d Gentlewoman's Companion was found at a valuation day run by auctioneer Charles Hanson in Kings Bromley, Staffordshire. The book by Eliza Smith was originally published in 1727 and offered 'above two-hundred family receipts of medicines' - including a remedy for boils using a newly laid egg mixed with honey and a cure for 'spotted fever' with snake-weed, treacle and raspberry juice. Mrs Smith also advised an unlikely-sounding remedy for baldness - involving 'two ounces of boar's grease, one dram of the ashes of burnt bees and one dram of the ashes of Southernwood'. The owner of the tome, which was revised 18 times in the three decades after its release, came forward after Mr Hanson, a regular on BBC show Bargain Hunt, sold a work by the man described as the Gordon Ramsay of his day. The Accomplish'd Cook - the Art and Mastery of Cookery, penned by 17th-century 'celebrity chef' Robert May in 1678, fetched £4,500 at Hanson's Auctioneers two months earlier. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. 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