The Good Housekeeping Household Encyclopedia - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688120369 ISBN 13: 9780688120368

Publisher: Hearst Books, 1993

Synopsis

Offering hundreds of illustrations, charts, and diagrams, a definitive guide to household maintenance presents a home-management handbook, a design and repair manual, and a comprehensive household reference. 50,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.

About this title

Reviews

From the Good Housekeeping Institute comes this compendium of practical advice and hands-on instructions for maintaining a household in the 1990s. Acknowledging that more household gadgets and timesaving services are available, and that less time is being devoted to basic housekeeping chores, the editors offer organizational tips, product information, and money- and energy-saving ideas as well as standard maintenance suggestions.

The information is presented via charts, tables, and line drawings and a text that consists of short paragraphs that aid in finding specific information quickly and easily. Eight chapters include standard directions for novices as well as sophisticated strategies for the experienced: "Home Finances" (prequalifying for mortgages, choosing credit cards); "Cleaning" (CD players, decks, miniblinds); "Laundry and Clothes Care" (spandex, glass-fiber textiles); "Food and the Kitchen" (computerized grocery lists, gas grills); "Decorating and Design" (ergonomic furniture for home offices); "Maintenance and Repair" (mulching, lawn mowers, heat pumps); "Car Care" (road-service plans, child seats); and "Safety and Health" ("hush" features on smoke detectors, first aid). A complete index is also provided.

This is a much more direct how-to manual than All-New Hints from Heloise: A Household Guide for the 90's (Perigee, 1989), which often assumes that the caretaker already knows what needs to be done and basically how to do it and so offers time- and energy-saving suggestions to speed things along. School collections will want to add The Good Housekeeping Household Encyclopedia to complement the home economics/human ecology curriculum, and public libraries will want to consider circulating as well as reference copies.

Like Mary Ellen Pinkham's Mary Ellen's Clean House ( LJ 4/1/93), this is an all-inclusive handbook for managing your domestic life, from household budgeting to maintenance and cleaning techniques. Even more comprehensive than Pinkham's book, this one also includes meal planning, first aid, and car care. Also, it has an index, which Pinkham's work does not. The writing and illustrations are clear and easy to understand, and the book is amazingly thorough. There is everything here from cleaning your computer to laundering your antique lace tablecloth. Every young person should receive a copy of this book when leaving the parental home, and every public library will want a copy for its reference collection as well as for circulation.
- Susan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelpha, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hearst Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688120369
• ISBN 13: 9780688120368
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Forte Carolyn E.