What determined the need to maintain constant cleanliness in the hut? How did the Russian peasant women keep it clean?

The cramped living conditions forced them to maintain cleanliness in the house in order to avoid diseases. The neat hostess scrubbed the table, the benches and the floor almost every day. And in order to eliminate unpleasant odors, she lit a branch of juniper in the hut. In summer, the floor was covered with straw or birch leaves, fresh grass, wildflowers, and in winter – with dry sand and spruce forest.