The Washington times., 1925-05-25
Household Hints
Opening a Country House
BY SALLY e. DAVIDSON

lively simple matter for those who
can command help, but for the
woman who must do 1t alone, or
with perhaps the juvenile members
Of the family to help her, 1t Is
likely to be quite task. The coun-
try house may be only a tiny bun
galow at the. shore or camp in
the woods, yet each year the for
nality of opening it and preparing
it for summer occupancy must be
gone through with.
Usually, of course, this will be
accomplished little in advance OF
the date set for moving in. One ad-
vantage in this is that the work
can be done comfortably and with
practically no interruption.
; Besides. where there are small
children it is not advisable to per-
NIT them to breathe the stale air,
which is certain to abound every
where indoors. One of the first
steps, of course, should be to make
the necessary advance arrangements
TO have the water and electricity
turned on and in readiness for use
upon arrival.
Airing Necessary.
Sometimes one day is sufficient
to air the place, particularly IL the
day be warm and sunshiny. but II
possible it should be aired for a
longer period. II this is impossible.
or if the weather happens to be
damp. this operation can be speeded
up considerably by setting the cleo
trio fan to work, for even with
all doors and windows open the
heavy inside air is reluctant to
move out and make room for the
fresh air from outdoors.
This can be readily understood
when it is recognized that the
dead air indoors is likely to be
considerably heavier than the out
side air. But when the electric
fans is set going it quickly over
comes this inertia, as scientists
call it, and promotes circulation
that ends in the desired result.
If the house has two floors and
two fans are available. place one
downstairs and ono upstairs. If but
one fan is used 1t doubtless will do
its best work If placed downstairs,
particularly IL all doors and win
dows are wide open upstairs. The
stale air will thus be forced up
stairs and out.
The Next Step.
The matter of ventilation and
airing having been attended to, the
next step in order is, of course, to
inspect the plumbing for possible
ieaks-the roof, too And at this
point the electric cleaner can be
depended upon for some might
good licks in gobbling up the dust
that has filtered in while the house
has been closed.
When this has been done all the
woodwork and windows should be
washed and the floors cleaned, then
waxed and polished. This last may
be sinplified tremendously by using
the electric floor machine If you
own one, and, if not. perhaps IT
will be possible to hire one from a
local electrician.
Such machine also scrapeS and
sandpapers the floor. in addition
to waxing and polishing, and it's
use will save hours and hours of
back-breaking toll.
Curtains should never be hung
until the house is thoroughly aired
and cleaned, neither should the beds
be made until they have been gone
over with damp cloth and cleaner
and the bedding has been summed.
II the electric fans have been
stored and idle during the winter
they should be gone over carefully,
cleaned and oiled. 1t might be well
in doing this to let the local cleo
trician look them over, for little
attention at such times will pro.
long the life of the fans many
years.
Much the same thing applies to
electric toasters, grills, waffle irons,
all mechanical devices and cooking
stored in the country place or in
use throughout the year whether
electrical or not. Only in this way
Is one certain to avoid unneces-
sary accidents and annoyances.
Drying the House.
At the shore and in the mountains
the houses are often damp or
clammily cold after being closed
for the winter. 1t is dangerous
to bring children into them.
1 have made it a point always
to dry the house out either by start
ing the furnace Gf there be one)
and running it for q week or more,
or if the house was just a summer
bungalow or camp without any
heating equipment in the cellar. I
have used electric, coal or oil heat
ers to accomplish the same result.
This is necessary even when the
weather is very warm because it
takes days for the sun to dry the
house and II a rain storm occurs
meanwhile it remains damp even
longer.
All this ought to be done, as /
said, before the entire family moves
in, but if it is impossible to manage
this the airing and drying out
process should be started immedi-