In city houses green shades are usually put up in summer and light-coloured ones in winter. Any shade which is taken down should be tightly rolled to keep the spring from loosening.
When closing a house in a place where there is much dust, it is well to lay pieces of paper on the window sills, just far enough over the outer edge to be held by the window when it is shut. These keep the dust which sifts in from lying on and discolouring the sills. If stoves, lengths of pipe and wire screens are put away for a time, it is well to grease them, unless the place where they are put is absolutely dry. Melted lard or drippings are good for this purpose, and also kerosene, though in time this completely evaporates. The nickel parts of stoves keep in better condition if they are wrapped in paper after they are greased.
When a kitchen is to be closed for a season, the room and everything in it must be left clean and dry, otherwise there will be mould, rust and water-bugs to contend with when the house is opened. Some scouring and polishing will be saved if bright tin and brass utensils and fittings are wrapped in paper. The contents of cupboards and drawers should be grouped on tables and covered with paper or cloths, and no food kept except stores which are not injured by keeping.
Inflammable liquids such as alcohol, kerosene and turpentine should not be left in a closed house. Matches should be shut in a tin box or taken away altogether.
The last thing before a house is closed—gas, electricity and water must be turned off. After the water is turned off, empty the tanks of the closets as they may rust if water stands in them several months. Crude glycerine or some liquid which does not evaporate should be poured into all traps. In the course of months the water in traps evaporates and leaves the passageway for gases from the sewer to the house unobstructed.
On account of this evaporation, the water should be run occasionally in rooms and bathrooms which are not in regular use, in order that the traps may be kept full.
Two general rules to be followed in preparing a house to be closed are: mark all articles which are wrapped up in unrecognizable packages, and, as far as it is reasonable, leave things in the rooms in which they belong.
Many people would add to these the rule that household possessions should be repaired before they are put away. I think, however, that this rule does not apply to clothing, furs, hangings, upholstery or any textiles. Such are improved or deteriorated by being packed away, and one cannot tell beforehand which will happen. Likewise, they are freshened by being repaired or altered just before they are again used.
It is true, however, that household appliances, and the house itself should be put in order before the house is closed, for possessions like plumbing, rain-pipes, woodwork, light fixtures, furnaces, stoves and shades grow worse the longer they are left out of repair, and sometimes injure other things.