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HELOISE Reader needs help with a big cleaning job

Saturday, July 5, 2003


Dear Heloise: Can you tell me the best way to clean a large comforter and sleeping bag? Any help will be appreciated. Brad C., Denver
We took your question to our friends at The Soap and Detergent Association, and here is what they had to say:
"For best results when cleaning comforters, sleeping bags, coats and other cold-weather garments made with down or fiberfill, follow the care label.
"Many can be laundered at home, but some might be too large for a home washing machine. They can be taken to a commercial coin-operated laundry facility where larger washers are available. To keep down or fiberfill looking its best, clean the item at least once during its wearing season and again before it is stored. Do not store these items in plastic bags."
Thanks so much to our friends at SDA for their great info. Heloise
P.S. A front-loader washing machine is also gentler on comforters, sleeping bags, etc.
Dear Heloise: I recently switched from coffee to green tea. I thought about buying a teakettle or a tea brewer. Then I tried using my automatic coffee maker, with its reusable filter. I placed three tea bags in the filter, with the tags hung over the edge. I used the same amount of water as I did for making coffee (five-cup marker). I don't know what a true tea drinker would think, but to me the results were great, and the tea stays hot in the pot. N.G.B., Standish, Maine
I love it! I do this when I'm on the road and make tea in the morning when I'm in my hotel room. However, I put the tea bag in the pot, let it steep about three to five minutes, take the bag out, and I have a nice pot of hot tea. Heloise
Dear Heloise: Not until I started working from home did I realize how handy office supplies are in the kitchen, closet and garage.
Binder clips, which come in all sizes, keep bags of frozen vegetables, potato chips and all sorts of things closed tightly.
Plastic-coated paper clips hold dresses with thin straps or wide necklines on the hanger without leaving a mark. They also hold small bags tightly closed.
And those office utility scissors are so useful, we now have them all over the house -- on a shelf in the garage to open fertilizer bags, in the basement to open dog-food bags and in the laundry room to snip threads and open stubborn boxes of detergent. What a boon the office-supply store is to running a house. Gretchen R., Arlington, Va.
XSend a great hint to: Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, Fax: (210) HELOISE or E-mail: Heloise@Heloise.com.
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