Prompt action needed to preserve bridal gown

Dear Readers: This time of year, I get many letters asking how to take care of wedding dresses after the big day. Here are a few suggestions that will help preserve your gown and get it ready for storage:
As soon after the wedding as possible, take the dress to be dry-cleaned by a professional dry-cleaning facility. Even if you don't see any obvious stains, things like perspiration, body oils, perfume, hair spray and food or drink could have left their marks, which will appear later (if not cleaned properly) as mystery stains!
Note: If your dress is an heirloom or antique, take it to a professional who specializes in caring for and restoring antique fabrics. For even more bridal-gown hints, send $3 and a self-addressed, stamped (60 cents), long envelope to: Heloise/Bridal, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5001. You'll receive a copy of my four-page pamphlet Heloise's Bridal Gown Hints and More, which has many hints on rentals, storing your dress at home, gift ideas and a whole lot more! Heloise
Dear Heloise: To wrap an oversized gift, I use a party tablecloth. They come in colors or prints and are inexpensive, too! Anita Jordan, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: When making bread pudding, trying to put it in dessert cups with a spoon is sometimes sloppy. Now I use an ice-cream scoop -- it's easy, not sloppy, and when you release the lever on the scoop, the pudding comes out so easily. No mess. Fran Pecora, Rochester, N.Y.
Dear Heloise: While shredding my junk mail for my daughter to use for packing for a move, I began saving brightly colored mail and colored envelopes from greeting cards. Now I shred these and use them in gift bags. The mixture is beautiful and free. It also looks great in the bottom of a gift box. Peggy Turner, Willis, Texas
Dear Heloise: I had a problem with sheets. I like to pull the sheet up over my shoulders at night. By the time I do, I don't have enough sheet left to stay tucked in due to the extra thickness of the mattress.
I took some inexpensive flat sheets (flannel works best, as it tends not to pull out), cut the flannel flat sheet in half and sewed a piece on the end of my nice flat sheet. The flannel part goes in between the mattresses, and the hem of the nice sheet is just at the edge of the mattress. Now I can pull all I want, and my sheet does not come untucked. Donna Bauder, via e-mail
Dear Heloise: To clean lint, dust and/or pet hair off of lampshades, use one of those sticky lint rollers made to take lint off of clothes. It works like a charm! Elizabeth Gatti, Albany, N.Y.
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
King Features Syndicate