Cleaning product quickly loses strength

Thursday, August 24, 2006 Dear Readers: From time to time, this column shares cleaning solutions to help solve those pesky household problems. Now it's time to check your cleaning hint IQ. Which of the following cleaning agents loses its strength after about an hour? a. hydrogen peroxide b. ammonia c. soap and water Well, what is your guess? If you guessed "a," then you are the winner! Hydrogen peroxide, especially when exposed to light and heat, loses its strength after an hour or less. So, if you are using it in a cleaning solution, remember that it will only have the "cleaning" action for an hour at most. — Heloise Dear Heloise: Recently, my husband and I accidentally ripped and spilled a large bag of bird food as we removed it from our car trunk. The seeds fell into our golf shoes and many other crevices. We put a clean bag in the vacuum cleaner, attached the extension wand and totally cleaned up the mess. We put the bird food in the bird feeder all clean. No harm done, and a lot of laughs. Carol from Ohio Dear Heloise: My lipstick and lip moisturizer are in identical tubes. While driving one day, I was very distracted trying to find my lip moisturizer because I physically had to look at each tube. It dawned on me to wrap a rubber band around the base of the moisturizer, and now I can easily identify it without taking my eyes off the road. Teri M., via e-mail Dear Heloise: My wife was having a problem opening canned goods that have a ring pull tab. I gave her a regular screwdriver with a 6-inch shaft. To open a can, on the rim at the small end of the tab, insert the screwdriver, and this pops the portion of the top nearest the hand. Next, further insert the shaft of the screwdriver through the ring until the point is just beyond the rim on the far side of the can. Lift up on the handle of the screwdriver, and the top will come off. If the top does not come completely off, it will only take a small twist to completely remove it. It works. Try it — you'll like it. Alex in Texas Dear Heloise: An idea for hanging a calendar (rather than with a magnet on the refrigerator) is to put a cup hook on the inside of your pantry door and hang it there. It's handy for daily viewing and out of sight. Jan S., The Villages, Fla. Dear Heloise: One thing I've done when I'm not sure I'll remember the last time I took a pill is to attach a large sticky note to the bottle, with the date and times I took the pill. — Ann Warren, via e-mail Dear Heloise: The folded-over, scented perfume ads make great bookmarks. Cut them out from the rest of the ad, then (since they are long) cut them in half. Voilá! Two bookmarks! Joan in New Jersey Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. King Features Syndicate