If you choose not to reuse plastic water bottles, recycle

Dear Readers: Many of you have written asking if plastic water bottles are safe to reuse. With so many of us using them, it’s a good time to revisit the issue.

Heloise Central rechecked information printed in this column before, and here is the updated scoop: Reusing these bottles can be a problem due to saliva, sweat and bacteria — yuck! If you don’t take the time to clean with hot water and dish soap (or use the dishwasher), you should not reuse the bottle, according to the experts. Bottles with narrow openings are hard to clean, so if you want to reuse a bottle, use a bottle that has a wide mouth for easier cleaning.

Please put your used bottles in the recycling bin! Or use them to water plants, as I do for my African violets. Heloise

Fast facts

Dear Readers: Here are other uses for shampoo from hotels and motels:

UHand-wash sweaters or lingerie.

UClean the shower or tub.

UUse as bubble bath.

UPut in a hand-soap dispenser.

UKeep in a purse or glove box for public restrooms with no soap.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: Here is a hint that will keep you from forgetting items. If I am at work or wherever and there is something I need to take home, I put my car keys with it. Since I need to have my keys, the item will be remembered. Jimmie, Wichita, Kan.

This is a good hint. However, one of my assistants did this and then didn’t remember where she had put her keys! She spent quite a bit of time looking before she remembered they were in the refrigerator. So, make a note, too! Heloise

Dear Heloise: I buy several different sauce/gravy packets. When I set them in the pantry, they always manage to get “lost.” I bought a small plastic bin and placed it on the pantry shelf. Now I put the packets in it, and they are easy to find. Daisy M. in Texas

Dear Heloise: I have a small, round, collapsible trash container in my car, and just discovered that newspaper bags make perfect liners. All you have to do is grab the bag full of trash and throw it away instead of taking the entire container out of the car to empty it. Jan Curtis, via e-mail

Jan, this is a great way to reuse the bag for a second hint! Plus, you are keeping trash off the roads and highways. Heloise

Sound off

Dear Heloise: My complaint is about businesses that don’t post operating hours in a place where you can see and read it without a magnifying glass! Why do they put the times open in tiny print, in a corner of a window or on the bottom of the door?

Please, if you want my business, let me know when you are open! Ron B., Fort Wayne, Ind.

• 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