Travel hints make for smoother trips

Dear Heloise: Here are a couple of my favorite travel hints:

• I always pack one or two tall plastic kitchen bags with drawstrings in each family member’s luggage. Dirty clothes go in the bag. Pull the drawstring and put the bag back in the luggage when leaving, if desired.

•I save the clear plastic bags my newspaper comes in. A shoe can go in each bag. I close the bag with a twist-tie and pack in the luggage. The bags also can be used for wet swimsuits.

•My husband brings a little night light to plug in the bathroom wall if it’s too dark in the room when getting up in the night. Ramona, Prairieville, La.

All good travel hints, and a reminder to reuse plastic bags, too. If you forget one, just grab the plastic dry-cleaner bag that is usually hanging in the hotel closet. Heloise

Dear Heloise: Recently, a writer suggested that washing-machine load order should be dark, light and then bleachable so that the last wash with bleach deodorizes the machine.

This means that a bleach wash will be followed by dark in the next cycle of washes. When I did this, some of the dark clothes were ruined with little bleached dots. It seemed the bleach was still in the machine and came though the little holes in the basket as the clothes were spinning. I ruined many clothes.

Now, my method is to wash bleach loads first, then whites and then lastly the darks. This way, the bleach is cleaned out by the water in the white wash and also cannot bleach anything. Lorna, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: I have my original kitchen countertop, which is white laminate. Lately, I’ve been having trouble keeping it stain-free. Can you suggest something to keep it white? Lenny Silverberg, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Sometimes older countertops, with wear and tear, become susceptible to staining. Try sprinkling a bit of baking soda on the stain, dampen with warm water to make a paste and rub, then let it sit for a bit. Rinse with clean, clear water. This may help. A bit of furniture polish or car wax will help restore the shine. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When my cotton mattress pads developed wear, I replaced them with new polyester pads. However, they tended to slip on the slick mattress, so I put the clean, old cotton ones next to the mattresses and the new ones on top. Problem solved! Nila Boone, Rapid City, S.D.

• 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