Freezer bags help mom hang on to containers

Dear Heloise: I’m a mom with sons slowly moving out of the house, going to college and getting their own apartments, but they still come home for food and laundry. The laundry I can handle; the food ... well, after losing a lot of plastic containers, I found it better to use freezer bags.

In one day, I cook a lot of different dishes and use the bags, labeling them according to each child, and freeze. When they come to visit, they always know where to go in the freezer, and I get to keep my plastic containers. Veronica, San Antonio

Dear Heloise: I really enjoy your hints and have used many through the years. Here is one of my favorites:

Place a dish towel under a pillbox when refilling. Pills will not bounce off the table onto the floor. Lynn W., Staunton, Va.

Dear Heloise: Do you have a solution to remove fingernail polish from carpet? Pearl Baker, Springfield, Ill.

Yes, here are a few hints for you. Be sure to test this on a hidden area first, to make sure it won’t harm the carpet. CAUTION: Don’t pour the solution directly on the carpet!

Using a clean cloth, apply a dry-cleaning solvent. Blot the stain, starting at the outside and working your way to the center.

Prepare a detergent solution by mixing 1 teaspoon of mild liquid detergent with 1 cup of water. Mix well. Apply the solution using a clean cloth. Rinse the stain with water and blot until dry.

You might need to repeat these steps a few times before all of the stain is removed. Heloise

P.S.: If you use acetone-based nail-polish remover, it might pull the color from the carpet.

Dear Heloise: I previously wrote that an inexpensive foam paintbrush has just the right pitch on the tip for cleaning the louvers on the metal door that protects a home’s air filter. I since discovered that a 4-inch bristle-type paintbrush was easier to use and almost as effective. After using it dry, I moistened and repeated, then wiped down the door with some folded bath tissues.

I also find it useful to put the date on the filter when I install it. I suggest marking the first Saturday of the month on the calendar to remind yourself to change the filter. Ken French, Brenham, Texas

Dear Heloise: As an old field engineer who has cleaned remotes in the past, the simplest rule is to place controllers on a pad upside down. By the time accumulated dirt becomes a problem, the controller has become broken or obsolete. Tom Hartman, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: It is sometimes hard to tell the bottom from the top on a fitted sheet. Pin a safety pin to the right-hand bottom corner of all sheets, and you know which way it goes. Jean H., San Antonio

SBlt 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