Advice on cloth diaper duty

Dear Heloise: I’m using cloth diapers to help save money. Do you have any hints for cleaning them? Thanks! Andrea Z., Union, N.J.

Andrea, many young mothers are going back to basics and using cloth diapers.

You even can get a diaper cleaning service to pick up soiled ones once a week. Check the prices versus doing them yourself.

Here are hints on washing cloth diapers:

UDon’t put more than 30 diapers in a load (check your washer’s capacity), or they won’t wash or rinse properly. Also, try a second rinse.

UTo deodorize dirty diapers between washings: Remove solid waste and soak diapers in a presoak solution. You can make one by mixing 1 gallon of water with a few drops of liquid laundry detergent and 1 tablespoon of household bleach.

UWhen you are ready to launder, just dump the solution and all the items into the washing machine and set it on a spin cycle. This is much easier than taking each diaper from the pail and wringing it out by hand.

UDon’t let dirty diapers or liners sit unwashed for more than three days. A week is too long, and stains will set in.

UInvest in a tightly sealed diaper pail. Some of the new ones are fantastic and have odor filters in the lid. Heloise

Dear Heloise: Here is a ditty my mother told me to avoid a dishcloth getting moldy: Rinse it in hot, then rinse it in cold, and you’ll never get any nasty old mold! It works! Kathy Davidson, Columbus, Ohio

Yes, it does seem to! Heloise

Dear Heloise: I am a mother who loves to keep almost everything my 2-year-old son brings home from Bible school that he makes.

Instead of putting all of his work in a box, I bought page protectors and made a book out of his work by putting them into a three-ring binder.

This keeps it neat, and it is an easy way to go back and look through it.

I also keep empty page protectors in the book so I can just slide things right in as he brings them home, and they don’t pile up in other places. Lisa, Amory, Miss.

What a cute way to keep your son’s precious artwork contained. Heloise

Dear Heloise: While at the beach or pool, I keep my hearing aid dry and protected by placing it in a handy pill container.

I label it and tuck it into my beach bag.

A hearing aid is quite expensive, so this is a good way to protect it. Betty Ruger, Ballston Spa, N.Y.

Dear Heloise: In humid weather, try using a few unpopped popcorn kernels in a saltshaker instead of rice.

Rice can clog the holes or break up and get on food. Joan deGarmo, Haymarket, Va.

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