HELOISE: Vinegar cleans shower heads

Dear Readers: There is an inexpensive and easy way to clean shower heads using one of my favorite household items, vinegar! So before you call the plumber, try this simple hint:

If you can remove the shower head, soak it in a small bucket or bowl of hot vinegar to dissolve the buildup. Then use an old toothbrush or toothpick to loosen any remaining deposits.

If the shower head is not removable, fill a sturdy plastic bag with vinegar, and tape, tie or rubber-band it so that the shower head is submerged. Let it soak several hours or overnight.

After either cleaning method, put the water on full blast, and you should be back up to full shower power. I have put together my favorite money-saving vinegar hints in a pamphlet. If you would like to receive one, send $5 along with a long, self-addressed, stamped (61 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to about 8 ounces of water, rinse with this, and it will leave your hair soap-residue-free.

Heloise

Dear Readers: Next time you have a foil balloon, don’t throw it away once it is deflated. Instead, try one of these reuses:

Laminate it and use as a place mat.

Use it as gift wrapping.

Put it on a bulletin board.

Line a basket with it.

Use as the background of a scrapbook or photo-album page.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I keep an empty laundry basket in the back of my minivan to put groceries in to take home. The carpet is very slippery, and everything, including cases of cans, used to slide around. I put a piece of the rubbery shelf liner under the basket and another piece of it down on the carpet to put the cases of cans on. They don’t slide at all now, and I can unload them without having to crawl into the car to slide them to the back.

Jan Foutz in Farmington, N.M.

Dear Heloise: Sometimes the screws would come loose on one of my electrical switch plates, and I would have to hunt down a screwdriver and go back into the room to tighten them. Then another time another one would get loose. Now I fix them all just twice a year. I just walk from room to room with a screwdriver in hand and tighten all the switch plates (remember, righty-tighty).

J.T. in California

Preventative is better than curative! A few minutes twice a year is a good investment of time.

Heloise

SOUND OFF

Dear Heloise: I find it disingenuous when restaurants advertise “homemade” or “just like homemade.” When I go out to dine, I’ve already had homemade food. I want meals prepared by a professional chef, with delightful presentations, served by a skilled wait staff.

Richard French in North Port, Fla.

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate