HELOISE: Vinegar can speed up that slow coffee maker

Dear Heloise: My coffee maker is getting slower and slower. Could it be the lime deposits in our water, and if so, what can I do about it? Thanks. Merry, via e-mail

Merry, hard water probably is the culprit! Especially if you don’t have a water softener. However, there is a very easy solution, and it involves my old friend, vinegar! Cheap, safe and green!

Fill the reservoir with straight vinegar, let it go through a brew cycle, then turn off the coffee maker. Put the hot vinegar back in, let sit for about 20-30 minutes, then run through one more time. Run fresh cold water through several times, and you are all set. Don’t waste that vinegar! Pour it down the drain to kill bacteria. Does this whet your appetite for more money-saving vinegar hints? I have a six-page pamphlet with lots of ways to use vinegar that are amazing and safe! If you’d like to receive the pamphlet, send $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (61 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. A bonus vinegar hint: Mix equal amounts of household vinegar and water. Put into a spray bottle, and be sure to label clearly. Use this cleaner to make your windows sparkle! Heloise

Dear Heloise: I have a travel hint that I’ve been using for a few years. I see a lot of people using ribbons, colored yarn or string tied on their luggage handles.

As for me and my family, we use different-colored electrical tape around the handles (we use three different colors). So now when we look for our luggage, all we do is look for our colors. Craig, Waterville, Maine

Dear Heloise: I use a permanent marker to mark recycling plastic grocery bags with what’s to be placed inside them. Examples are: tin, glass, aluminum, etc. Karen G., Hoisington, Kan.

Dear Heloise: How often have you not known whether the dishes in your dishwasher are clean or dirty and mixed dirty dishes with clean ones? This may not work for every design of dishwasher, but we clip a painted wooden clothespin to the handle on the front of the washer. When we start the washer, we clip the clothespin on, and we know the dishes are clean. When we empty the washer, we put the clothespin on the windowsill. The clothespin is soft wood and doesn’t hurt the finish on the washer, and since it’s painted, it looks a little more decorative than a plain one would. Katherine, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: I recently fell, spraining my wrist. I discovered that a flexible wine chiller (gel-filled tube that fits typical wine bottles) makes a great ice pack for a hand injury — just drape a cloth napkin on your hand and slide your hand into the chiller. Suzanne, via e-mail

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