HELOISE: Vinegar to the rescue: Milk it for all it's worth

Dear Heloise: On my way home from the grocery store, I managed to spill some milk in my car. As you can imagine, the smell is pretty bad. What can I do to get rid of it? M.S. in Arizona

This can be a stinky situation! Fortunately, our old friend vinegar should help. After cleaning the spot, pour the vinegar straight from the bottle onto the area (just enough to cover the stain). Wait about 10-15 minutes and blot with a clean, white towel. The smell should be gone, but you may need to repeat the process the next day. Vinegar should be your go-to cleaner and deodorizer for many reasons. It’s cheap, 100 percent natural and safe to use around kids and pets. For a list of stain-busting and odor-conquering hints, order my Fantabulous Vinegar Hints and More pamphlet by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (61 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001, or visit my Web site: www.Heloise.com. One more vinegar hint: Soak musty T-shirts in 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water for 30 minutes, then wash as usual. Heloise

Dear Heloise: Have you ever noticed girls who set their handbags on public toilet floors, then on restaurant tables? It’s not always the restaurant food that causes stomach distress.

Do you have any idea what’s on the outside of your handbag? Women carry them everywhere, from the office to the floor of the car.

If you think about putting a pair of shoes on your countertops, that’s the same thing as putting your handbag there! A Reader, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: My son is in the Marines. Every time I send him cookies, I pack them in the cans that potato chips come in. I take some plastic wrap and wrap four cookies (putting a cookie in one corner, then folding to separate each one) before putting in the can. Each can will hold at least a dozen cookies. He reports that they always arrive intact. Mary, Bozeman, Mont.

Dear Heloise: Years ago, the question was posed to me, “Can you walk better while pushing a shopping cart?” It hit me, for I just then realized that it was true.

States give us handicap cards to hang in our cars, and shopping areas are required to give us parking spaces, but no one thinks of how we are to get from our cars to the store. Shopping carts work fine. Try this: Leave a cart — just one cart — near a handicapped area, and stand back and watch. Someone will grab it and use it as support to get into the store. Thank you for listening. Nav Fosse, Aliso Viejo, Calif.

Dear Heloise: The buttons on the control panel of light-colored microwaves smudge easily. Instead of using a fingertip, press any of the control buttons with a knuckle, which seldom will transfer residue. Bruce, Olney, Md.

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