HELOISE: Baked-on foil shouldn't be a problem

Dear Heloise: If you can help with this, you will forever be my idol! I was making pies. As always with fruit (at least mine), they run. I put foil on the rack the pie would be sitting on, and I put foil on the bottom of my oven. Well, the foil baked onto the bottom of my oven. Can you think of anything I can try to remove the baked-on foil, or am I going to have to live with this? Since this is a brand-new stove, I am sick about this. Thank you

Sharon, via e-mail

Sharon, this has happened to lots of people, so you are not alone. A leading manufacturer of foil said that while unsightly, it shouldn’t be a problem when cooking food, nor is it a fire hazard. But most manufacturers do not recommend lining the bottom of the oven with foil. Also, if you do put foil on a lower rack, don’t cover the whole rack, as it may hamper heat circulation.

Oven manufacturers suggest gently scrubbing the foil (in a cold oven) with the rough side of a two-sided sponge and soapy water to remove as much of it as possible. Good luck. Heloise

Dear Heloise: My travel hint is that I always bring clothespins to keep the drapes shut at night. The lights from the parking lot and surrounding businesses are bright, and are on all night.

V.H., Bakersfield, Calif.

You are singing my travel song! Those darn streetlights. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When our next-door neighbors are gone for any length of time, we watch their house, and vice versa. In the wintertime, the prospects of heater units malfunctioning, resulting in a freeze-up, is a concern.

We have started using indoor/outdoor wireless temperature stations so that we can monitor the neighbors’ room temperature without going over every few hours. We put the main unit in our house and the remote unit (98-foot range) in their house. Works just fine.

J.D. Murphy, Custer, S.D.

Dear Heloise: I read that using pliers to pull out the spout on a fabric-softener bottle is a good way to get what is left inside. I just add a little water to the bottle, shake it up and pour it in the washer. I can get two or three more applications before recycling the container.

Mary, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: Our laundry room is on the same level as our clothes hamper. I used to drag it to the washing machine. My husband put wheels on the hamper. Now it is easy to just roll it there.

Carolyn, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: I step into my shower stall to apply hair spray, thus keeping the sticky mist confined in an easy-to-clean area.

E.W., Salem, Utah

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