HELOISE: Detectors’ location is key when installing

Dear Heloise: My sister lives in a house that is 100 years old with high ceilings. She had two new carbon-monoxide detectors installed.

She started smelling gas and called the gas company, which discovered that she had a very bad gas leak under her kitchen floor. If she had turned on a light switch, the whole house could have blown up.

The reason the detectors did not go off was because they had been installed too high up on the wall. Please read the labels!

K.S., Canyon Lake, Texas

Glad your sister and her home are safe. However, the carbon-monoxide detectors (even though installed too high up) would not have alerted her to a natural-gas leak. Carbon-monoxide detectors only alert for carbon monoxide (which is odorless — one reason it can be so deadly), not for natural gas.

Natural gas in its “natural” state has no smell. That is why gas companies put a stinky (like rotten eggs) additive in it — so you will smell the gas!

You are right that carbon-monoxide detectors must be installed at the correct height and in the correct location to be effective and save lives. Thank you for sharing this so my readers will be more diligent when installing safety devices themselves.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: To reduce the fuss associated with painting cleanup, wrap the painting tray with a plastic bag (from any retailer) over the entire surface and base of the tray, followed by taping it down so no paint escapes the wrapping. When done, just cut or tear away the plastic, and voil ! The tray is as good as new. One also can purchase disposable brushes from a dollar store.

B.A. Berube, Augusta, Maine

Dear Heloise: I try to get the most (best appearance) out of my clothing collection by varying the combinations of skirts, blouses, jackets, slacks, suits, etc. I also try to avoid wearing the same clothing combination to the same place repeatedly. Remembering what and when I had worn a particular combination of clothing to an appointment was a problem.

Using a lined 4-by-6-inch index card, I marked off a 1/2-inch left margin and then divided the remainder of the card into four columns with a heading “date/place.” I punched a hole in the margin column and recorded garment identification in the margin. I bent the card so it hangs vertically and mounted it on the hanger. The next time I choose to wear that garment, I’ll note the date and place visited on the card (e.g., “1/12/11, Dentist”). Result: No more “ditto” appearances.

Pat Witta, via fax

Dear Heloise: The family was coming over for dinner. It was raining, so I put coat hangers on the shower-curtain rod in the bathroom near the front door. No mess, and their coats were dry when they all left!

Carolyn, Sacramento, Calif.

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