HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR HELOISE: One of the things I often see on the street is a mattress that has fallen off somebody’s vehicle. People do not realize that a gust of wind or the wind they create by driving can cause the mattress to flip up and fall off. I have seen two mattresses on the street within the past week.

Anybody who moves a mattress needs to run a strong rope through the loops on the sides and across the mattress in at least two or three places. Crisscross the ropes across the mattress as well.

  • William K. in Houston

DEAR READER: You are so right, William - road hazards from things falling off or out of a vehicle can cause terrible accidents. It is important to make sure that anything you carry or that’s in the bed of a truck is securely tied down.

DEAR HELOISE: I read the hint about pouring laundry soap on a towel and taking it to the laundry.

We spend winter months in a motor home. I put laundry detergent in small plastic bags for each load. I put the clothes in a machine and toss in the bag. It opens during the action. I remove the bag before putting the clothes into the dryer. Saves carrying the large detergent boxes.

  • Rita B., via email

DEAR HELOISE: I found a corner of bathroom tile that had chipped. I did not want to go through the cost of replacing the whole tile. I found a close-match-color nail polish and applied a few light coats, and then a top coat. You would never know the chip was there!

  • Tina, Wallkill, N.Y.

DEAR HELOISE: I’m often surprised when using the bathroom at friends’ houses to see that they leave the bathmat on the floor, right in the path of those who walk in and out. I wonder how they can fail to notice that they’ll be standing barefooted on the residue of someone’s (and their) dirty shoe tracks when they step out of the shower.

  • Chaz, via mail

DEAR HELOISE: This tip is for those who have “electric” beds, with the thick mattress. I had a difficult time stretching the fitted bottom sheet on the mattress. By raising the head and the foot of the bed, the bed became “shorter,” and the sheet fit easily.

  • Gail in California

Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email Heloise@Heloise.com

Weekend, Pages 36 on 08/22/2013

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