DEAR READERS: A column recently ran about coffee grounds and why you should not put them down the disposal or drain. Here is a reader’s response:
“Our family owned a large plumbing/heating/AC company. We had the contract to install the heating/AC at a hospital’s addition. At the main entrance, there was a gift-and-snack shop. About nine months after they occupied the new addition, we received a call about a leak in one of our heat/AC units. Searching for the source, someone ran water in the snack shop, and water came dripping down from a horizontal drain line. It seems that the snack shop was flushing coffee grounds down the sink with just enough water to rinse out the sink. Thus the grounds stayed in the pipe and eroded it.”
- R.D. Smith, Lima, Ohio
It’s amazing what people put down the kitchen sink, expecting it to just “disappear.” For my readers who are saying to themselves, “I’ve done this all of my life and never had a problem,” count yourself lucky. Remember, when in doubt, throw it out. My husband, David, who built our house, said to me that if it can go in the trash or compost pile, it should, rather than try to stuff a sink full of potato peels or celery remains down the plumbing system.
DEAR HELOISE: For a week, I was noticing that my bread tasted or smelled like bananas. I couldn’t figure it out, and I thought I was going crazy! I could take only a few bites of my sandwiches or toast because I kept tasting it. I finally figured it out. I had the bread and the bananas next to each other on the counter. Being so close, the bread started absorbing the odor. Now I know, and I store the bananas separately.
- A Reader in Texas
DEAR HELOISE: I sew buttonholes into the corners of my towels. I have several hooks in my bathroom that I hang my towels and other things on. With the buttonholes, the towels are really easy to hang, and they never fall off.
- Loni in Texas
DEAR HELOISE: I ride a bike instead of driving places. I always carry a shower cap with me, and I use it to cover the seat of my bicycle when I am not riding. This way, I don’t have to worry about the seat being dirty or wet when I sit on it.
- A Reader in New York
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
HomeStyle, Pages 40 on 04/26/2014