DEAR READERS: Here is this week's Sound Off, about signs being left up:
"I dislike when people have garage sales and leave the signs up for days or weeks after the sale. I understand putting them up a few days before, but it can get confusing if there is no date on the sign and the sale has passed. It also makes the neighborhood look bad when signs are left up forever. If you are going to put up signs, for whatever reason, please take them down as soon as they are no longer needed."
-- Helen K. in Alabama
DEAR HELOISE: I always found it difficult to read the measurement markings inside the lids of liquid laundry detergent. My solution was to use the lighter-colored lids from my brand when they would occasionally come out with them on certain scents. The lavender lids seem the easiest to read, or the light-green ones. I just keep the same light lid and continue to switch it out and throw away the dark-blue lid that comes on each new container of detergent.
-- Cara D., Springdale
DEAR HELOISE: Our home has some light fixtures that hold two or three bulbs and require a ladder to replace a bulb. My wife suggested that all the bulbs be replaced while I'm up on the ladder. We place the good ones back in the container, label them "used" and then use them in the fixtures that we can reach from the floor.
-- A Lucky Husband
in Arkansas
DEAR READERS: Other uses for old sheets:
• As a dropcloth when painting.
• Give to kids to make a fort.
• On a garage floor when repotting plants.
• To cover plants in winter.
• As a tablecloth or window coverings.
DEAR HELOISE: With the warmer weather, kids are playing outside more, and with that comes grass stains on their clothes. Do you have any hints on how to get these stains out?
-- Paula C. in Louisiana
DEAR READER: Take a liquid laundry detergent or a prewash spray and rub it into the stain. Wash the garment in the hottest water that is safe for that particular fabric, and use an enzyme detergent. You may need to repeat the process before putting it in the dryer, so always check to make sure the stain is fully removed.
Have a mud stain? Let dry first. Then brush off as much as you can, treat with prewash spray or liquid laundry detergent and wash as usual.
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
ActiveStyle on 05/19/2014