Dear Heloise: I recently read a letter in The Advocate from one of your readers about cleaning black shoe scuffs off of a floor. Your reader recommended using a tennis ball and some elbow grease. In the air force, we used toothpaste and a toothbrush. Works great! — Bonnie, Prairieville, Louisiana

AIR CLEANER

Dear Heloise: In a recent column, a man stated that the aroma from his wife’s spicy cooking lingered around the house. He asked how to remove it. Suggestions were made to use candles or fragrance oils on the furnace air filter. Often, these artificial fragrances only cover the smell with another one. Plus, these artificial fragrances can often be bad for dogs. (I don’t know about cats.) How about buying an air cleaner that removes odors? — K.D., via email

BE PREPARED

Dear Heloise: This hint is for anyone that forgets to take their prescriptions to the emergency room or other doctor’s visits:

Keep the paper copy that the pharmacy attaches to your prescriptions in a plastic bag inside of your glove compartment. This way, if you have to leave quickly to go to the ER or another medical facility, you will always have access to your prescribed medications and can give this directly to hospitals or clinics.

Just update your bag if any new medications are dropped or added. This is a lot more convenient than dragging around a bunch of pill bottles. Hope this helps! — B. Redd, via email

INSPECT YOUR HOME

Dear Heloise: Of course, spring-cleaning means a deep cleaning of our homes, but it’s also a good time to make home repairs. We always go over every inch of our house, including the attic and basement. Thank goodness we do because we found that bees had built a nest between the outer wall and insulation, and it was large! We had them removed by a professional. (They vacuum the bees up, including the queen, without harming them.)

We got this problem out of the way and a couple other things that could have become serious issues if we didn’t catch them earlier. — D.T., in Texas

STRANGER DANGER

Dear Heloise: With summer fast approaching, kids will be out of school. This means that there will be kids on playgrounds, riding their bikes to various places, and enjoying parks and lakes. Sadly, it’s also a time where predators scan areas for children.

This is the time of year to tell your little ones to say “no” to strangers and to run off if someone tries to entice them to go with them. It’s easy to remember: “No. Go. Yell. Tell.” You might even want to give them a loud whistle to wear around their neck in case of danger. — N.A., in South Carolina

WHEN THE PILLS MAKES YOU ILL

Dear Heloise: I am recovering from a heart attack and a stroke, so I need to take a large number of pills daily. I always hated them because they caused a terrible taste in my mouth. My wife started to stick them in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, and suddenly, those pills did not have an aftertaste any more.

However, do check with your doctor to make sure that the efficacy of the medicine won’t be affected by putting it in the freezer. — R.N., in Colorado

— — —

Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.