Heloise

Dear Heloise: My mother always complained that her first daughter-in-law, Sally, did not know how to do laundry. Her dish towels were always dingy. Ma called them “battleship grey.” This was 50 years ago. Now, after a few decades of married life myself, I know how this dull color came about. It was not Sally who caused the problem. It was my brother, Louie.

Instead of putting used and damp dish towels into the laundry basket, he would hang them up to dry. The dried-out towel would be used day after day. The grime from day one would be compounded by multiday use until Sally had enough laundry to fill the washer. No amount of bleach could cut through all those dried-out layers of compounded grime. — Catherine R., in New Orleans

Catherine, it could also be your water. If your local water has a heavy mineral content or your usual brand of laundry soap is not strong enough to remove the residue, it can cause a buildup that’s so very hard to eliminate over time. — Heloise

BYE-BYE, FRUIT FLY

Dear Heloise: How do we get rid of those pesky tiny bugs that fly over our kitchen counter and around our faces? I thought cooler weather would take care of them, but they popped up again. I don’t want to use bug spray. — Cecelia P., in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Cecelia, take some apple cider vinegar and dish soap, and place them in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and poke holes in the cling wrap. The gnats will be attracted to the vinegar, but the soap breaks the water tension, killing the gnats.

Follow this by pouring some bleach down the kitchen drain pipes to kill any gnats hiding in there. Also, don’t leave fruit on the kitchen countertop. Gnats love to gather around these tasty treats. — Heloise

DISHWASHER TIPS

Dear Heloise: I saw the dishwasher tips from Harold P. and have a couple of tips to add about dish racks. When purchasing racks, look for nylon-coated racks; it is a much tougher coating. Want to know how to tell if it’s nylon? Stick your thumbnail in it hard! If you’re able to leave a mark, it’s a PVC coating, which is a softer coating.

User tip: Never open the door until the dishwasher has completely cooled. (This can take up to eight hours.) The reason for this is that the expansion rates, the contraction rates for the metal dish rack, and the coating are different. Metal takes longer to cool, and opening the door too early will “shock cool” the coating, causing it to contract too early and potentially cutting the coating from the inside out over time. The dish racks are crazy expensive to replace.

Don’t be distracted by the pretty extras that are now available. The main focus is: Does the dishwasher clean well? Thanks for all the great information over the years! — Maree G., in Ohio

STOLEN MEDICATION

Dear Heloise: I was saddened to read about your readers who were robbed of their medications by delivery persons who asked to use their bathroom. I have read that it’s best not to keep meds in bathrooms; perhaps it would be possible to store them elsewhere and still help out these folks who are on the road for hours. — Mary Helen S., in Richmond, Virginia

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Heloise@Heloise.com