Coffee grounds can repel garden slugs
DEAR HELOISE: I have used beer to get rid of slugs, but find it pretty gross to dispose of the dead slugs. I read that used coffee grounds work, and they do! I do not know if it kills the slugs, but it certainly repels them. I’m sure it would work for snails, too. After sprinkling the grounds around my foundation and door entrances, no more slugs. The coffee grounds would be good for your garden also. You also could spray a liquid from soaked grounds on plants to repel the creatures.
— Julia Foster, Monticello, Ark. DEAR HELOISE: A better method than a reader’s tip on opening the cling-shut plastic grocery bags is as follows: Most stores have antiseptic wipes near the carts at the store entrance to clean off the cart handles, etc. Take a clean wipe with you into the store and touch it each time you need damp fingers to open a plastic bag. No need to breathe on your fingers (which, if you’re still masked, is hard to do), and the antiseptic pretty much eliminates any cross-contamination.
— Ted, via email
DEAR HELOISE: I’ve had problems forever with my ice cube trays and calcium buildup, and the ice cubes will not come out no matter what I do. I was frustrated. I filled my sink with hot water, added vinegar and submerged my trays. I waited about an hour, and the calcium deposits were gone. Thank you for all of the hints over the years. I still have hints from years ago that my late mother taped inside a kitchen cabinet! I read your column every day in the Omaha World-Herald.
— Diane Holmes, via email
DEAR HELOISE: Another response to "hidden treasures," if you will. It seems there is a slight implication that the families who found money hidden all over the house might be implying some lack of faculties of their loved ones. Another version might be that their loved one was protecting their own financial future and perhaps what they wanted to hand down to children. Over time, they might have forgotten where their hiding places were, but the treasures were still there to be inherited. Luckily, I have a huge safe for such hidden treasures.
— Savvy, via email
DEAR HELOISE: Concerning the frequent use of sprinkling baking soda, I use an empty Parmesan container that, of course, has been cleaned. I find its holes are the perfect size for sprinkling.