HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR READERS: Halloween will be upon us soon, so here are some safety suggestions for our furry friends:

The noise, costumes, lights and activity can be scary for a pet. Keep them calm in a quiet area.

Pet costumes can be cute, but a simple bandana or colorful collar should suffice.

Cords for lighting decorations should be kept away from pets so they won’t chew on them. Appropriate snacks for pets? Carrots, apples and green beans. Candy? No way.

Keep your pets safe, on Halloween and every other day.

DEAR HELOISE: I love your column and look forward to reading it every day. I have an idea that we used when I was living at home as a child 70 years ago.

Back then, we didn’t have plastic bags to throw our garbage in; we wrapped it in newspaper. I have started doing this again since plastic bags are becoming a problem.

— Betty in Ohio DEAR READER: Look in the supermarket or online for biodegradable trash bags, or wrap trash in the newspaper.

DEAR HELOISE: One of my shortcuts and dish-soap savers is to keep one smaller bottle of dish soap diluted about one third soap to two thirds water and use it to wash dishes. I use a scrubbie and rinse the items, and either drain or dry them.

I also came up with the best way to use up the hand soap remaining in the bottom of the pump bottles: I dilute with water and drain into a squeeze bottle. Using the pump bottle makes a mess.

— M.H. in Ohio.

DEAR HELOISE: Don’t know if you’ve heard this one, but it works: Painter’s tape is good to help keep boxes of crackers, cookies and cereal fresher. Insert the tab into the slot on the top of the box, and put the painter’s tape on the closure.

It can be taken off and retaped several times, and it helps to distinguish opened boxes from unopened ones.

— Ellen B., North Carolina

DEAR HELOISE: I save the lids from things like cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream, etc., and use them under items such as bottles of oil, jellies and jams, honey or just about anything that is sticky and messy. It saves me having to scrub and scrape my shelves.

— Meghan V., California