Follow these helpful hints to keep your freezer working well

DEAR READERS: When you bring frozen food home from the supermarket, make sure your freezer is working correctly so that it keeps frozen food frozen. Your freezer should be kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature is fluctuating, this will cause frozen food to lose moisture, dry out and ultimately go bad. To prevent this, take these steps:

Keep the freezer full to maintain the temperature.

Do not add too many nonfrozen items to the freezer at one time because the heat coming off them could cause the freezer temperature to rise.

Put food in moisture-proof containers with an airtight seal, which will help preserve nutritional value and taste.

Heloise

DEAR HELOISE: During my son’s summer baseball season, his dirty, sweaty and smelly baseball caps are so disgusting. I need your help on how to clean them.

Sharon in Texas

DEAR SHARON: You can clean the caps effectively by using these easy steps so the caps will not lose their shape.

1. If the caps are cotton or wool (not vintage), begin by testing them for colorfastness. Dip a white cloth in a mixture of mild laundry detergent and cool water, then dab the cloth on the interior of the cap. If you don’t see any dye, you can then hand wash them.

2. Wash with the detergent and water solution, and rinse very well (shake out and pat dry). You can buy an inexpensive baseball form to the place the hat over to dry and retain the shape.

3. If the band is filthy, mix 1 tablespoon of cheap hair shampoo with 1/2 cup of water. Scrub onto the band with a clean toothbrush, rinse and air-dry.

Heloise

DEAR READERS: Are you worried about dust mites in your pillows and bed? These little creatures thrive in warm, humid weather. They also love to chomp down on the flakes of dead skin from people and pets. These pieces frequently land in beds, carpeting or furniture. Here’s how to get rid of them:

Vacuum and dust your bed and bedroom often to remove skin flakes. Wash bedding in the hottest water appropriate for the fabric and dry well. Buy dust-mite covers for pillows, box springs and mattresses.

Heloise

DEAR READERS: Pound cake is a favorite in America, but it came from Europe. Many families seem to have a version that a grandmother adapted with a variety of additions and handed down over generations. But the pound cake name came from the original four ingredients, which called for one pound of each: butter, sugar, flour and eggs!

Heloise