A new, easier way to shred paper

Dear Heloise: My shredder once broke in the mid- dle of a job. But, a tip came from a friend, and now I use it all the time.

I fill a large household bucket with warm water, about half-full to accommodate the batch of papers. Try to have most of the paper covered. Sometimes I add a spritz of dishwashing deter- gent. Set it aside to soak well.

The next day, with house- hold gloves on, I fish out a handful of sheets. At that point, the paper will easily rip into long and narrow strips. Then, I wring them out — some will break into small bunches. It’s really easy to do, and trying to undo this process won’t be successful, whether you have it wet or dry. I usually dump them with the large garbage bags that I use to throw out other trash.

I can get rid of a lot more paper that way than with the shredder. Unless you have the FBI waiting to deci- pher this stuff, this should work for you, since your garbage person won’t have the time or resources. — M.S.,

via email

Grabber double duty

Dear Heloise: At 94, I was having a hard time cleaning around my commode in my small bathroom. So, I got my “grabber” and an old washcloth from my cleaning box that I had soaked in hot, soapy water. I found that it was the perfect size to get in and around the tight spaces. The suction cups on the end of the grabber did an excel- lent job of holding onto the cloth. When I finished clean- ing, I just sterilized the grab- ber with hydrogen peroxide, and it was ready for the next job. My daughter found this was helpful for her, too.

I read your column every day in the Temple Daily Tele- gram in Temple, Texas. I enjoy it very much. I look forward to your hints and great recipes. — Georgia Pos- var, Temple, Texas

Smoke detectors

Dear Heloise: Replac- ing smoke detector batter- ies every year is an excellent idea. However, few people know that the smoke detec- tor itself needs to be replaced every 10 years. Six years ago, we rented a condo in Santa Fe, and at about 11 p.m. all the detectors went off. As there was no smoke, we removed the batteries, but they contin- ued to beep intermittently. We had to remove and dis- able each ourselves (try get- ting maintenance to come at 11 p.m.), and the detec- tors actually had a printed warning on them to replace after 10 years. — Rick Jak- sha, via email