HinTs Heloise from

DEAR

HELOISE: People worry about how they make contact with cheese to avoid mold, but they leave the original packaging on it — same with sausages. Everyone, please wash or rinse the exterior of store wrappers, because this is where most contaminants exist. Hundreds of hands touch them, and who knows what touches the packaging in storage! Before you cut watermelon or any kind of melon, wash it the same as any kind of fruit before cutting, to avoid contamination on the cutting board.

Heloise, I love your column.

I read it in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

— S.R.K., via email

DEAR HELOISE: Hello! I just read the hint from Frankie about having trouble with the big bottles of laundry detergent and fabric softener. (She puts them in condiment squeeze bottles.) Something we started doing is ordering laundry sheets, which take up very little room and are super easy to use! And a big bonus is that there’s no more plastic waste!

As for fabric softener, we bought reusable wool balls and keep them in the dryer. This works great and is better for your skin (no chemicals to irritate or cause allergic reactions). Hope this helps!

— Debra V., via email DEAR HELOISE: Here’s a handy hint for folks with limited mobility. Use a reacher, grabber or backscratcher when you need to extend your reach. I follow your column in the San Antonio Express-News.

— Caroline Wilkins DEAR HELOISE: I recently read a post about saving dryer lint in a tissue box and using the lint to start fires. What I do is use my empty toilet tissue rolls or empty paper towel rolls to stuff the dryer lint into. I then store it in a plastic shoebox until I need to start a fire. This works well and is an excellent way to reuse the cardboard tubes.

— Carol H., via email

DEAR HELOISE: I am particularly happy to see the hint from Tom Cryer regarding screening calls and stating this in your voicemail greeting. Also, some time ago, a reader wrote in about making your own breadcrumbs using all types of bread. This works great! Love your column in the Whittier Daily News.

— Betty I., La Mirada, California

DEAR HELOISE: This is regarding the hint from Brenda, in Arkansas, about medical calls. Everyone should set up their doctors as contacts in their cellphones. Even if you can’t answer the phone, you will know you got a call and need to return it. — Patricia Roberts,

Bellaire, Texas

SEND A MONEY-SAVING or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.