Dear Heloise: To clean a ceiling fan a little more easily, take a pillowcase and slip it on each individual blade and dust away INTO the pillowcase. When most of the dust is off the entire fan, then you can go over the blades again with your favorite cleaner, and you won't have all the fan dust flying all over the room. Take the pillowcase outdoors and turn it inside out to shake. Wash inside out to get the dust out better. I know it's a two-step process, but I can't think of a better way to clean the fan without turning the blades into a sea of mud.
I remember reading your mother's column when I was a little girl. You are only two years older than I am. I also have several of your books, and refer to them often. This hint about the fan and the pillowcase was the most helpful hint I think I've gotten and used from either you or your mom.-Philomena B., Goldendale, Wash.
Thank you so much for being a longtime reader! This is a classic cleaning hint that I haven't printed in a while, but I agree that it's just as good as when originally printed!-Heloise
SALAD DRESSING
Dear Heloise: Many of the salad dressings do not have what I call a "portion control" hole in the top. When you start to pour, it doesn't come out, and then you squeeze and you have enough for three salads. I take the "portion control" cap out of the dressing bottles that come that way before I toss them, and I use them in other bottles that don't have this feature.
I wrote a letter to one of the companies that didn't have this control hole, and I got the canned response that they do what their consumers like, based on focus groups.-Lynne S., The Villages, Fla.
PAINT TOUCH-UP
Dear Heloise: Today I was doing some touch-up painting. There were several small areas where nails had previously been that needed painting. I used a new sponge-tip eye-shadow applicator that I had, and it worked perfectly. In the past, I have used a cotton swab, but the sponge-tip applicator worked better and looked better, too.-Mary A., Vancouver, Wash.
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