King Features Syndicate
DEAR HELOISE: I am a do-it-yourself person and came across a unique problem and solution I'd like to pass on. I have a synthetic bathtub, and I have been having ongoing trouble with the caulk breaking. I would caulk one week, and the next it would be cracked. Then I decided to fill the tub completely with water and caulk around it. The weight of the water was actually pulling down on the tub, causing the caulk to break. I left the tub full for three days while the caulk cured and have not had any trouble since. -- A Reader, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
DEAR HELOISE: When we put vinyl siding on our house, I needed a way to put up our house number without damaging the vinyl. Self-gripping fabric dots to the rescue! I purchased the small, round, self-sticking fasteners and placed them on the wooden house numbers that I had purchased at a local crafts fair. They worked like a charm. Hope this hint helps your other readers. -- Rebecca, Dublin, Va.
DEAR HELOISE: When my husband and I finish painting a room, we fill a small baby-food jar with the paint and put it aside for touch-ups later. I carefully lay a piece of plastic wrap on the paint; this keeps the air from drying the top and forming a skin." Before the next project, I simply lift off the plastic wrap and mix the paint as usual. -- Mary Kay Stickel, Mount Pleasant, Pa.
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
