Dear Heloise: My Whirlpool dryer belt recently broke. Since it’s old and older appliances tend to last longer than newer models, I decided to have it fixed. I did some research and discovered it’s very easy to open it up and get to the guts of the dryer. Unbelievably, there was a lot of lint and dust built up inside! Prior to repair, I was able to vacuum the entire interior.

I would encourage everyone to look into their dryers and see if they need vacuuming. — Bev, Spokane, Washington

SAVING ON LOTION

Dear Heloise: The tube my hand lotion comes in is about 7 inches long, so when it gets near the end, it’s impossible to squeeze the lotion from the tube. So, I cut it approximately three inches from the top, so I end up having two parts of the tube. There’s an abundance of lotion inside that I’d previously been unable to reach; however, when the tube’s been cut in half, I’m able to get all of it out.

When I’m through using it, I then just put one half back on top of the other half. That will preserve the leftover lotion and keep it nice and usable. I estimate there are about 20 applications of lotion left inside the tube that I’m then able to use. — Barbara K. Hoch, San Antonio

REUSING

PILLOWCASES

Dear Heloise: When I read your suggestions recently about reusing pillowcases, another use close to home came to mind. My wife has wreaths for every season/holiday period. She hangs the wreaths on the wall on the front porch. I am going to suggest to her that if she decides a pillowcase is no longer suitable for one’s head, she can use the pillowcase to store the wreaths.

The only wreath that would not fit a pillowcase is the very large Christmas wreath we have. We use a 30-gallon trash bag for that.

Best regards and smiles. — Tim Davis, Kettering, Ohio

LAUNDRY TIP

Dear Heloise: In response to the woman who wrote that laundry detergent bottles are heavy, they now make laundry detergent sheets that I have been using, and they are obviously very light and dissolvable. There are several brands. The bigger plus is that using the laundry sheets eliminates the amount of laundry bottles in our landfills. — Mary Emminger, Laguna Woods, California

DOWN VESTS

Dear Heloise: I have several down vests, and I never travel without one. I often use my down vest in place of a hotel pillow. I know it’s clean because I washed it. I can slip it on if the weather turns chilly and wrap breakable items in it for plane travel. One time, I used it to wrap up an abandoned puppy who was freezing on the side of the highway.

P.S. We kept the puppy, and she just turned 7 years old. — John G., Blaine, Minnesota

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.