DEAR HELOISE: What is the best way to clean the inside of gas grills (drip grids, etc.)?
-- E.H., via email
DEAR READER: With summer on its way, it's a good time for all of us to clean our grills. Here are some hints to help you get grill-ready.
- With the grill cool and the propane tank shut off, remove and clean all the inside parts that you can: grates, burners and drip grids (you might want to refer to the manual if you're unsure how to disconnect the grids).
- Using a scrub brush, dish detergent and warm water, clean all these parts to remove stuck-on food and grease. Rinse with water and air-dry.
- Clean burner tubes, checking for cracks or leaks, while noticing whether any bugs have nested. If anything needs to be replaced, do this now.
P.S.: Each time, before grilling, turn all the burners on high for 15 minutes to burn off food residue from the last time you used it.
DEAR HELOISE: My roommate and I have several cats and dogs. We use the monthly treatment for fleas that is topically applied. It is very important to not mix up the cat and dog treatments. Yesterday when we were applying it, we pulled the applicators out of the boxes and discovered that the individual application pods are not marked as to which animal they are for. Thankfully, we still had the boxes and were able to check the product ID. After our scare, I took a laundry marker and wrote the type of animal on each application pod, so that in future months we will not have the same confusion.
-- Lauri S.,
Spokane, Wash.
DEAR READER: You do need to be careful not to mix up pet medications. What a good hint to label each individually with a marker. I would do this as soon as I brought the product home. Depending on which application you use, they typically are marked for weight. If you do have a mix-up and put the wrong medicine on a pet, contact your veterinarian immediately to find out what to do.
DEAR HELOISE: When quilting, my carpet often gets filled with scraps of fabric, interfacing and thread. To limit the filling of my vacuum cleaner's bag, I use one of those sticky-tape lint rollers to remove the majority of scraps. Works great!
-- Carol E.,
Newbury Park, Calif.
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
HomeStyle on 06/07/2014