Use charcoal to get fish odor out of ice chests

Dear Heloise:I recently read your column in Good Housekeeping magazine (May issue — Heloise) with your remedy for eliminating fish odors in an ice cooler. Here are a couple of my suggestions: After the wipe-down with vinegar or baking soda, insert either newspaper or charcoal, close the lid and let sit. After a couple of days, open the lid, remove the paper and/or charcoal and let sit in the sun.

This also worked really well when our power was out for a week and we lost everything in our freezer.

— Kay, via e-mail

Hi, Kay. Your hints using newspaper and charcoal are a good way to "de-stink" an ice chest, as both help absorb and neutralize odors. Keep in mind that if you use charcoal, you should place it in shallow containers or put newspapers down first to keep the briquettes from making a mess.

— Heloise

Dear Heloise:I, too, had the problem of the baggers putting too much in one bag, mixing frozen with canned or making it too full to tie the handles.

Now, I always take five or six bags in, open a couple of bags in the cart and put items directly in the bags as I shop. When the bag is full enough, I start another bag.

When I get to the checkout, I simply put each bag on the counter and ask the clerk to make sure they're rebagged the same way.

— L.E. Stephens, San Antonio

And here's another comment from Rodger Gatton of Florida: "This is in reference to the overpacking of grocery bags. Our grocery stores do just the opposite. They try to put just one or two items in a bag, then move on to the next one. Some things that are already in bags don't need another one. I have begun to tell the cashier or bagger, when we start the transaction, to use the smallest number of bags possible."

— Heloise

Dear Heloise:If your mailbox is not very close to your house, there is a simple way to know if mail has been delivered. Cut out a piece of plastic — for example, from an empty mustard container, etc. Punch a hole for attaching a cord or fish line, which then is secured to the mailbox. Fold the plastic over and stuff it in so that when the mailbox is opened, the plastic piece falls down and waves around in the breeze. This lets you know that the mail has been delivered.

— Don Olmstead, Pearl, Miss.

Dear Heloise:Another great reason to use colored dots at your garage sale: On the last day (or whenever you want to reduce prices), all you have to do is change the prices on the price list. You don't have to change the individual prices.

— Sandy in Ohio

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. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.

© King Features Syndicate Inc.