Further, he suggests drying toes with a hair dryer twice a day. The itching will stop after the first day.

Putting a fitted sheet on a mattress can be tricky, so I use a black permanent marker to write ‘TOP’ where I should begin to put the sheet on —no more guessing.”

“As an obsessive crossword puzzle addict, I usually work the puzzle in the daily paper,” she writes. “One day, I fumbled for a pen in the desk drawer and [quickly filled in a few squares] when I realized the pen had red ink. It was amazing how much brighter the letters showed up. Now the red pen is a staple with my morning coffee.”

“After having sore eyes while cutting onions, I have discovered that cutting them on a board, under a stove-top electric fan, worked wonders,” she writes. “No more tears, nor sore eyes.”

And bonus to this tip? It pulls the strong aroma right out of your kitchen at the same time!

Alice Gottlieb of the Bronx, N.Y.

Since fish and onion odors can linger on plates and silverware, she found an easy way to get rid of them. To restore plates and utensils to “clean and fresh” order, put them in a bucket or sink filled with warm water and a tablespoon of white vinegar. After an hour, rinse them in cold water, and they’ll be clean-smelling — and shiny, too.

Mrs. Leo Tobias of Middlefield, Conn.

“When I buy seasonings like Mrs. Dash,” she writes, “I unscrew the cover and put Scotch tape over half the holes. You’d be surprised how much you save.”

Marie Hamilton of Paducah, Ky.

She created an at-home organizational system using monthly index cards. January cards read: Get tax info together; clean furnace filters; clean closets; with a card for January birthdays. In October, she has a card reminding her to address her Christmas cards. December’s card reminds her to mail the Christmas cards.

“I also include . . . when my cellphone needs to be renewed (and) when car maintenance needs to be done,” she writes.

“When I do all this, I don’t have to ‘remember’ anything!” she says.

Joan Bell of Palm Bay, Fla.

“Problem solved with a not-too-costly 3-inch on/off switch between the pipe and shower head,” she writes. “I can turn it completely off or let a little drizzle . . . And the best news: It comes back on at the set temperature. Not only are we conserving water, our water bill dropped by $8 a month for two people.”

He puts the onions in a plastic produce bag with a little water in the bottom — you can use a rubber band to keep it from leaking. After using the green tops of the onions, he plants the bulb ends in a planter and enjoys the fresh green shoots when they harvest.

“My best friend gave me the greatest hint,” she writes. “Keep the top from your empty ketchup bottle, wash off the ‘goop’ and put it away. The next time the top gets goopy just replace it with the clean one, wash the dirty one and put away. Love it!”

“I roll up the runners and place them side-by-side in a drawer,” she writes. “When I get ready to use a runner, I can easily see the one I want, I remove it from the drawer and I let it unroll . . . without wrinkles. This procedure has saved me hours of ironing time.”

And who doesn’t want that?

“Having just painted the wall around our fireplace, and not being the neatest painter, I thought I’d pass along my hint,” she writes. “Before I begin, I put on body lotion anywhere I may get paint, including my face. It makes getting splatters off much, much easier. If I’m painting overhead, I always pop on a hotel shower cap to keep paint out of my hair.”

“Place a few slices of overripe banana in the bottom of a jar,” she writes. “Cover the top of the jar with plastic wrap. Poke several holes through the plastic wrap with a toothpick. The fruit flies can find their way into the jar but cannot find their way out.”

After each picnic, party or trip, she rinses out the cooler, then leaves about an inch of water in the bottom with half a cup of bleach. When she’s ready to use it again — sometimes months later — she swishes the liquid around, pours it out and allows it to air-dry. “It is fresh-smelling and super-clean,” she writes. She also puts a tape label on top warning that it contains bleach. Her coolers have lasted for years with this simple trick.

 Editor’s Note:

We received an email from Darryl J. Haefner, a retired lieutenant from the Bolingbrook Fire Department and Fire Science Coordinator, College of DuPage, Ill., who advised us that this week’s tip deserves second thought.

He writes: “If you get gasoline on a pair of work gloves you run the risk of spontaneous combustion or ignition of the gloves if they are stored in a compartment in your vehicle.

Gasoline vapors ignite at 50 degres below 0 and a rolled-up glove stored in a vehicle could ignite and cause a fire.  Best bet, use the plastic gloves provided at most gas stations or buy a box of latex gloves from the loval drug store and keep them in your car.  When you are finished with the gloves, dispose of them in the trash barrel at the gas station.”

Thank you for the tip, Lieutenant!

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Our own photo editor David Baratz contributes this week’s handy tip which will leave you smiling rather than grumbling the next time you fill your car’s tank.

Handling the pump can result in a messy or smelly surprise that can linger for hours. He recommends keeping a pair of basic work gloves (the kind available at any home improvement store) in your car for your next gas-station visit. It’s an easy way to keep that gasoline smell — and don’t get us started on those stains! — off your hands.