DEAR HELOISE: I have two hints for hand sewers who have conditions that make it more difficult to sew.

1. If arthritis makes it difficult for you to knot the ends of your thread, try this: Wet the tip of your index finger and wind the thread twice around your finger. Then, wet the wound threads. With the thumb of your opposite hand, start to slowly roll the thread to the tip of your index finger, making sure all the threads are rolling around your finger, and then proceed as usual. It might not be a pretty knot, but it works.

2. If you have poor vision, but have managed to get your needle threaded, do not sew with a single thread, even if that is how you usually sew. Tie the two threads together in a knot, because you might accidentally pull a single thread through the needle and have to start all over again.

DEAR HELOISE: Here's another use for denture tablets. Drop the tablet in warm water inside of any glassware that has a film, stain or stubborn ring, and let sit for a few hours. Then, rinse well. Have read your mother's column in the Daily Home News from New Brunswick, New York, for over 80 years. I'm 86.

-- Joan Lupuloff, via email

DEAR HELOISE: Everyone talks about how to keep kitchen sponges clean and free of germs. I gave up sponges in the kitchen years ago, when I married a man from Arkansas. His mother always had dish cloths, like wash cloths, that she used and threw in the wash every couple of days when needed. I've never gone back to a sponge since.

We even have ladies in our community who knit dishrags. They are awesome.

DEAR HELOISE: Here are a few more uses for empty coffee cans following your recent column:

1. Use as storage for loose nails, screws, nuts and bolts, whether they're kept all together or individually, if there are enough of each. This is very helpful if you need one, or a few, so you can avoid having to go to the hardware store and buy a whole new package.

2. Use them as containers for solvents to clean paint brushes when used with oil-based paint, lacquer or shellac. Hope this helps.

-- A reader, via email

Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email

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