Dear Heloise: When traveling, I throw a dryer sheet in the bag that holds my shoes. I also put a dryer sheet in each of my gym shoes at home. To freshen my clothes quickly, I put them in the dryer with a dryer sheet on the air cycle. I reuse ones from the dryer to dust with. My sisters place dryer sheets under their bedsheets. Others rub a dryer sheet on their sofas!

I love and use many of the suggestions you and others have printed in your column. — Jackie, Colorado Springs, Colorado

SHREDDED PAPER

Dear Heloise: You’re a big fan of recycling items, so I thought you might be interested in what we do with shredded paper in our office. Three of us have family in other countries, so we often have to mail Christmas gifts. We have a paper shredder, and when it comes time to empty it, we dump the paper into large plastic bags and save it in a closet. We later use that paper when we mail gifts for various occasions such as weddings, birthdays and Christmas.

The word got out, and now there are a couple of other offices in our building that come down for  some “packing material.” — Anne H., Milford, Delaware

MICROWAVE FUDGE

Dear Heloise: When I lived at home, my mother insisted on doing the cooking. She said I always made a mess of her kitchen. In college, we had our meals in the dining hall, so I never really learned how to cook. But now I have my own place, and I would like to make a recipe I saw in your column a couple of years ago.

I don’t know the name of it, but it was a fudge recipe where you could microwave the ingredients. It sounded good and so easy to make. Would you reprint this recipe? I want to take it to a family gathering for Thanksgiving. — Jeffery M., in Boulder, Colorado

Jeffery, the recipe you’re thinking of was called “Matthews’ Microwave Fudge,” and it was indeed very easy to make. Here is the recipe:

— 1 pound of powdered sugar

— 1/2 cup cocoa

— 1/4 teaspoon butter or margarine

— 4 tablespoons milk

— 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

— 1 cup chopped pecan or walnuts

Combine all the ingredients except the nuts in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until all the ingredients in the mixture are melted and smooth. Remove and stir periodically.

When the mixture is smooth, remove it from the microwave and stir in the nuts. Spread the fudge into a buttered 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and allow it to cool completely before cutting it into bite-sized pieces. — Heloise

REUSING STOCKINGS

Dear Heloise: Last week while I was making soup, I wanted to put certain spices in a square of gauze or cheesecloth and found that I had neither in my house. I looked around and finally found a clean nylon stocking I no longer wore or needed. I placed the spices in a square I had cut from the nylon stocking and tied it at the top! It worked very well! — Louella T., Livingston, Montana

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.