DEAR HELOISE: My mother always complained that her first daughter-in-law, Sally, did not know how to do laundry. Her dish towels were always dingy. Ma called them “battleship grey.” This was 50 years ago. Now, after a few decades of married life myself, I know how this dull color came about. It was not Sally who caused the problem. It was my brother, Louie.

Instead of putting used and damp dish towels into the laundry basket, he would hang them up to dry. The dried-out towel would be used day after day. The grime from day one would be compounded by multiday use until Sally had enough laundry to fill the washer. No amount of bleach could cut through all those dried-out layers of compounded grime.

• Catherine R., in New Orleans

Catherine, it could also be your water. If your local water has a heavy mineral content or your usual brand of laundry soap is not strong enough to remove the residue, it can cause a buildup that’s so very hard to eliminate over time.

• Heloise

DEAR HELOISE: How do we get rid of those pesky tiny bugs that fly over our kitchen counter and around our faces? I thought cooler weather would take care of them, but they popped up again. I don’t want to use bug spray.

— Cecelia P., in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Cecelia, take some apple cider vinegar and dish soap, and place them in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and poke holes in the cling wrap. The gnats will be attracted to the vinegar, but the soap breaks the water tension, killing the gnats.

Follow this by pouring some bleach down the kitchen drain pipes to kill any gnats hiding in there. Also, don’t leave fruit on the kitchen countertop. Gnats love to gather around these tasty treats.

• Heloise

DEAR HELOISE: I saw the dishwasher tips from Harold P. and have a tip to add about dish racks. When purchasing racks, look for nylon-coated racks; it is a much tougher coating. Want to know how to tell if it’s nylon? Stick your thumbnail in it hard! If you’re able to leave a mark, it’s a PVC coating, which is a softer coating.

• Maree G., in Ohio