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Dear Heloise: I'm 90 years old, and I've been saving bits of soap for years and wondered if you could tell me a way to process and use them again. Soap was hard to come by earlier in my life, so I hate to throw them out.
I read your column daily. --Helen K., Lawndale, California
Helen, if these were bars of soap, I'd recommend donating them to a battered women's shelter or a charity for homeless people.
However, you mention that these are "bits" of soap, which I take to mean tiny pieces. Those are hard to use because of their small size; I imagine them to be similar to the pieces that are left when we get down to the end of a bar of soap.
If that is the case, I highly recommend throwing it out. Over time, bacteria accumulates on those pieces of soap, and it could contain bacteria from other people besides yourself.
Your generosity and thoughtfulness are certainly commendable, but perhaps the next time you have one of these tiny pieces of soap, you can sort of press it into a new bar of soap.-- Heloise
EDITORS NOTE: Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com.