HANDY HINTS

CLEVER SOLUTIONS FROM OUR READERS

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DRYWALL DUST SUCKER

Vacuuming drywall dust with my shop vacuum clogs the filter-fast! To make the filter stay clean longer, I take an old T-shirt and cut it off below the armholes. Then I wrap the lower section around the vacuum filter and secure it with two heavy duty rubber bands. When the T-shirt filter gets clogged, I just pull it off, shake it out and reuse it. And I'm recycling, too.

BRIAN HAWKINS

WINDOW PAINT SCRAPER

It's hard to paint the wood around windows without getting some paint on the glass. Scraping it off with a razor blade can scratch the glass, or you might slip and cut the painted wood or yourself. I make a scraper by cutting a bevel on each end of a 3/4-in. scrap of hardwood. It takes the paint off cleanly without marring the window. When the bevels get dull, I cut new ones.

DOROTHY MENDEL

A/C WATER FOR THE GARDEN