One of our laundry forum buddies, Starr, wrote a post about a neighbor's laundry room fire. The dryer had caught on fire because the vent was clogged with build-up from the ingredients on dryer sheets.

Please take a minute to check your dryer the next time you're using it. If your lint screen, hose or vent is clogged, wash it in hot water to remove the build-up. Isn't that worth preventing the potential damage to live and property that a fire can cause?

(Photo: Trixie Textor/Getty Images)

I was reading an article about how to earn some extra money and one of the suggestions was to do laundry for others. Clients could come from a local self-service laundry mat, a retirement center or your co-workers. Set up your fee schedule, your rules of liability if a piece of clothing gets ruined and you're in business.

If you decide to open your own service, let me know if you do ironing.

(Photo: Alexander Heimann/Getty Images)

The Procter & Gamble Co. has rolled out a lower-cost version of Tide laundry detergent in a bid to churn up new sales in the recession. "Tide Basic" is hitting shelves in some 100 Wal-Mart and Kroger Co. stores in southern and southwest U.S. states and costs about 20 percent less than regular Tide powder. The sixty-year-old Tide brand has more than $3 billion in annual sales, but it and other P&G products have lost sales to cheaper alternatives as households tighten spending.

If you're a loyal Tide user, let us know if you try the product and what you think. Do like a value clean as well as a pricey Tide clean?

(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Last week one of the Health Editors here at About sent me this photo and a mystery to solve. She and a friend had discovered several shirts in their husbands' laundry with ripped elbows. What were the men doing? Was it a new fashion trend? Were the men playing around at work and walking on their elbows?

She actually gave me a hint when she mentioned that their city water contains lots of minerals. Then I knew. It is "The Case of the Hard Water Wear".

Fortunately, I was able to send along some advice for handling laundry in hard water. As for the shirts, the only way to save them is to make them short sleeved.

(Photo: Lesley Tellez)