Keep leather furniture beautiful

Dear Heloise: We have a LEATHER SOFA AND RECLINER. How would you recommend we clean them and with what? -- Julie Gee, Belgrade, Maine

Leather furniture is so popular today, and it can look beautiful for many years with proper care. The thing to remember is that leather is a skin and, just like your skin, it needs to be kept clean and moisturized.

You can wipe leather furniture down with a soft cloth, or you can vacuum it to remove dust.

For emergency cleanup, put a few drops of mild soap in a gallon of water and use only a soft, damp cloth or sponge to lightly clean the spot. Never soak leather.

After cleaning, dry well and apply saddle soap or an oil made for leather, then buff it. -- Heloise

SHREDDED PAPER

Dear Heloise: Paper shredders to the rescue! I own a large one to shred my newspapers. I use them to augment the packing peanuts in my potted plants.

I also put shredded paper in the ground under the potting soil. My plants are very happy to have all this root room.

My small one is a crosscut shredder. I destroy canceled checks and any other important papers I don't want in the trash can. Also, it shreds the comics for making cascarones (whole, emptied eggshells that have been cleaned, dyed and filled with colorful confetti -- H). -- Cristina Gallegos, San Antonio

Thanks for sharing these three different ways to reuse newspapers. -- Heloise