Hints from heloise

Dear Heloise: I’ve read many suggestions in your column for labeling or marking paint cans so folks can keep track of what paint they used for which room. Not all types of paint can be safely stored unless you have a combustibles cabinet, which few people have. Not all paint holds well enough to be reused many years later.

Paint retailers supply wooden stirrers with your paint purchase. After you have stirred the paint and finished with your painting, allow the stirrer to completely dry. Record directly on the stirrer the date you painted, brand, color and whether it was flat, semigloss, etc. Drill a hole at the top of the stirrer, and loop all your stirrers together with a ring, twist-tie or snap chain. —B.C. Cahill, Montville, N.J.