Dude, when it comes to wearing white, don't be a sissy and back off from wearing the color that is so ... well ... white-hot now. So what if the shade of milk and the hue of snow shows off every speck of dirt and dust, every smudge and stain? You get the sordid picture. Heloise (Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse), the household advice author and columnist, will keep you looking good if you follow her helpful hints. She's been at this for more than 30 years and learned from the best, her mother, Eloise Bowles, who wrote the first Hints from Heloise column for 18 years. -- Read care labels on clothing. If they say do not use chlorine bleach, then don't use it. Many whites are made with an optical brightener in the fabric; chlorine bleach can turn it yellow. -- After you pick up dry cleaning, don't put garments anywhere in the car where direct sunlight can shine on them. White garments, especially, could yellow. -- To get a red-wine (or other colored drink) stain out of white -- especially delicate fibers such as silk, knits and linen -- first dilute the stain with cold tap water. Place a wet paper towel underneath, and with a wet white paper towel or terrycloth towel, pat the top of the stained area. Use tap water, club soda or seltzer water as you pat repeatedly. Rubbing breaks fabric fibers. Though the stain may disappear, the fabric will look different because fibers are raised. -- If you spill salad oil on your shirt or gravy on a white blazer or trousers, quickly sprinkle on an artificial sweetener. Like a magnet, the fine powder will absorb the stain. -- If you perspire a lot, always wear a white T-shirt underneath expensive shirts. After a while when deodorant and perspiration combine, the underarm turns yellowy. Perspiration contains body salt, and when salt dries you've got a salt ring. -- When laundering, turn shirts and T-shirts inside-out to prevent pilling. Wash whites with whites. Do not put in a pair of jeans or your favorite colored T-shirt; it'll bleed. 