Effort to Find Soap May Be Washed Up

Viola MacDougall of Van Nuys, who has sensitive skin, is looking for Allercreme bath and hand soap, which used to come in a huge bath-size bar and was light blue in color. Can you come clean with a handy source, or will MacDougall have to take a bath on this slippery problem?

R. C. Sloan of Los Angeles is looking for someone who can work on an original pull-string, talking, plush Bugs Bunny. Over the years, he says, the plush has become soiled and worn, and he needs someone to restore and clean it. Can you help, or will this problem keep bugging Sloan until he pulls a few more strings?

Ivan Traucht of Culver City is looking for a hammock that fits an existing triangular hammock stand he bought years ago. His stand has two hooks 16 inches apart at the head and one hook at the foot, 122 inches away. No patio shop has been able to give him what he wants. Can you help get Traucht off the hook, or will he have to realize that, at least as far as his patio is concerned, his swinging days are over?

Ken Saltzman of Los Angeles is looking for shoes with a negative heel to help with his aching back. These shoes were popular a few years ago, but now he has no luck finding them. Can you help by doing some positive thinking, or will Saltzman wonder whether the shoe is, for a change, on the other foot?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Phyllis at (213) 773-8132 (evenings and Sundays) needs some help in restringing an Indian corn necklace that she purchased in New Mexico. The leather thongs may also have to be replaced. Please help, so that Phyllis won’t have to gallop all the way back to New Mexico. . . . Mary at (213) 939-1080 needs a copy of the third edition (not the newly published fourth edition) of a French textbook, “Parole et Pensee,” by Yvonne Lenard (Harper & Row). She had no luck at the bookstores and libraries she contacted. Please help, if only to re-establish Mary’s French connection. . . . Gloria at (818) 966-1853 is looking for a cleaner named Mirror Bright, which seems to have disappeared off the shelves, or else the manufacturer is out of business. Gloria found it excellent for cleanups including shower doors, stainless steel and water spots. Please help to brighten Gloria’s day.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products that are no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that other readers may contact you directly.

With the travel season in full swing, G. Jensen of Los Angeles has good news for overseas travelers. If you need 220-volt appliances or transformers, he suggests visiting the Algert Co., 1801 West 8th St., (213) 483-2590. Jensen says they have an extensive selection.

For Craig Carr, who was looking for a prop to add zest to his work with small dinner parties, we have something that will light up his life. Dominic Sicilia of Liquid Light in Inglewood, (213) 677-2161, has sent us promotional material concerning his firm’s Swizzle Lite, which starts out as a cocktail stirrer and later becomes luminous jewelry. We sent the information to Carr, just in case this is what he wants for stirring up his parties.

Eleanor Hutchings of Monrovia, who was looking for washable, non-contact shelf paper, need not fear that her request has been shelved. Lillian Martin of Ojai has some advice for her. She says to use vinyl or vinyl-coated wallpaper. Martin says she has been using wallpaper for years with great success; besides, it is less expensive than regular shelf paper.

Ventura area golfers who were stuck in their search for a miniature golf bag that can be used as a pencil holder need not send away to Pennsylvania, as we suggested a few weeks ago. Mrs. Walter Neilsen, who is the manager-buyer at the gift shop of the Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, says the shop carries the item at $8 plus 48 cents tax. They also have other items to grace a man’s desk and room. This can also be construed as a Father’s Day hint.

Another source for Merry Brooms, according to R. M. LaMont of San Luis Obispo, is Fedco; La Mont obtained her broom at the Cerritos store for $4.

Herb Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who have--or need--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.