Keeping Life From Going on the Skids

A handicapped Glendale reader named Nora wants to find a device to keep small rugs from sliding around on top of new carpeting; she understands that there is a product that you put under the edges of the rugs. Can you help before Nora goes over the edge, or is this a matter that she should just let slide and not call us on the carpet?

Phyllis Gilman of Laguna Hills has a problem that could really be breathtaking: She--and her pulmonary specialist--are looking for a hygrometer, an instrument that measures humidity and warns people when it’s time use a vaporizer. Can you help put a damper on this situation?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Colette at (213) 699-4733 would like to locate a six-cup Pyrex teapot (with the graceful handle) in good condition; the item has been discontinued for some time. Please help, so that Colette can again serve tea for two without going to pot. . . . Toni at (213) 665-2239 needs the instruction booklet for a deluxe-model Empire Precision sewing machine. Please go by the book, so that Toni can treadle the needle again.

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

For Shirley Freedland of Long Beach, who was looking for washboard cookies, we finally have something for her to chew on: No sources for the cookies as such, but six readers sent in recipes for baking them. One of the six, Dolores Richey of Monrovia, submitted a recipe, and Velma Sicotte of Laguna Hills is willing to share her recipe. We’ve forwarded Sicotte’s letter to Freedland.

Florence Schmidt of Whittier, who was looking for Horlick’s malted milk powder, will soon be able to stir things up in her kitchen. Angi Ma Wong of Los Angeles, says the Ditto Market on Atlantic Boulevard in Monterey Park carries the powder in regular and chocolate. Another source (which was also mentioned by Nora Reuben of Los Angeles) is Yee Sing Chong in Chinatown; in addition, Reuben suggests Indian stores. Sharon Sindell found Horlick’s at the old-fashioned drug store in Julian, and Zita Carno of Canoga Park says the Northridge Pharmacy, 9167 Reseda Blvd., Northridge, carries it in the diet aids section. As a substitute, Vic Boha of Pasadena and Mrs. Herbert Fenske of Oxnard suggest Carnation malted milk, which is available at Safeway and other groceries. To top it off, more than a dozen readers told us that the Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 3000, Manchester Center, Vt. 05255-3000, sells a 13-ounce jar of original Horlick’s malted milk for $6.50.

Pat Murphy of Lawndale, who was looking for belly-dancing coins, should soon be among the movers and shakers. Pamela Langsdorf of Huntington Beach, also a belly dancer, suggests Cost Plus, 1313 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 957-6553, or the Turkish Emporium, 3516 Chapman Ave., Orange, (714) 639-4777. Another reader lists the Cost Plus store on Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. If all of these places turn out to be no great shakes, Doug Epstein of the Bay Cities Coin Club says he may be able to get things moving for Murphy. And two readers said they have some coins that they might turn loose. A stamped, self-enclosed envelope will definitely shake loose the names.

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