The Long and Short of a Shirt Search

Jerome K. Levin of Encino has had no luck in finding long-sleeve or short-sleeve men’s shirts in gingham - check patterns. Can you help, short of telling Levin to keep his shirt on, or will everybody wonder what’s he’s got up his sleeve because he wants to pay cash?

Susan Wood of Temecula can no longer find a bar of yellow Witch’s Soap, which she says effectively removes odors of garlic, onion or gasoline with one soaping, and she wonders whether anyone “nose” of a source in her area or even a mail-order source. Can you help before she gets in a lather, or will she not be able to come clean until her bubble bursts?

Just in time for the holidays, Charlotte Weidner of Laguna Hills is trying to spot a source for Fabric Magic carpet shampoo , great for removing cranberry juice stains. Can you help with this juicy request, or is there no point in talking turkey to Weidner?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Nick at (818) 573-1819 needs the cutting wheel or disk for a very old Sargent No. 20 clamp-on hand-cranked meat grinder. Please help Nick out of his daily grind before he decides to make mincemeat out of somebody. . . . Ann at (805) 834-3896 would like to find an outdated piano roll of the “ Repasz Band March “ with Roy Sherwood , which is on Q.R.S. World Roll No. 1140. Please see to it that things again rock and roll in her home while the music goes round and round. . . . Ruth at (619) 454-0474 would like to find some Dorothy Thorpe plates and glasses in the Ming Tree or Chinese Tree design ; these patterns haven’t been made in years. Please help before Ruth is convinced she’s up a tree in her far-out request.

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

We have more help for Mrs. David Hummel and the others who were looking for fitted bottom sheets that stay on overstuffed mattresses. Alice Pierret of Santa Barbara suggests that rather than buying new sheets, buy Sheet Snugs, which fasten or clamp the sheet to the mattress. The supplier says it’s “the answer to creeping sheets.” Sheet Snugs are four for $3.99 from Starcrest of California, 19465 Brennan Ave., Perris, Calif. 92379.

For M. Ceschke of Pomona, who was looking for a copy of “Drawing Cats and Kittens,” it’s “litterally” been raining cat books. The owner of the Bargain Bookshop, 3325 South St., Long Beach, (213) 531-6909, writes that the book can be obtained there for $2. And Diane Johnson of Placentia believes she saw a copy at the Little Professor bookstore, (714) 528-6666, in Placentia.

The book also seems to have produced many copycats. Sally O’Donovan says a book called “How to Draw Cats and Kittens” is $2.95 from Walter Foster Art Books, 430 West 6th St., Tustin, Calif. 92680, (714) 544-7510. Then we heard from two readers who have books with similar names. Nancy Brown’s is “Drawing Cats,” and Carolyn Sheehan has “Drawing a Cat.” These can come your way; just send us a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

For Ruth Peters and Esther Maslow, who were looking for powdered Argo starch, we had almost 40 replies, enough to take the starch out of any effort to list them individually. But the product seems to be available at Ralph’s, Sav-on, Boys Markets and other places.

A mail-order source is the Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 3000, Manchester Center, Vt. 05255-3000. We also had some interesting letters from readers who successfully substituted other products for Argo starch. Marion Maxon and Linda Gorman use ordinary cooking starch. Mary Jane McClelland uses Fabric Stiffener (she even sent us a sample).