Bringing to Light a Shady Cleaning Job

Florence Oberst of Whittier is looking for a place where she can get some lamp shades cleaned ; if that’s not possible, she’d like to know of a product she could use to do it herself. Can you help by shedding some light on Oberst’s dilemma, or will this shady business always keep her in the dark?

Patricia Marsden of Bellflower has been searching in vain--and in all the stores--for old-fashioned ink blotters. Can you help, hopefully before the ink is dry on this article, or will Marsden have to land on the police blotter before a source is spotted?

Norene Geiger of Los Angeles wants to get her hands on some Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo and conditioner by Ponds, but she can’t find a retail outlet. Can you help Geiger before she tears her hair out, or will she be tempted to get hold of a bottle that dispenses stronger kinds of suds?

Margot Eiser of Ojai is unable to locate some Frigoverre refrigerator storage containers from Italy; these are made of glass with blue plastic covers and include round and rectangular bowls and a pitcher. Can you help provide more Rome for Eiser’s Bologna, or will she never know Venice a good time to go Turin around for some Pisa? (Oh, if Eiser’s first name were only Florence!)

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Robert at (818) 964-0223 would like to replace a manually operated Model 80 wall-mounted Dazey deluxe can opener that he bought about 35 years ago. If you help Robert with this off-the-wall request, he may even do a can-can. . . . Mrs. M. S. at (213) 438-9520 needs the thin-gauge wire basket that holds six small Pyrex custard cups ; the basket she had was lost when she moved. Please help before our reader becomes a basket case or, worse yet, is in the cups. . . . Sally at (818) 286-9434 is looking for a small wrought-iron or cast-aluminum patio table in an ivy-leaf design , preferably with a glass top; these tables are no longer available in stores. Please help, so that Sally will be able to once again have tea for two after she puts her cards on the table.

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.

Joy Bancroft of Los Angeles, who was looking for a door guard to keep intruders out, may not have to change her open-door policy; we have several mail-order sources. Lois Jenks of Los Angeles and Rose Walters of Canoga Park both recommend the Safety Siren Stick ($28.50) by Comfortably Yours, 52 W. Hunter Ave., Maywood, N.Y. 07607; this device includes a screamer alarm that goes off when the stick is dislodged. Joyce Hughes of Palm Desert suggests Star-Crest of California, 19465 Brennan Ave., Perris, Calif. 92379.And from Alice Pierret of Santa Barbara we hear that Walter Drake, Drake Building, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80940, sells a Door Guard (H4312) for $5.99.

For Fay Sutton of Orange, who was looking for high-heel ankle-strap shoes in Size 4 1/2-5 wide, there is good news afoot. We have several outlets in the San Fernando Valley: Chic Wide Shoes, 18768 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, (818) 708-0855 and Samples Only Inc. (ask for Rose or Judy), 19367 Victory Blvd., Reseda, (818) 881-8621, both from Bonni Weinstein, Sherman Oaks. Also, Cinderella of Boston, 8607 Canoga Ave., Canoga Park, (818) 709-1133 (from Cinderella Vice President Harriet Cohen, who says they also have a free mail-order catalogue). Another mail-order source for the shoes is Hill Brothers, 99 9th St., Lynchburg, Va. 92404-1466 (from Lois Jenks, Los Angeles).

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.