On the Lookout for Mitts With Magnets

Today we have a situation that is almost too hot to handle. Mrs. J. Manoski of San Gabriel would love to get her hands on--or perhaps into--some quilted oven mitts with magnets at the opening. Can you point out a source to Manoski before she’s really steaming, or will she have to put her problem on a back burner because she doesn’t want to get her fingers burned?

Joyce Cooley of Los Angeles is looking for Chicopee Stretch ‘n’ Dust , which is a treated cloth for dusting. Can you come clean with a source before Cooley bites the dust, or will she never be able to shake off such shabby treatment?

Zoy Jensen of Huntington Beach is wondering whether she’ll ever find someone to clean, polish and seal a brass samovar that she purchased in Iran about 10 years ago. Can you help locate such a service before Jensen gets teed off, or will she end up saying, “Iran all over Orange County and couldn’t find anybody.”

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Bernard at (619) 742-3600 is eager to lower himself into a Danish egg chair designed about 30 years ago by Arne Jacobsen , preferably one covered in wool. Please don’t lay an egg on this one and see to it that Bernard deigns to be a relaxed chairman of the bored. . . . Hazel at (209) 542-2895 needs cams for a Singer Monogrammer attachment that makes letters 1 1/2 inches high ; the cams are ivory in color and are made for a Singer slant-needle zigzag machine. Please help, so that Hazel gets the right slant on life and is a happy--rather than a so-so--singer again.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items or 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.

Betty Mayse of Lompoc, who was looking for black-and-white throw rugs, should soon be cutting the rug again. We have two mail-order sources. Pat Matzke of Huntington Beach says these rugs are available, in three sizes, from the Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 3000, Manchester Center, Vt. 05255-3000. And Lynn Eames of Venice writes that Conran’s Mail Order, 1690 Oak St., Lakewood, N.J. 08701-1053 lists several rugs (No. 2103) in black and white.

Richard Thies of Long Beach, who was looking for red garden hose, may soon be seeing red under his bed; we have that many sources. Those nearest to him are probably Dooley’s, 5075 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach (from Nancy Primeaux); All-American Home Center in Downey and Firestone Building Materials, 10961 Dale St., Stanton (from Janet Crane). Mary Horst, Judy Berg, Jan McNees and Mrs. G. Rupp all said that various Price Club outlets carry red garden hose. Other sources include: Grand Hardware in Burbank and Old Time Hardware in Pasadena; Akemor Industries, 9127 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley (from J. C. Moreland); Roscoe Hardware, 8165 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley (from Wendell O. Washer), and Gibraltar Products, Inc., 4525 Littlejohn St., Baldwin Park (from Vice President Paul A. Menefee, who says they also carry hoses in black, green, blue and yellow). And to make this a real red-letter day, two readers say they wouldn’t mind having their red garden hoses raise somebody else’s water bill; a stamped, self-addressed envelope will result in a trickle of 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.