His Steel Nail File Makes Him Feel Cuticle

George Morrison of Monrovia has been trying to get his hands on some concave steel nail files , which he claims work better on thick nails. Can you help nail down a source for Morrison, or will he end up being fingered because he had to steal a few?

Ken Cook of Burbank is looking for something that will remove soot stains from around forced-air furnace vents on a painted wall. Can you help with a product that will suit Cook before he runs out of stain power, or will he be angry enough to climb the walls?

Mrs. J. W. Underhill of Los Angeles and Mary Wallach of Chatsworth are both looking for a product that mends burn holes or moth holes in fabric. The way it works, they say, you mix scraps or shreds of the fabric with some glue-like liquid, apply it to the hole and iron over it. Our two readers wonder whether the item is still available. Can you iron out this problem before they both become unglued, or is this situation so wholly beyond hope that even a person of the cloth won’t do a scrap of good?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Michele at (213) 207-8453 is looking for an antique scales of justice for her husband’s law office. Please help, so that Michele will be convinced that there is still some justice out there. . . . M. Bailey at (213) 939-1547 would like to get hold of a Gayla Hold-Bob hair curler or a reasonable facsimile of it; she used one about 35 years ago, and the size she’s looking for is the same as that of an old-fashioned clothespin. Please help, so that Bailey’s hair will stop standing on end. . . . Ann at (213) 372-7663 needs the filter and rubber gasket section for a 45-year-old Sunbeam Coffeemaster Model C30A. Please help before Ann is steamed up enough to blow a gasket.

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.

For Mary Bremner of Lynwood and several other readers who were interested in covers for electric stove burners, we have a number of hot tips. Muriel Copeland found some at Fedco, and Carolyne Williams saw them at Mervyns. We also have these mail-order sources: Lillian Vernon, 510 S. Fulton Ave., Mount Vernon, N. Y. 10550 (from Marc Boyer); Brookstone, 5 Vose Farm Road, Peterborough, N. H. 03458 (from Mel Schaeffer); Williams-Sonoma, P. O. Box 7456, San Francisco, Calif. 94120 (from Nancy Buzzell); Spencer Gifts, 772 Spencer Bldg., Atlantic City, N. J. 08411 (from G. Whortenbury, R. G. Snyder and V. B. Eddas); Hanover House, Building 2, Hanover, Pa. 17333 (from Nancy Kotzar), and Ambassador Gifts, 1 Ambassador Plaza, Box 52010, Phoenix, Ariz. 85072 (from Arline Jeffs and Mrs. Joseph Nemec); Jeffs also listed the U. S. Purchasing Exchange, North Hollywood, Calif. 91611.

Janice McNees of Sun Valley, who was looking for Brazilian thread, can start sambaing. Donna Frieberthauser of Crafts by Donna, P. O. Box 1456-T, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92628, (714) 545-8567, says she specializes in Brazilian embroidery and will mail a sample kit (send self-addressed, stamped envelope); Anne Davis of Pasadena also recommends Crafts by Donna. Nancy Page of Leona Valley purchases her Brazilian threads at Park’s Fabrics, Palmdale Boulevard, Palmdale, and at the Mouse House, Lancaster Boulevard, Lancaster. Robin Briscoe of Tustin, who teaches Brazilian embroidery, suggests Casa de las Tejedoras, 1627 E. Edinger, Santa Ana, Calif. 92705, (714) 541-0711. Anne Cook of Seal Beach and Marilyn Fordney of Oxnard mention Edmar Co., P.O. Box 55, Camarillo, Calif. 93010, (805) 484-2306; Cook also suggests Nantucket West in Costa Mesa, (714) 646-2866. And M. Soto of Los Angeles has two mail-order sources: Sharon Tetley, 1625 Marsha Court, Modesto, Calif. 95350, (209) 521-1629, and the World in Stitches, 82 South St., Milford, N. H. 03055.

We have been informed by publicist Holly Sherman of Chicago that the Fuller Brush Co. now has a mail-order catalogue that is different from the product catalogue carried by dealers. Fuller produced this new catalogue to fill the needs of customers who have no Fuller Brush dealers in their area or enjoy shopping by mail. To learn more, write Fuller Brush Catalog, P. O. Box 1010, Rural Hall, N. C. 27098-1010. Sherman adds that for those readers who still want a Fuller dealer to call on them but don’t know how to get hold of one, there is now a toll-free phone number, (800) 522-0024.