Neckwear Would Avoid Tying One On

Adell Benkert of South Pasadena is looking for a place that can convert her husband’s long ties into clip-ons. Can you help Benkert out of that bind without drawing a collar, or will Benkert have to realize that she is in a no-win situation?

Rita Bingaman of Cerritos would like a source for an interior scent by Diane Love called “A Garden After the Rain.” If you can help before Bingaman raises a stink, you can be sure that any source will be considered heaven-scent.

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Sherraine at (209) 562-5510 (evenings) desperately needs dinner plates, dessert plates, cereal bowls and fruit bowls in the Franciscan-Discovery Tahiti pattern; she bought the dishes in 1966, not realizing they would be discontinued soon after. If you could dish out a few pieces, Sherraine would be absolutely bowled over. . . . Hal at (213) 548-3108 would like to locate a Spiro Agnew wristwatch . Don’t sit on your hands; instead, help Hal return to what he may consider the good old days. . . .

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.

Wanda Pollock, who was looking for something that conceals furniture scratches, will not need to start from scratch. Sharlene Roth, Mrs. A. Disney and Charlotte Furnier recommend Zenith Tibet Almond Stick, available at better-grade hardware stores. Ellen Jurado mentioned Old English Furniture Polish Scratch Cover.

For Shirley Weinstein of South Pasadena, who wanted to change a hand-knit pullover into a cardigan or a back-zipper sweater (so her hair wouldn’t get mussed up), we have a lot of ideas. Lynn Geller writes that Edna Kohn of Tarzana, (818) 344-5646, put a zipper into a sweater for her. Mary Monroe says Weinstein (or a seamstress) should double-stitch two seams of thread up each side of where the cut for the zipper will be made; she suggests a full-length zipper, to avoid puckering at the bottom. Most of the responses, however, recommended leaving the sweater alone and doing what models do: pull a silk or chiffon scarf over the head and tuck the ends under the chin before putting on the sweater. This came from Lolly Kidd, Patricia Matt, Nadyne Elyash, Ruth Whitsitt and Genevieve Mainhurst.

Finally, good news for people who were looking for two-tier card holders. Marna Pappone of Long Beach writes that Miles Kimball, 41 West 8th St., Oshkosh, Wis. 54906, sells the item (No. 2105) for $9.98. (The card holders we reported on a few weeks ago were disks.)

For Ann Mears, who was looking for a vacuum cleaner with rotating brushes, we have a brush-off, of sorts. Gordon Pin of Marina del Rey says such equipment can be obtained from a janitorial supply house. But he cautions that most professional cleaners no longer use them because the carpet still has to be vacuumed after the brushing and because the bristles on the brushes cause excessive wear on the carpet fibers.