Reader Tries to Get Handle on a Product

Virginia Ludwig of Tustin has been searching for a broom brace , a strip of metal about a foot long into which a broom or mop handle can be pushed during storage to keep the mop or broom from touching the floor. Builders Emporium used to carry these, she says, but now she can’t find them anyplace. Can you help Ludwig conduct a clean sweep, or will she be floored (to use an old broomide) by the realization that somebody may be doing her dirt?

Sally Keaton of Altadena is looking for an establishment or a person who can put commercial buttonholes on hand-knitted sweaters. Can you see Keaton through this problem without working up too much of a sweat, or will we be pushing her button by accusing her of knit-picking?

For her husband, Anne Shelton of Arleta needs to find a product named Glasswick for cleaning eyeglasses . It comes in a container that looks like a small lipstick tube. Can you help Shelton’s husband perceive the light of day a bit more clearly, or will he perhaps pick up the wrong tube and really end up seeing red?

For a friend who loves to write letters, Frances Tweed of Seal Beach would like to find some Spenserian pen points , which have become difficult to find. Can you make some points with Tweed, or will you, even if you follow her plea to the letter, have to admit that the handwriting may be on the wall for Tweed’s friend?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Penny at (818) 794-9167 desperately needs a discontinued Clairol Skin Machine , which is a battery-operated complexion brush. Please take care of this complex matter without getting under Penny’s skin.

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.

More on bells for Spanish-style homes: Wayne Huff of Santa Ana lists two mail-order sources: Valley Forge Collections, 212 E. Freedley St., Norristown, Pa. 19401, and Glen-Bel Enterprises, Route 5, Crossville, Tenn. 38555, phone (615) 788-5568. And if these names don’t hit the right note, we heard from seven readers who have bells of varying sizes and are willing to ring out a farewell to them. Now if that idea sounds good to either reader, a stamped, self-addressed envelope to us will swing a lot of weight.

Pat Heinemann of Whittier, who wanted a purse-size battery-operated fan, now has her own fan club. Mary Jean Dorris, vice president of Diamond-U Products, 1429 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, Calif. 90813, says these fans can be mail-ordered from her firm for $5 each. Mrs. M. Spencer of Hollywood suggested the same company and said the fan comes with its own carrying case but no batteries. Vera Van Iwaarden says she recently bought one of these fans at Toys R Us. Mark A. Samuel of Chatsworth has two mail-order sources: Solutions, P.O. Box 6878, Portland, Ore. 97228-6878, and Colonial Garden Kitchens, Hanover, Pa. 17333- 0066. The fans Samuel describes are somewhat larger than the others; what’s more, they have a suction cup for attaching to any flat surface, but they would undoubtedly fit into a medium-size or large purse.