CONSUMERS : Give Blinds More Than a Brush-Off
Owners of vertical blinds can get some new help from IdeaWorks when cleaning their shades.
Last year, the Pacific Palisades company introduced the Mini Blind Vac Attachment, which resembles a small hand with four “fingers.” It fits over a standard vacuum to clean mini-blinds.
Now there’s a new version of the tool--the Vertical Blind Vac Attachment--to clean vertical blinds, two blinds at a time. The tool slides up and down the blinds, and, in seconds, it sucks up--rather than just brushes--dust from plastic, metal or hard-to-clean fabric vertical blinds.
IdeaWorks developed its new attachment after hearing from customers who saw its tool for cleaning horizontal blinds, said company president Fred MacMurray.
The easy-to-clean vertical attachment comes with two adapters, so it fits all major brands of standard vacuum cleaners and the Dustbuster Plus.
To order, send $9.99 plus $2 for postage and handling to IdeaWorks, 15237 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272; phone, (213) 454-7621.
Planting the Seeds of Gardening Knowledge
Children can become budding botanists with Workman Publishing’s latest edition in its “Hand in Hand with Nature” series, “The Garden Book and the Greenhouse.”
Youngsters can learn why flowers attract bees, how dandelion seeds fly and what plants eat.
With the heavy plastic greenhouse--5 inches long, 4 inches wide and 7 1/2 inches high--they can grow plants from seeds or cuttings, following the book’s simple, but precise, directions. The greenhouse has a clear, perforated roof.
The garden book was written by horticulturist Wes Porter and is the fourth of Workman’s children’s book nature series, which includes “The Bug Book and the Bug Bottle,” “The Bird Book and the Bird Feeder,” and “The Beach Book and the Beach Bucket.” The new work has been designated as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
The book and greenhouse retail for about $9.95 and are available in the Los Angeles area at B. Dalton Booksellers and Waldenbooks chains, and at Children’s Book & Music Center in Santa Monica, San Marino Toy & Book Shoppe in San Marino and Mrs. Nelson’s Toys & Books in Covina. If you can’t find the book in your area, contact Workman Publishing’s toll-free number, (800) 722-7202.
