Making a Clean Sweep of the Kitchen

Cele Schreiber of Goleta is trying to locate a Fuzz Finder, an item that looks like a yardstick with foam on it that is used for cleaning under appliances. Schreiber says it is--or was--made by Lois Noyes. Can you help with Schreiber’s neat attempts to dig up some additional dirt, or will she begin to wonder what all the fuss is about?

Helen Fraser of Los Angeles needs to find crib extender bars, which are attached to the sides of cribs and, in effect, make them higher, preventing babies from crawling out. Thirty years ago, she says, she had no problem obtaining the item, but today it’s a different story. Can you help Fraser raise her grandchildren--but not too high--the old-fashioned way, or will she soon find out how far the present generation is willing to go ?

Evelyn Sapiro of Venice must be picky about her dental care, for she is looking for toothpicks made of goose quills. Until recently, she was able to get some that were imported from France and were called Le Negri, but her source (Lynchburg Hardware & General Store) told her that the item was no longer available. Can you help before Sapiro becomes long in the tooth, or will she have goose bumps waiting for word of mouth?

The French seem to have caused another problem. Fay Fust of Los Angeles would like to finish some embroidery that someone gave her years ago, but she can’t find the right two shades of green silk to finish the leaves. Someone told her that her best chance for matching the silk would be in France. Can you help with a thread of hope, or will Fust consider taking leave of her senses and board the next available Concorde?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: We’re not through with our French connection yet. A lady named Lu at (818) 447-8486 needs instructions for a piece of embroidery depicting part of the Bayeux Tapestry. It reads “Princesse” on the top, No. 9980, was made in France and depicts a boat crossing the English Channel during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Please help, so that Lu can stop rocking the boat. . . . Virginia at (714) 720-0634 is desperately looking for discontinued Denby pottery. The pattern has a white background with three large flowers in navy, medium blue and yellow. The cups and saucers are navy blue. She’ll take any pieces to complement her set. Please help before Virginia goes completely to pot.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products that are no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that other readers may contact you directly.

Readers who are looking for pants stretchers can relax: The Vermont Country Store is not the only source for that item. Both Marjorie R. Jones of Palm Desert and Mary Kot of Walnut report that Thrifty Drug & Discount Stores carry pants stretchers; they even had a sale on them recently.

Somewhat belatedly, we heard from Diane Kenealy, who says her firm, Balarama’s Enterprises, P. O. Box 3068, Visalia, Calif. 93278, manufactures and distributes the Liquid Incense that Nola Richards was looking for at the beginning of the year.

For Marion Bomanz of Fullerton, who was looking for an Englander sofa bed without arms and back (the type where one side stores under the other and can be pulled out to make a double bed), we have an upbeat bedtime story. Many of our readers have sprung into action. Constance Rice of Canyon Country writes that a number of furniture stores, as well as the Ortho Mattress stores, carry such beds; she just purchased one from a furniture store in North Hollywood. The key is that many dealers might not be familiar with the term Englander. Out here, Rice says, the bed is known as a trundle bed.

We have some definite sources to which Bomanz can trundle off. J. Dickel of Los Angeles paid about $150 for such a bed at Robinson’s and says another one was seen at May Co. And Noble Nolcox of Los Angeles bought his trundle bed at the Brass Bed Factory, 4120 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, (213) 397-4730. We also heard from eight readers who have trundle beds and are willing to part with them. So, if any of you readers want to bed down with someone else’s dreams, send us a stamped, self-addressed envelope for a list of names.