Question: The legs on my wooden kitchen table have started to wobble and seem kind of loose.

Will I have to take the table apart and re-glue all the joints in order to tighten these legs?

Answer: I don’t think so. Usually such tables have corner braces inside the frame at the top where the legs meet the frame.

These are diagonal braces that go across the inside of the table frame and have either a bolt or a pair of screws that can sometimes work loose.

When this happens you can tighten the legs against the table’s frame (called the apron) by tightening the bolts or screws.

Some such braces are metal and have a single wing nut in the center for tightening them. Others are wood and have two long wood screws going into the table frame.

Tightening the wing nut (if yours is metal) or the two long wood screws (if you have a wood brace) should tighten the legs and eliminate the wobble.

Question: My glass shower door is clouded with soap scum that is almost impossible to remove. The glass has an embossed pattern so scraping won’t work.

I have tried various household cleansers, including mildly abrasive ones, but nothing does the job.

Can you suggest anything I can do?

Answer: Your best bet is a product such as Lime Away (sold in supermarkets).

If that doesn’t do the job try washing with a sudsy ammonia. It usually works, but you have to allow this to soak on the surface for several minutes before washing it off. The best way is to take the door off if possible and lay it flat, then apply the ammonia liberally over the glass with a towel. But keep the solution away from the metal trim.

After several minutes, wash off with lots of water.

In some cases vinegar also works in the same way, but again keep it off the metal trim.

2003 Bernard Gladstone