More decluttering

There's a mild form of spring cleaning going on.

I cleaned one shelf of the fridge last night, and proved that we aren't the pickle-crazy fools we thought we were. (That, or just that we shouldn't shop with coupons when we're hungry.) I'm sad and slightly embarrassed to say that I tossed 5 and a half jars of pickles in the trash. The half-jar was dated 1999. The full jars were slightly fresher, but still a couple years past their prime. Luckily today was trash day, because the pickles were still pickle-scented.

The partial jar of Spanish olives is still in the fridge. Oddly, it has no date anywhere on the jar, lid, or label. We're also still the owners of 2 partial jars of dill relish and a jar of hamburger pickles.

This is why we keep a Sharpie in the kitchen now and put a date on anything food-like when we buy it.

After the fridge cleaning, I changed the filter in the furnace (kind of a pain to do, since you have to perch on the clothes dryer to reach the filter), and cleaned off the shelf over the washer & dryer. Nothing got tossed other than some dust bunnies, but the handful of laundry samples is dust-free and ready to be sampled. Today I used the Tide Cold Water sample, which seems to work pretty well.

I also tested another tip for getting rid of static electricity in the dryer - tossing in a fist-sized ball of aluminum foil. So far, it seems to be effective, although the higher ambient humidity could be affecting things. I think it also left some silver scuffs on the dryer barrel, but they'll go along with the blue-jean stains on the back of the dryer. I also use Downy sometimes (diluted to about 25% of the recommended usage) and half-sheets of Bounce, plus distilled vinegar in the rinse cycle. I don't care much for the Downy's scent, and we take long enough to use a bottle that it goes kind of sludgy at the end, in spite of being watered down and shaken up.

All of that is only used on clothes & blankets, though. The bath & kitchen towels only get vinegar, so they stay absorbent. Using softeners on them sort of defeats the purpose. Plus, a rough towel is good for exfoliating. :)