Household Hints

Bounce is the brand name of those scented laundry sheets you put in the dryer with wet laundry. I think it's called Bounce in England too but I'm not sure as I don't buy things like that here. I buy Snuggle when I'm home. I've got boxes and boxes of Snuggle.

Toni, a great girl I met at the milblog conference in DC, has a post that explains just how useful that product can be:

"Postal service sent out a Message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform Pockets to keep yellow-jackets away. Use them all the time when playing baseball and soccer. I use it when I am working outside. It really works. The yellow jackets just veer around you. All this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer! It Will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice."

She lists 20 other uses. I knew about tv screens and suitcases but didn't know about sneakers and showers. We don't really have bug problems in London. I don't have screens on my windows and they're open wide from May to October. Occasionally a wasp gets in but it's easily waved out again. Still, I'll try this at home, see if it really does repel bees and mosquitos.

Final note: Toni was the voice of reason in the Spy Museum shop and kept me from buying some very silly bags and pens. However, I do wish I'd got the stamp that said "this document does not exist" - I don't know what I'd use it for but thinking about it cracks me up.