Get Set Gazette On-Line News from Get Set, Inc. August, 2000 Edition

Everything I really needed to know I learned in kindergarten: If you go to the bathroom in your pants, they let you go home!
Some of you may be aware of the suggested uses for Bounce dryer softener sheets:
1)     Repel mosquitoes - Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.
2)     Eliminate static electricity from your television screen - Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.
3)     Dissolve soap scum from shower doors - Clean with a used sheet of Bounce.
4)     Freshen the air in your home - Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang one in the closet.
5)     Prevent thread from tangling - Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce to eliminate static cling on the thread before sewing.
6)     Eliminate static cling from pantyhose - Rub a damp, used sheet of Bounce over the hose.
7)     Prevent musty suitcases - Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.
8)     Freshen the air in your car - Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.
9)     Keep the shock away - Place a sheet in your coat pocket to avoid the shock you get getting in and out of the car in the winter.
10)     Clean baked-on food from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in the pan, fill with water, let sit overnight and sponge clean. The anti-static agents apparently weaken the bond between the food and the pan while the fabric softening agents soften the baked-on food.
11)     Eliminate odors in wastebaskets- Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.
12)     Collect cat hair- rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.
13)     Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds - Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.
14)     Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering - A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.
15)     Eliminate odors in dirty laundry - Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.
16)     Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight so they smell great in the morning.
17)     Another thing you can do with them is to hang the sheets outside your doors to keep the flies from congregating and getting in your house every time the kids open the door. You don't have to use the expensive sheets either, the no-name brand dryer sheets work well. People have put them up in work sheds that have no air conditioning, doors are left wide open, yet they never have flies. You can also tie them to your horses' halters to repel face flies.
18)     Keep mice from getting into stored things in a camper- by placing a Bounce sheet with whatever you are storing, or around pipes and holes.
19)     Save the used sheets and put them in a small box under your sink. It WORKS wonders.
I WOULD LIKE TO CAUTION YOU: SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO THE VOLATILE CHEMICALS IN THESE SHEETS!!!!
Fabric softener info from the EPA - Compiled by Julia Kendall; distributed by Environmental Health Network
Symptoms of exposure are taken from industry-generated Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Chemicals Found in Fabric Softeners/Dryer Sheets
Alpha-Terpineol - Causes CNS (central nervous system) disorders... "highly irritating to mucous membranes" ."Aspiration into the lungs can produce pneumonitis or even fatal edema." Can also cause "excitement, ataxia (loss of muscular coordination), hypothermia, CNS and respiratory depression, and headache." "Prevent repeated or prolonged skin contact."
Benzyl Acetate - Carcinogenic (linked to pancreatic cancer). "From vapors irritating to eyes and respiratory passages, exciting cough." "In mice: hyperanemia of the lungs." "Can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic effects." "Do not flush to sewer."
Benzyl Alcohol - Causes CNS disorders... "irritating to the upper respiratory tract" .."headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drop in blood pressure, CNS depression, and death in severe cases due to respiratory failure."
Camphor - Causes CNS disorders. On EPA's Hazardous Waste list. Symptoms: "local irritant and CNS stimulant" ..."readily absorbed through body tissues" .."irritation of eyes, nose, and throat" ..."dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions". "Avoid inhalation of vapors. "
Chloroform - Neurotoxic. Anesthetic. Carcinogenic. on EPA's Hazardous Waste list. "Avoid contact with eyes, skin, clothing. Do not breathe vapors ... Inhalation of vapors may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, irritation of respiratory tract and loss of consciousness." "Inhalation can be fatal." "Chronic effects of overexposure may include kidney and/or liver damage." "Medical conditions generally aggravated by exposure: kidney disorders, liver disorders, heart disorders, skin disorders." "Conditions to avoid: Heat..." Listed on California's Proposition 65.
Ethyl Acetate - Narcotic. On EPA's Hazardous Waste list. "...Irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract" ..."may cause headache and narcosis (stupor)" ..."may cause anemia with leukocytosis and damage to liver and kidneys". "Wash thoroughly after handling."
Limonene - Carcinogenic. "Prevent its contact with skin or eyes because it is an irritant and sensitizer." "Always wash thoroughly after using this material and before eating, drinking ... applying cosmetics. Do not inhale limonene vapor."
Linalool - Narcotic. Causes CNS disorders. ..."respiratory disturbances" ..."Attracts bees." "In animal tests: ataxic gait, reduced spontaneous motor activity and depression ... depressed heart activity ... development of respiratory disturbances leading to death."
Pentane - "Danger - Harmful if inhaled ... Avoid breathing vapor." "Inhalation of vapors may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, irritation of respiratory tract and loss of consciousness. Repeated inhalation of vapors may cause CNS depression. Contact can cause eye irritation. Prolonged exposure may cause dermatitis (skin rash)."
CNS = Central Nervous System
Your brain and spine. CNS disorders include: Alzheimer's Disease, Attention Deficit Disorder, dementia, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Seizures, Strokes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
CNS exposure symptoms include: aphasia, blurred vision, disorientation, dizziness, headaches, hunger, memory loss, numbness in face, pain in neck and spine.
So it may make sense to simply avoid their use for any reason, including as a fabric softener. This is just another example of "Better Living Through Chemistry." No wonder the sheets can be used to keep flies, mice and mosquitoes away!

Actual Excerpted Gems from Young Students' History Essays:

• "Gravity was invented by Issac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the autumn, when the apples are falling off the trees."
• Homer wrote The Oddity.
• "Meanwhile in Eurpose, the enlightenment was a reasonable time. Voltare invented electricity and also wrote a book called 'Candy'."
• Prose may be divided into two parts: friction and non-friction.
• "Bach was the most famous composer in the world, and so was Handel. 
• Handel was half German, half Italian and half English. He was very large.
• The author of Aesop's Fables was Aesophagus.
• "Bach died from 1750 to the present. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him."
• "Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this."
• "During the Napoleonic Wars, the crowned heads of Europe were trembling in their shoes. The Spanish gorillas came down from the hills and nipped at Napoleon's flanks."
• Socrates died of an overdose of wedlock.
• "The First World War, caused by the assignation of the Arch-Duck by a surf, ushered in a new error in the anals of human history."

If one angle of a triangle is more than 90 degrees, the triangle is obscene.
Ant Bait: Some of you have asked about the ant bait Steve has been using to treat the exterior of your buildings. The recipe is quite simple: Take 1 cup out of a glass quart bottle of light Karo syrup. Heat the bottle in a microwave (without the cap on) for 45 seconds. Mix 1/3 cup borax in 1/2 cup of hot water; pour this mix into the warmed Karo syrup. Put the cap back on and shake the contents for 30 - 45 seconds. Take the cap off and put in the microwave for 30 more seconds. Again replace the cap and shake the contents for 1 minute. Keep bait out of the reach of children and pets. This formula also kills roaches, flies and stinging insects.

True Story: A school teacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all.
On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work.
When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. He had no trouble with discipline that term.

Well, even though our Summer schedule keeps on being "interrupted" with emergency pest problems, we are on the way to completing our tasks in the schools and we are creating a new and vastly improved enzyme cleaner and a totally revised The Best Control on CD-ROM.

"Cherish your wishes and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul and the blueprints of your ultimate achievement."-anonymous

Do not forget! You need to ask your students' parents if they wish to be notified if volatile pesticides are applied inside or outside of their children's school.

When the students return, so will the yellowjackets and stinging insects, so you will need to create some wasp traps out of 2-liter bottles to placed near the dumpsters and other hot spots.

When you have stinging insects in the walls, you need to put the sucking end of a rinse-and-vac with soapy watger next to the hole (very carefully) and then let it run from dawn to dusk. If you have a nest in the ground, you can flood it with dish soap in a hose- end sprayer. You can spray "stragglers" with 4 oz. of Kleen Kill Enzyme cleaner and 1 oz. of Kleen Kill Peppermint Soap. If you still have a problem, give us a call and we will fax you the newest first strikes. Welcome back to the teachers and students! Steve

Get Set, Inc.
2530 Hayes Street
Marne, MI 49435-975102
 1-616-677-2850

Current Issue | Archives