Yggrrh

[fufaraw]

I just dumped all the wastebaskets into the kitchen trash and bagged it up, cleared the garbage out of the freezer*, retrieved the trap I heard go last night, plus wee mousie corpse, and got one of the smaller bags OH keeps for freezer and other garbage and bagged that, too, and...ew. The bags are scented. Whhuff. I hauled it all down to the dumpster, came back, washed my hands and made lunch, sat down to eat and every time I lifted hand to mouth...what's that weird smell?

Oh. Trash bag scent. I've washed my hands three times now, and it won't go away. I'ma have to make some cheap instant coffee to soak my hands in, briefly, or break out the vanilla extract. Ew, ew, ew. Why do things have to have such awful artificial scents? Air "fresheners", dryer sheets, laundry detergents, sanitary pads? trash bags?


*What do you mean you don't freeze your garbage? We don't have a local composting place that's not miles away, and our HOA frowns on household composters. Our disposal is wonky, and we actually shop pretty responsibly and don't have a lot of organic waste, so we put a bread bag in the freezer and throw garbage in there until it's full, then take it out. No smelly in the house.

ETA: Just to clarify, we recycle plastic, glass, aluminum, and cardboard. What constitutes "trash" is non-recyclable paper and plastics, metal things like staples, bits of wire and string, etc. Food-related organics like vegetable and fruit peels, cores, eggshells, meat scraps and bones constitute "garbage," and we try to shop responsibly so there's little of this type of food waste to deal with. Forgotten lab experiments from the fridge are also garbage, occasionally with their container. Also, apple peelings and cores are "garbage," because left alone they decompose. Orange peels go in the trash because they dry out, get less messy as they do so, and give off a pleasant scent.

Comments

[onlythefireborn.livejournal.com]

I have to use unscented soap, detergent, etc. - anything scented makes me break out. The last apartment I lived in was in a house, divided into 4 apts. All 4 dryer vents were located under my kitchen window - on days when everyone did laundry, it didn't matter whether you were in or out, whether the window was closed or not - my whole house smelled like floral dryer sheets. Blech.

There is such a thing as stainless steel "hand soap." Negatively charged ions that will take any strong smell off your hands, just by using the ss like a regular bar of soap. Imma send you one. (But lemons work well, too, plus you can grind up the used lemon chunks in your garbage disposal, which is a great way to clean it and make the kitchen smell nice.)

[fufaraw]

Oh! YOu know, we have one of those. It's on the windowsill over the sink. I never even thought of it, thanks for reminding me!

And yes, I have to send a minion down the detergent aisle--just can't do it without serial sneezing for several minutes.

Enh, I have an antipathy toward lemons and lemon scent. It always smells like dishwater to me. Please don't put a slice of lemon on my glass of water. And bring me another, the rim and the water of this one are already polluted by lemon oil, please, waitress, and refrain from making that face or you'll get a smaller tip.

Vanilla extract works really well, I've used it to deodorize plastic coolers with overripe contents, after they were well-washed, dried, and shut with crumpled newsprint inside for a few days. Oddly, the vanilla scent evaporates after a day or two, taking any remnant of the smell with it.

And several perfume counters use small containers of coffee beans for patrons to sniff between perfumes--sort of a palate cleanser for the nose.

[onlythefireborn.livejournal.com]

I did not know that about vanilla extract. Good to know.
The smell of vanilla extract reminds me of my grandmother. She'd go thru the kitchen on her way to church on Sunday morning, pull out the bottle of vanilla, and dab a little behind each ear.

I used to have a friend who lived in NYC. Every time I went to visit, he'd drag me off to the Aveda store, which he loved. They had little marble mortars filled with coffee beans on the shelves all around the shop. And the clerks insisted you sniff all the scents, and between each one they would hold the coffee beans up to your nose.

But I didn't mind. My friend had way too much money, and he'd buy me Aveda shampoo and fragrance and makeup. I became a little spoiled for anything less. :-)

Those two memories feel odd, juxtaposed in my brain. My frugal, country granny using vanilla extract as perfume, and my wealthy, Aveda-mad New York friend picking out expensive scents for me.

Gods and goddesses, how the world turns!