General Stuff

 Static electricity season has started.  I noticed it a few nights ago.  The outside humidity drops and the house follows.  I suddenly suffer itchiness from static.  In past years, I could actually make a fluorescent light glow dimly by touching the metal base.  I'm a real Leyden Jar.  

But it gets painful.  And with The Mews around me in bed, stroking them makes it worse.  I've seen blue sparks while doing that.

I have cotton sheets and blankets to mostly eliminate that now.  But they are old and one sheet ripped wide open from a small hole.  I threw it away expecting to easily buy a replacement.  I like Percale 100% cotton sheets.  And I like color.  And, having a waterbed, I only need 2 flat sheets.  Guess what is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find these days?  Flat cotton percale sheets as separates!

"Sets" (with a fitted elastic sheet) is easy.  But those don't work on a waterbed.  Looking at "waterbed sheets" just gets me the kind that have a sheet and blanket sewn together at the foot of the bed.  That doesn't work for me.

Doing internet searches was a complete failure.  Companies have so many keywords built in that even "Percale flat cotton sheets" brings up every sheet of any material, weave, or full set (meaning with fitted sheets).  The few sites I found that offerred flat sheets separate were all pale variations on beige (hotel style).

I finally broke though just searching "Flat Sheet".  It's weird that less is more sometimes, but it worked.  A site called Riley offerred separates, in red/burgundy, Percale, 100% cotton.  I ordered 2.  Now I just have to wait for delivery.

Expecting a wait, I went to the basement to see the condition of the inline humidifier.  I have a heat pump, which dehumidifies the air in the house as part of its natural process.  Great for 9 months of the year, but makes static bad the 3-4 Winter months.

I forgot to clean it last Spring.  It is a fabric drum that rotates through a tray of water that self-refills through a pipe.  But evaporating water leaves minerals behind.

It was encrusted with evaporated minerals from the water!  I spent an hour cleaning the rotating drum and the water reservoir tray yesterday.  A mild vinegar bath in a bucket did really well.  I saw the internal house humidity go from 20% to 30 after a full day.  That made a real difference.  Between that and cotton bed linens, I can sleep without static itchiness. 

The Mews appreciate it too.  I can let them under the covers and stroke their furs without "electrocuting" myself (or them) with static.