That’s why you should always keep a giant tub of Vaseline nearby

The electrical switches in my bathroom annoyed me for the last two years.  The two switches were, in my opinion, swapped from the normal position.  The fan switch was the first one, closest to the door.  The second switch, furthest from the door, was the light switch.  None of our other bathrooms are set up that way.  Today, I successfully switched them, to match the rest of the house (and our habits).

What you didn’t know you need:

• A piece of strong nylon plastic chord (I cut/use a 12 inch strip of weed-eater nylon refill)
• Petroleum jelly, mineral oil, vegetable oil, or baby oil (trust me)
• A coarse soap with beads/salt/sand (again, trust me)
• A source of hot water

Here’s what you should know:

Turn off the electricity to that room.

Those switches carry a live current.   I was lazy and did not shut off the electricity.  I only, accidentally, shocked myself once.  As mild of a shock that it was, it still scared the crap out of me.  So, turn the electricity off!

Protect/Clean Your Skin

If you’re like me, you will find a way to get whatever chemicals you are using on your skin.  Although I used disposable gloves, I still got sealant on my wrists and hands.  This is where the petroleum jelly or oil comes in handy.

As soon as you get the sealant on your skin carefully wipe off what you can and slather it in the jelly or oil.  Make sure you don’t spazz out and create more problems.  You won’t die from a little sealant on your arm.

Then, using hot water and your rough/course soap scrub your skin until it’s all cleaned off. If you don’t have course soap, you can make some.  Sea salt, bath salt, and sand can be added to the soap (after you’ve collected the soap in your palm). Once you’re rinsed off, remove any clothing with the sealant on it, and dry yourself off.

Call poison control if you ingest any sealant!

And that's why you should always keep a tub of vaseline nearby!

Storing your used tube of sealant:

B and I are the worst about not carefully storing our used tubes of sealant/caulk (whatever you want to call it). To remedy this, I cut a length of nylon chord (l used weed-eater refill chord).  Before you put up your sealant, stick both ends of the chord down the throat of the tube.  Leave a loop (big enough to firmly grab) sticking out of the throat.  The next time you go to use the sealant, you will hopefully be able to pull the sealant plug out.

B will definitely question me on this.....

Trust me, I didn’t get paid jack or receive any free stuff for this post.  We just happen to have these product brands at the house.