diff --git a/dune/tectonic/data-structures/program_state.hh b/dune/tectonic/data-structures/program_state.hh
index d4573f9bcdbc7de50c8e7ad5ee69267142322c86..6c6f3875a11e2ea0dc289f3ccb8a503a26cd4f4a 100644
--- a/dune/tectonic/data-structures/program_state.hh
+++ b/dune/tectonic/data-structures/program_state.hh
@@ -172,8 +172,6 @@ template <class VectorTEMPLATE, class ScalarVectorTEMPLATE> class ProgramState {
     solveLinearProblem(dirichletNodes, contactNetwork.matrices().elasticity, ell0, u,
                        parset.sub("u0.solver"));
 
-    //print(u, "initial u:");
-
     // Initial acceleration: Computed in agreement with Ma = ell0 - Au
     // (without Dirichlet constraints), again assuming dPhi(v = 0) = 0
     std::vector<Vector> accelerationRHS = ell0;
diff --git a/dune/tectonic/io/hdf5-writer.hh b/dune/tectonic/io/hdf5-writer.hh
index 948645e79936a612945d36fee5e1d1b9670e796f..b585796b39776b64e4edd4c6616417ab593db22f 100644
--- a/dune/tectonic/io/hdf5-writer.hh
+++ b/dune/tectonic/io/hdf5-writer.hh
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 #include <dune/fufem/hdf5/file.hh>
 
+#include "../utils/debugutils.hh"
+
 template <class ProgramState, class VertexBasis, class GridView>
 class HDF5Writer {
 public:
@@ -39,11 +41,8 @@ class HDF5Writer {
 
     template <class ContactNetwork, class Friction>
     void reportSolution(const ProgramState& programState, const ContactNetwork& contactNetwork, const Friction& friction) {
-
         timeWriter_.write(programState);
 
-        friction.updateAlpha(programState.alpha);
-
         // extract relative velocities
         using Vector = typename ProgramState::Vector;
         Vector mortarV;
@@ -55,24 +54,9 @@ class HDF5Writer {
         using ScalarVector = typename ProgramState::ScalarVector;
         const auto frictionCoeff = friction.coefficientOfFriction(mortarV);
 
-        /*double norm = 0;
-        const auto& bodyNodes = *frictionPatches_[0]->getVertices();
-        for (size_t i=bodyNodes.size(); i<frictionCoeff.size(); i++) {
-            norm += frictionCoeff[i].two_norm();
-        } */
-        //std::cout << std::setprecision(10) << "friction coefficients norm: " << norm << std::endl;
-
         std::vector<ScalarVector> splitCoeff;
         split(frictionCoeff, splitCoeff);
 
-        /*if (std::isnan(norm) or std::isinf(norm)) {
-            print(programState.alpha, "alpha");
-            print(frictionCoeff, "frictionCoeff");
-            print(splitCoeff, "splitCoeff");
-            print(v_rel, "v_rel: ");
-            DUNE_THROW(Dune::Exception, "invalid state");
-        }*/
-
         for (size_t i=0; i<bodyWriters_.size(); i++) {
             auto bodyID = bodyWriters_[i]->id();
             bodyWriters_[i]->reportSolution(programState, v_rel[bodyID], splitCoeff[bodyID]);