Preparing for winter IV

Rummer

fuddle wrote: »

Rummer how do tumble dryer balls work to cut down on times/costs?

thanks

The ones we have are covered in bumps and as far as I know they keep the laundry moving around the machine instead of it just clumping and going round the outside of the drum.

We were given a set by my mum and I was sceptical about them but they have cut our drying time in half which must be saving us money. Both have to be in the machine for them to be effective.

Confuzzled

boultdj wrote: »

They are called 'stanley' knife's here, there's the cheap, couple of use one's with red handle's, or the grey,heavy duty,retractable blade one, if you don't have to many more to do,then personaly I'd go for the cheap one's, you can find them in any diy/ craft shop, also wilko's.hth

THAT'S IT! now i remember, thank you!

i may well go for the ones with the retractable blade, i always found those type more to my tastes in the states, seems safer at least and i could use them on a variety of projects in the future. i'll have look see online and see what the going rate is, thanks for that!

i remember going into a hardware store on skye not long after i'd moved to scotland, i had all manner of trouble asking for what i needed, the man gave me the 'bloody women know nothing about this stuff' look but honestly, it was like i had to learn the english language all over again because most everything i wanted had a different name over here :rotfl: actually, i'm the one that has usually been the one to fix things, make things, put things together etc etc around here, regardless of the presence of a man. i have made sure my daughter is the same way too, if you can look after yourself you are not beholden to heavy charges or the whims (or laziness) of another person

Fruball

I just had my boiler serviced and asked if he would have a look at the digital display which hasn't worked for 18 months - heating and hot water work fine but couldn't adjust the timings etc.

Anyway, he switched it off at the fuse, left it 15 seconds and switched it on...

It only bloomin well worked!!! Hahaha!!! Why on earth didn't I think of that instead of fretting for the last 18 months about how much it was going to cost me to get 'repaired'!

Some of you long timers on the thread might remember me making papier mache to seal the gaps where the waste pipe for the DW comes out of the wall to outside. It was creating a horrible draft and made the kitchen freezing all through winter! I did this 3 or more years ago as a temporary measure. It is still going strong :rotfl:

Confuzzled

Fruball wrote: »

Some of you long timers on the thread might remember me making papier mache to seal the gaps where the waste pipe for the DW comes out of the wall to outside. It was creating a horrible draft and made the kitchen freezing all through winter! I did this 3 or more years ago as a temporary measure. It is still going strong :rotfl:

actually i DO remember that, i plan to do the same this winter with a few places that the builders didn't quite finish off to 'my' standards (sadly, being a tenant, my standards aren't as important as the landlords standards) i'm waiting til it gets cooler so know what's needed where but then i'll be out en force clearing away rogue draughts :rotfl:

well i decided to head down the high street and managed to pick up a few more things i needed. i got two more over the door hangers so we'll have plenty of places to hang coats, hoodies, jackets etc. we now have one behind the living room door on a mostly out of sight utility cupboard door for the things we use less frequently and one on the outside of the downstairs bathroom door for our frequently used items, these will swap dependent on time of year of course

the bathroom is tucked in under our stairs so in the bend of the stairs in the hall way just in front of the bathroom i've put a 3 shelf bookcase for our shoes. our other shoe rack was too small and really ugly, i figured the book case would tidy things up and be useful for another purpose later if needed.

i also have a small chest of drawers just outside the door to the lounge (to the side of course!) and it holds hats, gloves, scarves, shoe grips etc plus the bottom drawer is for the 'going out clothes' so i don't have to go up and down the stairs all the time.

the hall is very sunny so i placed the solar panel for solar fairy lights in a bright spot then ran the lights up along the skirting board all the way up the stairs for just enough free light to see by to get upstairs. this looks really lovely and the lights only cost me a fiver.

we have a shower room upstairs and neither of us like using the bath so since i've not plans to use the bathtub other than the very rare occasion for soaking something in i decided to insulate under that with all the foam packing strips i've gotten recently with various bits and pieces of furniture i've had delivered. once the bath panel was back in place it just looks normal but at least now i'll have some insulation from the empty shop below which is sure to be chilly this winter.

i also got 2 fleeces of the correct size. sadly my choices were black or leopard print and whilst my daughter would have liked the pink and black leopard print in the kitchen with the turquoise drapes i decided black was better, might look like a funeral parlour but at least it won't look like a brothel :rotfl:

i also got some tacks and a craft knife for finishing up the radiator reflectors. in the end, the stanley knives only came with one blade and were much more expensive so i got a retractable plastic one with multiple blades, the cardboard will dull them quickly but they are easy enough to snap off one and continue on with the rest, at least it's retractable *shudders at the thought of icky razor blades* ... if you suddenly see very very poor typing you'll know i slipped :rotfl:

Fruball

Fruball wrote: »

Some of you long timers on the thread might remember me making papier mache to seal the gaps where the waste pipe for the DW comes out of the wall to outside. It was creating a horrible draft and made the kitchen freezing all through winter! I did this 3 or more years ago as a temporary measure. It is still going strong :rotfl:

Confuzzled wrote: »

actually i DO remember that, i plan to do the same this winter with a few places that the builders didn't quite finish off to 'my' standards (sadly, being a tenant, my standards aren't as important as the landlords standards) i'm waiting til it gets cooler so know what's needed where but then i'll be out en force clearing away rogue draughts :rotfl:

I thought you might remember, and there are still a few others from back then who still post so I wonder who else remembers?! Sitting here chuckling to myself about it and I look at it in awe when I am outside! Definitely one of my finer DIY moments!

I think it warrants a photograph as it has been remembered so I will get one in the next few days and post it up!

I certainly recommend it and I own my house! It was an external household repair that cost me nothing except a tablespoon of kids pva glue :rotfl:

Confuzzled

ooh photos, you do spoil us

actually i'm so pleased with my little hallway (weird that i'm so in love with the hallway of all places in this new flat!) that i was thinking i might take some photos and share too, but i'll have to wait til next week when my daughter gets back from her grans, she has my digital camera

[Deleted User]

I use a different drying system outside in winter, the circular lines don`t dry as quickly and I needed something to give me single lines so washing will dry much more quickly

similar to

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-15m-dual-retractable-washing-line/p217821

It just sits on a wall all summer but really comes into its own when the season changes

Had the rainwater tank emptied and scrubbed clean today, cost 00s but worth it for the time they took and to get a clean tank again. Has never been done since we moved in and had builders gunk in it as well as sludge and slime. Will be good for 5 + years now

Wood pellets next and I am not fancying shifting a tonne at a time but hey ho, nice to have fuel in store before start of winter

Preserving like mad too and harvest supper always means a lot, it`ll be that time in no time

Tins are already in store and stocks are looking fine. Lots of woollies and wraps from previous years available, so all good

lobbyludd

thank you confuzzled:

what i've done is to buy some magnetic tape, a and b sides so they will stick to each other

This is what I need! I've been thinking about velcro but I don't want it to look horrible when the under curtain blid isn't there.

Confuzzled

lobbyludd wrote: »

thank you confuzzled:



This is what I need! I've been thinking about velcro but I don't want it to look horrible when the under curtain blid isn't there.

thought you might like to know where i got mine, the A Side is Here and the B Side is Here it's stickyback on one side thus why you can'st just turn it over and use the other side hehe it sticks very well to each other well in the bag it did i've not used mine yet but it won't be a huge thickness of cloth for it to go to as i'll be sewing it into the edges and i'll sew the extra layers just beyond the magnet strip area.

btw i have no affiliation with this ebay seller, they just had the best price for the amount of tape i needed (loads of huge windows!)

lobbyludd

great - thank you! I have huge victorian windows, double glazed with thick lined curtains and lined thermal blinds that I made myself - but there's still a blooming draft round the edges of the blinds. If I use this hopefully I can also make muslin ones for the summer so that I can have the windows open without the flies coming in.

The house is freezing in winter and boiling in summer (it's the same design as the surrounding terraces but is situated on a weird left over piece of land so is just 2 semi's- the design works great heat-wise for my neighbours in terraces, but is rubbish for the 2 of us that are stuck out on our own!).