Double Duty

Queenie

Insert From Martin:

THE GREAT 'DOUBLE-USE' HUNT! Marketeers love to make us buy as many things as we can, yet there's always other uses. I often said use a credit card for a loan and the Old Stylers (read below) say 'use exfoliating body gloves for cleaning the shower'. So I thought I'd ask MoneySavers for their double-use ideas.

Now let me be honest, this wasn't my idea, i spotted Queenie's idea below and pigeon holed on top of it. I'd love to widen the discussion out from just household to everything though

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What items do you have around the house that you use for their intended purpose, but then think ... oooh, I can do *that* with it?

For example,

1. I have a pair of body gloves - the kind that you exfoliate with. In the shower one day I noticed that my new venetian blinds had a dirty layer of dust/dh's soap scum on them. Venetian blinds are a pig to clean and then I thought, hang on a mo .... I'll use my old pr of body gloves! Only took a few minutes to wipe down the slats and get the gunge off wearing those Now they sit in my cleaning bucket
2. I have one of those single portion tealeaf spoons (you fill it with the tealeaves and sit it in your mug to brew). Friday I used it as a mini sieve to coat some herring roe with a dusting of flour.
3. A crocheted 'table cloth' used for High Days and Holidays, does double duty as a pretty bed "throw" in the summer when we have overnight guests.

Which items do double duty in your home?

Lillibet_2

OOh I love your threads Queenie, they are always thought provoking & make me think about how I can better myself in each area!!


To start with :

When I pull the plug out of the bath I use my buff puff to give the bath a quick wipe round, not as disgusting as it sounds as I've just used it to wash the same dirt off my body that I'm wiping off the bath & keeps the need for proper cleaning to a minimum.
Old stained tea towels get used as floor cloths.
Toilet roll gets used as tissue
After descaling the kettle with vinegar I pour it into a jug & use the same vinegar to de-scale the shower head, then it goes down the drain with some bicarb to clear any deposits.
I have a huge victorian lace table cloth with I too use as a bed spread.
I was given a pack of cotton hankies for Xmas which I will never use as hankies, but they make good napkins!
I save the water from boiled veg & add to stock/soup.
I am currently using an old net curtain to make up lavender bundles for my Nan's brithday present.
Old saucepans & cooking pots get used as plant pots. Glasses frequently get used for cuttings.
Old carpet is laid upside down on top of the proper insulation in the loft for an extra layer of insulation.
Plastic cartons & boxes get a new life as temporary tupperware boxes.
Junk mail becomes memo paper
Paper "Holes" out of the hole punch will become confetti at my friends wedding in 2 weeks time.
Laddered tights get used for tying up garden plants/storing onions/stuffing cushions & pillows
T shirts become night shirts. When they are too old for this they become dusters.
Dressing gowns are also bath robes
Slivers of bars of soap get dissolved in boiling water to make liquid soap

Thats all I can think of for now.

kingshir

Wow Lillabet, you make me feel like a real spendthrift! Some brill ideas here though:)

Pal

If you are about to get married, you can use your future wife's stockings and sexy underwear as dishcloths or dusters, because quite frankly they are never going to get worn again....

Liz19

You are not my husband are you?!!!:) Not true anyway, those items do get an airing occasionally (a) when OH is not sitting up to watch golf (b) our teenage son is actually in bed and asleep before us!!:)

Glad

Pal wrote:

If you are about to get married, you can use your future wife's stockings and sexy underwear as dishcloths or dusters, because quite frankly they are never going to get worn again....

.....or your hubby's silk boxers as quite frankly he's never going to fit into them again

MATH

Great thread Queenie. Now, lets think....

The gum of junk mail envelopes is cut off to write kidz names on for labelling tuck and drinks bottles.

All junk paper is saved to write shopping lists/memos on.

Sheets are born again as dishtowels which then re-birth as dusters.

Mrs MATH'S nail polish is used as indentification blobs when the kidz have identical toys/flasks/DVD's etc.

My slo-cooker (when I had one) doubled as an overnight whites bio pre-soaker.

My old T shirts are called back into service as kidz paint 'n' create cover smocks.

Shaving foam is used for the obvious and also buffed over the bathroom mirror and window to stop them fogging (makes a decent chrome cleaner as well in an emmergency)

Queenie

Glad wrote:

.....or your hubby's silk boxers as quite frankly he's never going to fit into them again

:rotfl: That's nearer the truth!!! Nice one, Glad

Lillibet - re:

Net curtains: if you are making your Nan pretty "lacy" lavender bags, how about using up a goodly slice of that net to make "a lingerie bag on a hanger for her wardrobe? (Basically, cut a piece of two pieces of net approx coathanger length in width x 25-30" long. One piece then needs cutting again about 4 inches down = two more pieces. Stitch a zip into these two pieces so they end up almost back to the original size of the whole piece; now stitch it up all around, right sides together with the whole piece you cut. Open the zip and slip in a padded coat hanger - you'll need to make a tiny hole in the top seam for the hook of the hanger to go through: voila! Dangle a couple of those scented satchets from the hanger.)

Laddered tights: add some soap scraps to the toe of one and tie up - attach that to your garden water tap and you have somewhere to give your hands a soap off when you've finished gardening.

Slivers of soap bars: These can be used for marking fabric if you have no tailors chalk

T-shirts: If they are special (we had a couple that belonged to the boys G/father which took on a new meaning after he died ) make them into funky bed cusions. Stitch up all the openings, leaving a gap for stuffing. Stuff with those tights or even, less attractive old t-shirts cut into strips and seal up. I've caught d9yo actually cuddling his one that we made from his G/dads t-shirt
Or, if they have a great design/logo on the front, cut out the logo's, all to the same size and stitch up to make a memory quilt throw. (Wish I'd known that when I still had my Dire Straits concert T-shirt!!)

Hehehe, that's a few more to add to your repetoire

culpepper

Hair spray makes great fixative for your artwork.

Queenie

MATH wrote:

The gum of junk mail envelopes is cut off to write kidz names on for labelling tuck and drinks bottles.

:T That's a new one to me! Yours too culpepper!!! Cheers Maties! :beer:

Another "double duty" item I have are my Bergdorf Goodman gift boxes, silver and co ordinating ribbons, purple with "Bergdorf Goodman" written on them (very swank!)
Through the year they store my most precious of Christmas decorations up in the loft, but come Christmas Time, they form a very attractive "display" on the porch table (now emptied of the ornaments, I tuck a few hidden bits in them for any unexpected visitors).

Our garden chairs will perform double duty as dining chairs when all the family are home and the table is extended.

MrsMW

I just used a teaspoon to !!!!!! out some seedlings. Does that count?