Double Duty

smashedbooboo

Hi ya people,
This is my third forum now. geting into this big time. not sure if its been mentioned already but baby oil brings stainless steel appliances look brand new. after wiping over with warm soapy water and a soft cloth, dry then rub on baby oil. polish with an old t.shirt. always works. also bi-carb on stainless steel works wonders. instead of harsh abrasives. If its been mentioned before
then please excuse me. newbie to all this. Have got rid of twenty years of baggage as it were. MSE has been my saviour. Keeping me focused on starting again. Thanks to everyone out there and MSE xxxxxxxx

stilernin

Phew....... have just read this from the beginning.......... learnt a lot too.

As a gardener, the thought of all my plant pots hanging in the shed in pairs of tights make me think of Bill and Ben. Great idea which I shall be using.

There are so many gardening uses for supermarket packaging. Just use your imagination.

The clear plastic moulded trays that the yoghurts, pots of cream etc are displayed in the supermarket in are great for putting small plant pots in at the begining of the year when you are potting on zillions of seedlings. As they don't have holes in the bottom, you can water the tray for the water to be sucked up. Seedlings aren't knocked about this way when they are tiny. Also being clear, these trays don't look too bad on the kitchen windowsill.

I keep1litre plastic bottles for watering. Make a few tiny holes in the bottle top with a bodkin. When the bottle is inverted the water only comes out when squeezed. This way you can deliver just enough water for a seedling or plant. Later in the year, use the same system for feeding plants. The bottles are an exact measure and you can deliver the right amount to each plant. Prepare these bottles each evening and by the next day the water will have warmed to air temperature rather than freezing the socks off your tomatoes with water straigh from the mains!!

I have an old plastic water tank outside the greenhouse which collects rainwater from the shed roof. Much quicker to dip a watering can than wait for it to fill from a tap. Fill with hose when necessary but am still diciplined enough to only water with a can.

Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle and when the top end is fixed over a garden spray, you can direct weedkillers more accurately onto a single weed. Imagine a straight sided funnel.

Used teabags put in the bottom of pots,will stop the compost being washed out of the hole in the bottom. Also keeps a bit more moisture in.

Stand loo roll centres up in a plastic mushroom container. Fill rolls with compost and use for peas and beans. Don't over water, they don't need it. When ready to go out, the beans, not you, just plant each roll exactly as it is. Make sure the roll is beneath the ground so it doesn't 'wick' the moisture out of the ground and the roll will rot down and help improve the ground.

Cut top and bottom off bottles and use as small 'fences' around newly planted out seedlings. Deters slugs and acts as a mini wind barrier until they get going. Then just lift or cut them off or leave them if they are hidden.

And so on, and so on........... there is no end which is why my shed is bursting at the seams.

Hope I haven't make this sound like a gardening thread, but all you gardeners will know that we never throw anything away.

tryhard_2

great thread already implement some of the ideas but had not thought of it as double use

vivw_2

Queenie wrote:

No pestle and mortar?

I used the knob end of my wooden rolling pin and an enamel bowl
QUOTE]


Thanks so much for that one. A friend has just given me a recipe for a curry paste that I want to make and you need a pestle and mortar for cra=ushing the seeds and I was wondering what to use.

smashedbooboo

HI, new to this board but been watching for some time. I am maybe a little off track but to me the obvious double duty is this website. Since i signed up i have not bought any magazines at all. I dont need to. I have the biggest magazine in the world right in front of me. So i am saving a fortune. Its also a diet, I dont havetime to eat. :laugh:

smashedbooboo

Oh Thanks queenie, and anyone else who has thanked me. Again another double duty for this site. helps get us all out of a mess and and also a great unofficial therapist. Got me out of my depressive black hole. Mind you some of my friends think i have gone ever so slightly mad the other way. This site is so addictive. xxxxxxxx;)

hazzie123

After washing vertical blinds,hang straight back up and use hair straighteners to iron out the creases and dry them quicker.

Use newspapers for washing the windows,if you dont have any newspaper use the old Yellow Pages.

hazzie123

Use a chop stick to scrape all the bits off the side of the breadmaker pan on the mixing cycle where it gets stuck.Doesn`t scratch the non-stick.I also use this for testing to see if cakes are fully cooked.

Use empty Pringles containers for storing dried spaghetti.

flowerofscotland

The bags that you get with washing tablets can be used for keeping socks in pairs in the washing machine. Keep the bags in or near the washing basket and as the socks head for the washing basket put each pair in a wash bag. Saves loads of time sorting out when they come out of the machine.

Storm

I use my to-do list as a bookmark - it means I don't lose it, and when I sit down with a book I feel guilty if I can't tick anything off it!