Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2016

CathA

Follow up to the saga of the work aprons- 3 schools, 1 nursery kitted out with painting overalls, 6 more aprons here waiting to be re-homed BUT my daughters came over today, thought they would be great for cooking as they have pockets in (?) and swiped one each!!
The girls also took away some old bottles of unopened booze we had, stuff that hubby doesn't like and I don't drink at all, so good to see that go.
One of them has just moved in with her chap so I've given her some cannisters, a bin and some salt and pepper containers that have been hanging about.
Spent the afternoon ripping off woodchip wallpaper, not very exciting but I keep thinking of all the calories I've burnt; no need to go to a gym to tone your arms, you should see my muscles after 4 hours of doing that!

jk0

GreyQueen wrote: »

jk0, can I pick your brains, please? I know you look after your own rental properties so I'm guessing you can help me.

Mum's ceramic shower tray has a seal to the tiled walls which is now over 15 years old. It has gone a horrible browny-black which won't clean off, plus a few small pieces are starting to come away.

I'm going to be dealing with this for the folks at some point in the next few months. My thought was to dig the old sealant out (carefully!) with an implement before re-sealing. Mum (who is very handy but not well) seems to think that you dissolve the old sealant with something? I've never heard of doing it that way.

And, when ready to re-seal with new mastic, does it have to be meths for the wipe-down, or would white spirit be OK? And can you recommend a product to do the seal?

My parents are in their seventies now and I am going to have to be doing more of this kind of thing for them in the coming years. Which I don't mind at all, but I want to get it right first time.

You are welcome GQ. It's good to help you with something after all the times you've helped me. Your mum is correct. There is some stuff available at Wickes that dissolves silicone. Not cheap though:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Silicone-Sealant-Remover-150ml/p/190123

I did use it on a plug hole in a stainless steel sink that I did not want to scratch. It needed a couple of applications. I usually use a Stanley knife to get the worst off, and then a Stanley blade to carefully shave off the remainder.

Yes, it does need to be meths in my opinion. I think turps is a different solvent which does not mix well with silicone. Regarding the silicone, I use the best that B&Q sell. It's over £10 a tube, but you get what you pay for.

I used to use masking tape maybe 1/4" either side of the join, then run a bead of silicone, lick my finger & flatten it, then remove the masking tape and flatten again with a different finger. Nowadays I use a Fugi Kit. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjTxTFL-k0

GreyQueen

:T Thank you so much, jk0.

I'm in process of eating supper then shooting off to a friend's place, but I shall take notes from those links later, as well as google for vids of best technique, as per VJsMum's suggestion.

If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing it properly.

I don't get to practise such things on my own flat as my council landlord expects to have their contractors do things like that and us tenants stick to decorating only.

I shall be like a dog with two tales when I've got it done, which I might decide to try over Easter.

camelot1001

Thanks jk0, I have some meths so will do as you suggested.

GreyQueen, I have a special plastic 'tool' that I bought, it has scrapers at both ends and a kind of tooth on too that is quite good for getting the sealant off. I did use a stanley knife too, much quicker and cleaner for the bigger bits. Like this:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/unibond-sealant-smoother-remover-tool/99849

FunBrum

Hi folks:j

I've been busy minimising my salad box by making tomato soup, two potions for either lunch or dinner next week!:p

I'm still making do with my food stocks and luckily haven't had to buy anything for over a week. I'm on a few challenges over on the Debt-free-wannabies forum, so I'm keeping tabs on everything!:A

I haven't got anything to mend at the moment so I will be content to do some knitting this evening and try to finish a book I promised myself I would by the end of this weekend:D

Have a nice weekend:)

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Well today I feel very blessed and lucky! :j
Have resolved that I need to change my lifestyle - so despite it being rainy I went for a 1/2 walkies today (I used to do this with my lovely dog till she passed away 7 years ago - in fact we used to have 2x 1/2 hr and then a longer one in the evening if the weather was good!) Have eaten nutrition dense food - bacon tomatoes and low fat HM pancakes for breakfast - HM lentil and carrot soup and roll for lunch - dry roast chicken legs (2) which had been marinated in orange juice/garlic/chilli flakes/ teaspn honey with dry roasted potatoes along side followed by a plum. Am due my 3 choccies but im not sure if i want em - so I might skip them and eeeeeeek out supplies longer.
House is full of food and warm enough - heating will go off soon and cosy blankets are already on lap to keep me warm till bed time!
lynnejk - thanks for the info - I found his site but could not get the search to work??? so abandoned the effort - has anyone used his site is it reliable?? It looks a bit amateurish?
Make do - food from stocks + blankets and cardi to keep warm
Mend - well - kinda - chopped up an old t-shirt style pyjama top for rags but kept the lace to put on cards :-)
Minimise - heavens but it keeps on coming :eek: - more packaging from Christmas + thrown out old course material!!
Total NSD for me as i need nothing :j
NSD yesterday re food purse but did go and have a pint with a mate but that comes from 'Happy Stash' (a la Jackie O - thank you :A )
Right off to check on last forum - then next part of lifestlye change - early to bed with a good book!
Nite all

Lynplatinum

BTW - I am getting me green veg - in case folks were wondering - had broccoli for tea as well - YUM YUM- its cheaper tho in L!dil than in Morri I noticed this week 50p vs 39p (not a special offer) doesnt sound much but in % terms its a lot!! 22 %! by my calculations!

Hard_Up_Hester

I found a pack of three peppers reduced to 20p, I grilled them and tomorrow will make soup, a couple of lunches for me, yummy.

nicki_2

Today I've sat with the mending pile and after 5 hours I'd cleared it. A pair of leggings for DD stitched up then 2 dog toys stitched back together with strong thread doubled up so they'll hopefully last a week or so before needing to be done again.

Then the biggest job. I sat with the hanging shoe organiser from DD's wardrobe and re-attached the hanging part, then reinforced it, and finally stitched the bottom section closed as it was just too long to hang. Previously I would have thrown it out and paid out for a replacement, but I decided to give repairing it a go. My fingers and thumb don't like me, but it's going to do the job of holding her shoes and dividing her uniform from her non-uniform clothes again.

Make do would be me making meals with what we have in. I think apart from ribs and ox tail I've now used up all the red meat we have so its on to chicken and vegetarian meals. I want to try and avoid buying more meat until the 25th when DD is off school and we can go to the butchers together as its 2 buses away. I'm sure we can manage until then;)

Minimise - I got rid of a big empty box which had been in the kitchen since before Christmas, granted it had the dogs dry food in it until I bagged it up after Christmas but still :rotfl:

I've also spent the day watching my programmes on the dvr. Some of them I'd put on series link and they turned out to not be as good as I thought so I deleted them, and then deleted the scheduled recordings as well. Doesn't look like I made much of a dent in the listings though as I've recorded a few things today as well

misstara

Sewed the buttons back onto my winter coat plus mended a wooly hat. Didn't manage to get the pocket mended but at least I made a start

A NSD today, did a fridge raid this morning to find something to take to work with me but will definitely need to go shopping tomorrow.