"Repurposing" things - what have YOU done? Or what do you have that needs a purpose?

PollyWollyDoodle

I used up the end of a bag of frozen berries today, and rinsed the plastic bag out. It's quite a sturdy bag with a zip top, and it is just right for holding home-made soup for the freezer. ( I will support it in a plastic container until it's frozen. )

AndyCF

Kind of a repurposing , kind of a money saver discovered by complete accident.

Those battery powered automatic airfresheners, well one I had packed in a while back completely despite new batteries.

The saving tip here is the aerosol refills, you can find for £1 if you hunt a bit. These do make very good 'general purpose' air fresheners to use around the house as a conventional spray.

I realise they only spray for a fraction of a second or so, but the actual spray output appears a bit more concentrated than a regular aerosol, so its about the same.

The replacement sprays, well I think I'll get a couple instead of regular air fresheners actually! I have noted that you need a genuine brand replacement rather than copy one, but as I mention a bit of searching will find them for £1, and you get the tiny 'nozzle' with each new one anyway.

For clarity the refill's are aersol based and are about the same size (a fraction bigger) than a regular sized fizzy coke/other drink can.

Mee

What do others do with the wax used to cover cheese? Can it be melted to make candles, or are there other uses?

jackieblack

AndyCF wrote: »

I was thinking earlier, those 'almost crisps in a tube' , I won't mention the main brand name but there are those and at least one major makers alternative as well as the imported ones*** and supermarkets own versions. These tubes if cleaned and kept dry could be very useful for storage of various items perhaps, not necessarily kitchen related but anything really.

I mention this as it also occurred to me there's the larger 10 inch-ish length tube as well as the mini 3/4 inch one too, the smaller perhaps more suitable without its lid for 'random oddments'

As long as they stay dry internally they should be quite reasonable for something, and free if you've already brought a tube!


*** Four letters with a capital "S" or "L" , only mention this as if you have any Eastern European shops locally occasionally they may stock these and they (being imported) come in some interesting choices of flavours sometimes, not always available in the UK or in some cases not in the EU! Certainly one shop around here has them as well as a huge variety of 'imported' crisps, shame I cannot read them to see what they are though!

I once used two of these tubes to bring home some artwork from holiday. The paper was rolled up, I put the roll inside the plastic laundry bag from inside the hotel wardrobe to keep it clean, popped a tube on each end and taped them together before packing in my suitcase. Worked a treat!

PipneyJane

Mee wrote: »

What do others do with the wax used to cover cheese? Can it be melted to make candles, or are there other uses?

I don't see why you can't use this wax in candles, although you will have to make sure it's clean first. (You don't want cheese contaminating your candles.) Here are instructions for removing contaminants from candle wax. See page 219. (Melt, strain, and then reuse/store.)

HTH

- Pip

catherinekate

Oooh, I could do with some help from this thread please!

I have a cotton king size fitted sheet worn to rags in the middle, but plenty of fabric round the edges, and a man's short sleeve cotton shirt with a big rip in the shoulder (tried darning it but the fabric is worn thin in a biggish patch so it wasn't fixable). There is no stretch or give in either fabric (obvs I suppose as it's cotton).

I also have a nearly one year old little boy who keeps growing out of his clothes!

Can anyone suggest easyish clothing I can make out of these? Or anything else? I generally hand sew if I'm sewing, am more of a knitter. (We already use reusable baby wipes, and I have enough cleaning cloths, these were my #1 ideas)

Primrose

Is there enough good material in the fitted sheet to turn it into a pillow case? Or perhaps a sleeveless cotton top of some kind - you could use an existing top laid on top of it to provide a rough patter, allowing of course sufficient extra material for seams and hems.

could the material you salvage from the back area of the shirt make a decorative small cloth for covering a tea tray when serving tea & biscuits?

Working_Mum

I have made Japanese Market Bags for my friends from bits of left over material - easy to scrunch up in a bag and easily washable if the get a bit grimy!

https://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns/bags-and-accessories/item/315-japanese-market-bag/

I also make small fabric totes for friends too if the material is more square - along these lines. I have dyed them or the kids have drawn all over them in fabric pens!!

http://www.molliemakes.com/craft/tutorial-tuesday-20-minute-tote-bag/

Good luck!!

falcieri

I keep all my one use plastic from the kitchen including vegetable trays and yoghurt pots and grow lettuce etc on my kitchen window sill in them.

falcieri

Working_Mum wrote: »

I have made Japanese Market Bags for my friends from bits of left over material - easy to scrunch up in a bag and easily washable if the get a bit grimy!

https://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns/bags-and-accessories/item/315-japanese-market-bag/

I also make small fabric totes for friends too if the material is more square - along these lines. I have dyed them or the kids have drawn all over them in fabric pens!!

http://www.molliemakes.com/craft/tutorial-tuesday-20-minute-tote-bag/

Good luck!!

I also make Tote Bags out of left over fabric. I'm a clothing designer and I keep all the left overs. I put some of my bags etc on Etsy and I have loads of vintage buttons too which I turn into keyrings and list on Etsy too.