Thread: New uses for ordinary objects Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
Many people have discovered that they can solve simple problems by using something for something other than the original purpose.

My favorite useful objects are bamboo skewers. When the mixing paddle of my bread machine is stuck in the baked loaf, a skewer is a great way to remove it. I use the pointed end of the skewer to clear away the crust that covers the paddle. Then I put the blunt end through the hole in the paddle and pull it out. Bamboo skewers are especially good for this because they will not damage the non-stick coating on the paddle.

My other favorite use of skewers is in the garden, to discourage animals from digging up the plants and bulbs I have just planted. Before I started using skewers, some animal(s) would come along and dig up what I had planted, just to see whether it was edible. Nowadays, after I plant something I put a ring of skewers around it. Four skewers are enough for a bulb; a plant requires more. Since I started doing this, nothing has been dug up.

What new uses for ordinary objects have you found?

Moo
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
There are entire web sites and many YouTube videos about things to do with binder clips.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
My living room, on the first floor (that is, elevated with a room beneath it - can't remember the proper pond conversion), has, for some curious reason known only to the original architect, a full length glassed door opening into the room. No steps outside for use as a fire door, or anything.

It also has a small iron balustrade across, for the prevention of the obvious accidents. When this was fitted, it turned out to have a very clunky looking line of bolts where it was fixed to the door frame.

I have managed to smooth its appearance by fixing a strip of UPVC trunking over it, so it looks as if it is designed that way. I can't for the life of me remember the fixing process (involving glue) since it is on the outside, and I did not have a ladder. Must have involved squeezing fingers through the bars in an awkward fashion.

I often go round hardware stores looking for something that will fit the hole of the thing that needs doing, rather than asking someone what the correct process is.

I have my mother's quilt hung on the wall with an extendable rod designed to go through net curtains and hold them up by tension, hanging on some patent hooks designed to hold up towels or similar.
 
Posted by BroJames (# 9636) on :
 
Two things:

The little net bags that (used to?) come with washing powder tablets are excellent for contains small items that you want to put in the dishwasher (e.g milk bottle tops for recycling).

The inside bag from cereal packets makes a great wrap for sandwiches cakes etc where you might other wise use cling film or greaseproof paper.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Clothes pegs for resealing a bread bag and bulldog clips for opened packets of pasta, rice, lentils etc.
 
Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :
 
Hair bands and clips for everything. They keep cables tidy, shut bags of dried goods, hang up towels on hooks, keep notebook and pencil tidy and save my keys from jangling in my pocket. My hair is currently a bit short for hair bands, but I still have a few for purposes.

Cattyish, longer hair shortly.
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
I saw quite recently that a vase a family was using as a doorstop was worth many thousands of dollars. If only I had something like that.

[ 26. July 2016, 00:22: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 
Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
I saw quite recently that a vase a family was using as a doorstop was worth many thousands of dollars. If only I had something like that.
I use my grandmother's chamber pot for that purpose. Unfortunately it isn't worth thousands of dollars. [Frown]
 
Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
We use clothespins as chip clips (and any other rollable bag). I use chip clips to hold my book while eating.
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Chip clips? I had to use Google for those. The wide ones are usually known as bulldog clips down here. Similar idea to down here but different design, I think.

[ 26. July 2016, 00:57: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Image of bulldog clips Here. Some have fold down wire at the top instead of the top shown here
 
Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
The ones you show are more for office use. Chip clips are plastic and much wider -- 6 inches for the "normal" size (what's that? About 15 cm?) and they open wider.

These are the brand I get.

[ 26. July 2016, 02:10: Message edited by: mousethief ]
 
Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :
 
Dental floss for anything that needs thin, strong string.
 
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
During the quakes here different uses were found for cling wrap. When the bricks in a chimney were loosened people wrapped their chimney in cling wrap to hold them together. Also when the sewerage system was being cleared of liquefaction, it was a good idea to lift the lid of the toilet and cover the opening with cling wrap, close the lid and put bricks on top of it to prevent "blow back" where the contents of your (and your neighbours) sewerage system cold erupt from the toilet.

Also when sinkholes appeared in the roads there were insufficient workers to either deal with them immediately or put up warning barriers. People surrounded the holes with the wheelie rubbish bins to prevent others driving into them.

Fingers and toes crossed that I don't need to use either of those solutions in the future - At least I no longer have a chimney to threaten my existence.

Huia
 
Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :
 
When the lace tightener slide on closed toe sport sandals quite working, I tried various lace ideas before recycling bicycle inner tubes by cutting them into 3/8" strips and using those as laces. You tie them once and then the elastic properties of the tube means they are slip ons and spring to perfect tightness. I actually think this is a better idea than the lace slider thing.

Sandals like these ones.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Another use for clingfilm (besides stopping the chimney from falling on you) is if you are colouring your hair (yes, I admit it. I am not naturally auburn). A swathe round the head keeps the goop from dripping/ getting on to anything.
 
Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
I think I might write a book on 1001 uses for an old toothbrush - surely one of the most amazing devices known! All those difficult to clean places become easy.
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Heard yesterday of a mum using an old toothbrush to get ingrained dog crap from her daughter's school shoes.
 
Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolemr:
Dental floss for anything that needs thin, strong string.
When I had mice in my basement, I set mousetraps, but the mice would remove the bait without getting trapped. I started tying the bait to the trap with dental floss, and caught quite a few mice.

Moo
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Dental floss! Makes a fine improvised cheese cutter. Also use it as a safety line, when you are knitting a complicated pattern. Run a long piece through all the stitches on the needle, at a point when you are confident of the pattern, and then knit on. Pull it out when you get to the next repeat and use it again.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
And, over on the All Things Crafty thread, someone brought up the art of twisting rope. You just get a number of long strands of something, and twist until they double over on themselves. The twisting is hard on your hands if you have arthritis or joint issues. I got around that by tying the strings to a hand mixer.
 
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
A walking stick is very useful both for pulling hard to reach curtains and to aid blackberry picking.
 
Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
Clothes pegs are useful for closing bags, and, if you have ever owned an old Mini, you will probably be aware of their use in keeping the choke open. (If I see a Mini in a vintage car show, I always look for the clothes peg on the choke!)
Cling film is also useful when trying to stick thin paper onto a surface, as in napkin decoupage. You can smooth the paper without touching it and tearing it.
 
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
When I had my hips replaced, the advice was to cover the wound with clingfilm when showering. Some body lotion round the edges helped it to stay put.
 
Posted by Teekeey Misha (# 18604) on :
 
I cannot even begin to list the many, many things in/parts of/bits outside my lifetime of homes, classrooms and churches that have been held up/held down/held together with assorted bits of Meccano. And more than one wobbly item of furniture has been stabilized with judicial use of a Lego brick.
 
Posted by jrw (# 18045) on :
 
Toothbrushes are also useful for getting rid of hairs which are caught in plugholes.
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Number 8 fencing wire is known here as the farmer's friend for its many uses apart from fencing. We had it suspending a fluorescent light from roof in a storage shed. Said shed had gutters tied on with it.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Here's a good one. Ash trays, especially very luxurious splashy ones, make grand cat dishes. I have a Waterford cut crystal ashtray, handed down from an aunt. No one is allowed to smoke anymore in their generation. It is very heavy, so the cat can't nose it around, and it is entirely hypoallergenic and dishwasher safe.
 
Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
For cat dishes I re-purpose boxes from the Chinese Takeaway. They are just the right shape and size for a foil packet of cat food, just the right depth for my cat to be able to access the food or water without it spilling, and if the food gets left, you can put the lid on to keep the flies off. Then you can simply throw it away.

The obvious advantage to this method is that it gives you a really good excuse to get a takeaway [Smile]
 
Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
My Girl Guide captain always took a couple of condoms with her on Guide expeditions. They take up hardly any room in a rucksack, and they're sterile. If you cut off the closed end you have a tube which keeps a graze clean, holds a pad onto a cut, and gives a bit of support to a sprained wrist or ankle. She also claimed that you could carry a pint of water in a condom.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by jacobsen:
When I had my hips replaced, the advice was to cover the wound with clingfilm when showering.
My wife was given the same advice (knee not hip), so perhaps it's quite common.

[ 27. July 2016, 08:01: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
What sort of quantities does fencing wire come in? As I have run out of wire coathangers. The penultimate one is holding a metal arch to a fence post. Along with a metal hooky thing designed to hang Christmas wreaths on doors and sold ridiculously cheaply after the festival.

[ 27. July 2016, 08:38: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
I am speaking of agricultural supplies. A huge roll which requires a spinner for easy handling.

Down here such coathangers can be bought in supermarkets if they don't breed in your wardrobes in the dark.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
That's what I suspected!

But I've not seen the coathangers for sale.
 
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
My Girl Guide captain always took a couple of condoms with her on Guide expeditions. They take up hardly any room in a rucksack, and they're sterile. If you cut off the closed end you have a tube which keeps a graze clean, holds a pad onto a cut, and gives a bit of support to a sprained wrist or ankle. She also claimed that you could carry a pint of water in a condom.
According to Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Cawardine condoms are useful for waterproofing microphones in order to record the sounds of Chinese river dolphins. You never know when information like this might prove useful.
 
Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
My Girl Guide captain always took a couple of condoms with her. . . . If you cut off the closed end you have a tube which keeps a graze clean, holds a pad onto a cut, and gives a bit of support to a sprained wrist or ankle.
Wouldn't a roll of adhesive bandage do the same thing . . . and arouse less suspicion? [Ultra confused]
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
That's what I suspected!

But I've not seen the coathangers for sale.
Visit your local drycleaners and ask if they have extra hangers available. We used to have people bringing in their dirty clothes hung up on the things all the time, and we could do nothing but dispose of the hangers--outgoing hangers with clean clothes had to be new and perfect, with no dents, etc. It was great when someone wanted to take the incomers off our hands.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
My Girl Guide captain always took a couple of condoms with her. . . . If you cut off the closed end you have a tube which keeps a graze clean, holds a pad onto a cut, and gives a bit of support to a sprained wrist or ankle.
Wouldn't a roll of adhesive bandage do the same thing . . . and arouse less suspicion? [Ultra confused]
In the movie Big Red One (set in WW2) at a moment of medical crisis the soldiers fish out condoms and put one on each finger, in lieu of rubber gloves.
 
Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :
 
For those who don't have ready access to baling wire (which used to be used for baling hay, before being replaced by the equally useful baling twine), a reasonable substitute is "rebar tie wire" from the DIY store. It is intended for binding together the pieces of reinforcing rod in a concrete foundation, and typically comes in a spool of about 1kg or so. It isn't quite as stiff as coat hanger wire, but works for many uses.

Some of the smaller sizes of electric fence wire come in 250 foot / 80m spools if you need a lighter substitute.

Common colloquialisms refer to things held together with baling wire: on a farm you had all those short pieces from cutting open bales that got used for many purposes, from gate latches to securing the muffler on the truck. (Unfortunately the new plastic baling twine isn't as good for hot exhaust systems.)


When I worked as a surveyor we used the colored plastic flagging for everything: not only tied to stakes, but for wrapping wounds, repairing radiator hoses and sewer lines, tying closed the bottoms of rain pants while wading rivers, writing notes, and even as a deer call.

I'm always improvising how to accomplish things with available materials. Recently my neighbors had a high-pitched electronic sound in their garage that they couldn't locate because it seemed to come from everywhere. I held an orange plastic traffic cone to my ear like a reverse megaphone and swung it around until the sound was loudest - that quickly narrowed it down to the alarm on an exercise bicycle that we kept moving out of the way as we were looking.
 
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
In the movie Big Red One (set in WW2) at a moment of medical crisis the soldiers fish out condoms and put one on each finger, in lieu of rubber gloves.
They keep the business end of a rifle clean too. The military and quasi-military uses of condoms go on and on.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I am always intrigued by the variety of farm gate fixings.

I inherited in my house a roll of bitumen coated metallic looking tape, I think left behind because it had stuck in the old filing cabinets I agreed to have left me. It took a lot of hacksawing to release it from the shelf, but is incredibly useful for all sorts of things. I have learned that it is, I think, flashing material, instead of lead, but I have yet to find out where it was used around the property. The flat roof did look very patchy on Google and Bing before I had it replaced! It's like Duct tape on steroids.

Sealing the leak on the replaced water tank so I could use it in the garden for rain water. Going over the wooden strips under the shed so they are preserved from rain and rot.

[ 27. July 2016, 23:09: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by jacobsen:
When I had my hips replaced, the advice was to cover the wound with clingfilm when showering.
My wife was given the same advice (knee not hip), so perhaps it's quite common.
I burnt my hand in the kitchen recently and one-handedly googled information on treating burns. One of the treatments I found was suggested that, after cooling the burn under running water, wrapping it in cling wrap to keep the air out -before going to a doctor if needed.

Access to cling wrap can be challenging with only one working hand [Frown]

Many years ago, when I sliced my hand while doing craft work I found a sanitary pad was useful to use as a temporary dressing.

Huia the hamfisted
 
Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
A two panel clothes airer is currently doing duty as part of a climbing frame for a couple of outdoor cucumber plants
 
Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :
 
I have a rather elderly highboy chest of drawers - it wobbles. Many years ago, it was stabilised by a 5 cent piece. Recently it had to be moved so my bedroom could be painted. When it was put back in place, it wobbled again. Frustrated, I mentioned this to my housekeeper, who reminded me of the five cent piece which stabilised it again for continued use to the end of my days. Odd how little makeshift repairs are sometimes forgotten as the years passed
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Our marital bed, missing one foot, is held up perfectly (if invisibly) by a copy of "The Da Vinci Code".

Best place for it, I say.
 
Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Many years ago when taking a junior youth group camping one of the youngsters fell face-first onto a rock: cue the smallest size of tampon to block the nostril that refused to stop bleeding.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
A neighbour at my old home was getting rid of a bunk bed, and I offered to take the parts to the sump for her, looked at them, thought, and asked if she would mind if I kept them for the garden. The bed heads are a fence between the veggie bit and the other part, and the other planks formed my first attempts at raised beds.

I spotted the local gardener getting rid of someone's structures with a planter at the bottom and trellis at the back and have those. The planter parts, short fat strakes, will go in the chiminea, but the trellis will be used to support the bramble in a new position - unless they support my friends wisteria. Currently, one is resting horizontally across a water container supporting various pots of bought plants waiting to be planted.

I have the instincts of an allotment holder.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Oh, the repurposing of furniture! I have a stereo cabinet, which I repainted to look like books in a bookcase. It now drags out a dishonored existence as a china cabinet.
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
When we got our first microwave oven around 1980 it was one of those old ones that weighed several tons (well, maybe 50 pounds), so we had to get a special cart for it. I now have a small microwave that sits on my kitchen counter, but the microwave cart, with a shelf and a covered compartment underneath, makes a lovely television stand.
 
Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
The microwave cart, with a shelf and a covered compartment underneath, makes a lovely television stand.
Yup, I've used one for that, also for a stereo cabinet. Finally I wheeled it out onto the patio and used it for a preparation table for my BBQ.
 
Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Oh, the repurposing of furniture! I have a stereo cabinet, which I repainted to look like books in a bookcase. [...]
This looks stunning! What a fabulous artistic gift you've got, both thought and execution. And a lot of patience as well and a steady hand! [Eek!] [Overused]
 
Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
I'll second Wesley J's remarks - wow!

AG
 
Posted by Doone (# 18470) on :
 
Definitely wow [Overused]
 
Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
Wow from me too.

Some camping ones which have day-to-day domestic use too:

Thin elastic rope comes quite cheap from the ironmongers and can sometimes be found on the street under those great adverts printed on a big tarp and held to scaffolding with the stuff. Very useful, especially as replacements for the elastic bands which occur all over tents and which perish eventually.

Small plastic electrical cable ties make good replacement pullers for zips whose puller snaps off. Put the tie through the bit on the zip where the puller used to be, make a loop, but don't tighten it all the way down - easy to get hold of and tidy looking.

Candle wax is a great lubricant for sticky zips (plastic and metal) and won't stain the fabric to which the zip is attached, unlike oil or grease which also work. Just rub it on.
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
[qb] Oh, the repurposing of furniture! I have a stereo cabinet, which I repainted to look like books in a bookcase. [...]
Enquiring minds want to know: What are the nonexistent titles you've painted? I'm particularly interested in the C. S. Lewis, though I love the travel guide to Gondwanaland.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Oh please - that is so brilliant, and would be even more so if we knew.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Well, hang on, let me go look. I painted this some years ago, and the charm of it is that it is three layers of unreality -- the bookcase peeling back to show a brick wall. From left to right, starting at the top shelf, the titles are:
The Life & Letters of Silenos
Dr. Doolittle and the Great Glass Sea Snail, by Hugh Lofting
The Man Who Was October, by G.K. Chesterton
The King in Yellow
The Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazred
The Death of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Averidan
Oz Tour Book AAA
Psmith & Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse
Thrones, Dominations, by D.L. Sayers
Aeschylus: The Danaids and the Myrmidons
Gondwanaland on $25 a Day
Gotham City After Dark
1993 Let's Go: Poseidonis
My Dear Cassandra: the Letters of Jane Austen
Alice's Journey to the Moon, by Lewis Carroll
Aristotle's Lost Letters, 4 vols: Alexander, Ptolemy, Menander, Antipater
Ptolemy's Histories
Ptolemy: The Conquests of Alexander
The Return of Edwin Drood, by Charles Dickens
The Conscience of Sherlock Holmes, by A.C. Doyle
Love's Labours Won, by Wm Shakespeare
The Capture of Robin Hood, by Wm Shakespeare
Flor of Narnia
Fauna of Narnia
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
I sometimes wonder how any household can manage without a Little Red Handled Screwdriver.
The end is blunt, rounded, and 5mm across – I just measured it.
It is ideal for releasing the seal on a screw-top jar, and for poking into narrow spaces, for instance with a cleaning rag.
And for other applications when some situation arises and you immediately think 'Get the Little Red Handled Screwdriver!'

GG
 
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
I find hand cream or any similar lotion an excellent lubricant for curtain gliders which would otherwise stick.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Thank you, Brenda. And I like the way the books' formats are appropriate to the titles. I once did a course with a librarian who explained what she called 'decorum' in such a context - and your books clearly have it.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I used to work at a library. And of course I am an inveterate and incurable bibliophile. If I were to add a title it would be "The Towels of Marco Polo". I actually saw this book, high up on a shelf at a used book store, and with trembling excitement I fetched the ladder and climbed up to examine it. I anticipated something Martha Stewart-ish, with glossy photos of high-thread count linens on the Silk Road. Alas, my poor vision deceived me, and it was Travels after all.
 
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
Those small cylindrical plastic containers that 35mm film used to come in (when people used film) are great for storing small amounts of almost everything. Especially the transparent ones. Excellent for taking on holiday for small amounts of face cream, hand lotion, shampoo, medication etc. They are waterproof, airtight and weigh almost nothing.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Don't start on that. There was a letter string in the Guardian on uses for film canisters.
 
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
Don't start on that. There was a letter string in the Guardian on uses for film canisters.
I didn't see that. Is there a link?
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Film canisters are great for cornering change--enough to feed a parking meter, even the really hungry ones.
 
Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :
 
but who has film canisters these days? Prescription bottles work, though.
 
Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
--Be careful with film canisters, though--at least for medication and food uses. There might be some chemical residue from the film, and I don't know if washing would remove it. Or if the material of the canister is food-safe. YMMV.

ETA: Lots of people use film cameras, at least on a hobby basis. Don't know if the film still comes in canisters.

--Altoids mints tins: lots of online info about reusing them.

--Instructables is a great place for ways to reuse or make things.

[ 31. July 2016, 06:16: Message edited by: Golden Key ]
 
Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
quote:
I sometimes wonder how any household can manage without a Little Red Handled Screwdriver.
Hey GG, I've got some like that (in maroon, green, and walnut-effect bakelite as I look now, with reassuring things like 'Steadfast', '5000v' and even 'made in England'!! embossed on them).

I like old tools.

On the subject (tangent?) of screwdrivers, grinding a plain driver to a *good* fit in a slot head screw which is tight, is really worth while for the screw head / paintwork / skin on your knuckles. This happily means you need loads and loads of screwdrivers - never leave on in a jumble sale or lying in the gutter! A broken screwdriver (no handle) can be used in an old-fashioned hand (drill) brace to really get some torque - but make sure it's a good fit as above. And don't mix up Philips / Pozidrive #1 (small) / Pozidrive #2 (normal) 'cross-head' screws and drivers, if you want to avoid rounding things off.
 
Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :
 
Rounding things off, eh? Been there, done that! [Hot and Hormonal]
 
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
--Be careful with film canisters, though--at least for medication and food uses. There might be some chemical residue from the film, and I don't know if washing would remove it. Or if the material of the canister is food-safe. YMMV.

ETA: Lots of people use film cameras, at least on a hobby basis. Don't know if the film still comes in canisters.

--Altoids mints tins: lots of online info about reusing them.

--Instructables is a great place for ways to reuse or make things.
I still use a 35mm film camera, and the film does indeed still come in little plastic canisters. I have used them to carry chutney to picnics before, but you're probably right to be cautious about using them to keep food.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Just hearing some drums on the radio reminds me of the mother of all new uses - steel pans for music.
 
Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
I have been known to use a paint-scraper to split fissile clay and to use dental probes to remove fossils from their matrix and/or vice versa...
 
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
A thin metal knitting needle is ace for gouging out grunge from angles and corners, especially in the bathroom.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Chop stick for twizzling round in the thing which stops gunge from going down the sink plughole so the water does go down.

There's an advert for something which plays the charming piano piece by the name of Chopsticks while a number of different uses for them are acted out. Can I remember what the ad was for? No. I can only remember the scratching of an itch under a plaster cast.
 
Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
I still use a 35mm film camera, and the film does indeed still come in little plastic canisters.
The black ones with grey caps (Kodak?) work well for carrying 9V batteries without worrying about shorting the terminals. Some of the clear ones I've tried didn't work because the cap protruded too far into the interior.
 
Posted by Ethne Alba (# 5804) on :
 
Oh no...just discovered Indestructables.......!
 
Posted by Dennis the Menace (# 11833) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Carex:
quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
I still use a 35mm film camera, and the film does indeed still come in little plastic canisters.
The black ones with grey caps (Kodak?) work well for carrying 9V batteries without worrying about shorting the terminals. Some of the clear ones I've tried didn't work because the cap protruded too far into the interior.
My dear late 'father-in-law' could get $500.00 into one of those containers!!
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
That's what I suspected!

But I've not seen the coathangers for sale.
I was told some time ago that they weren't produced any more, having been superseded by plastic. But I still have quite a few.
They have been untwisted and used on cars that have lost their aerial. Much loved comic the late Billy T James, explaining Maori words in current use, once said that the Maori word for an aerial was kotanga.


GG
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
If ever you have a dressing changed by a nurse with the little kit that they have (sterile, sealed, and all thrown away afterwards) get her to give you the wee plastic tweezers to keep, I think they come in threes. Perfect for fishing teabags out of your mug. They break eventually but that's why you collect them whenever you can.

Maybe someone who doesn't drink tea can suggest another use for them.

Those little kits include throw-away scissors. The Grandad started a collection until I got the idea and threw them away.

GG
 
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Billy T [Tear]

I inherited the red handled pliers that lived in the junk drawer of my childhood home. Dad used them in the traditional ways, but the rest of the family used/misused them in a variety of ways - as nutcrackers being the one I tried.

We used to bend wire coat hangers into a loop so we could blow really big bubbles (a bit smaller than a soccerball.

Huia

[ 03. August 2016, 09:06: Message edited by: Huia ]
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
That's what I suspected!

But I've not seen the coathangers for sale.
I was told some time ago that they weren't produced any more, having been superseded by plastic. But I still have quite a few.
They have been untwisted and used on cars that have lost their aerial. Much loved comic the late Billy T James, explaining Maori words in current use, once said that the Maori word for an aerial was kotanga.

GG
I just put "wire coat hangers" in the search box at amazon.com and several options came up.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
You're not supposed to "buy" wire coathangers. You're supposed to have them by you, or just find them about.

I remember in the days when I had a Hillman Imp, I somehow got locked out when it was parked on the site of the local market. Someone picked up an abandoned coathanger and showed me how to use it to get in to the quarter light and open the inside door handle, then handed it to me for future use.

When I got home, I cut it in two, and contrived two 'locks' for the quarter lights, which had spirals to slide over the window catches, and a loop to hold it in place with the main window winder. I wasn't going to have anyone getting in that way again.

I had totally forgotten that!

And of course, I have a Blue Peter type Christmas wreath with green tinsel and lights wound round a hanger.

[ 03. August 2016, 15:26: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
You're not supposed to "buy" wire coathangers. You're supposed to have them by you, or just find them about.
They'll multiply in your closet, but first you need a breeding pair to get started.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
True, but you can also grow them from paperclips.
 
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on :
 
No need for pedigree hangers from M&S - the good old feral wires are far more versatile.
 
Posted by Gramps49 (# 16378) on :
 
Fitted sheets

A fitted sheet for a twin bed can be used as a covering for those long, folding tables many churches use.

A fitted sheet for a full mattress or queen sized mattress can be used on a beach for a sand blanket Just prop it up in the four corners with your cooler and three other similar items

http://lifehacker.com/use-a-fitted-sheet-to-make-a-sand-free-blanket-at-the-b-1560692767
 
Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
You can get these useful little picks which are rectangular spring steel. About 1/8 inch wide and 4 inches long.

The nice thing is they are free. Just look down at the street as you walk along. They break off the brushes on street sweepers.

On film canisters; one high end store used (new ones) for spices. They do keep the light out and stack nicely for those of us who tend to buy too many things we'll rarely use like grains of paradise.
 
Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
You can get these useful little picks which are rectangular spring steel. About 1/8 inch wide and 4 inches long.
People use those to make a poor man's thumb piano (mbira).
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
It looks as though the Brazilians are using film canisters for planting the athletes' seeds in. Which would fit with the philosophy of the ceremony.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
It looks as though the Brazilians are using film canisters for planting the athletes' seeds in. Which would fit with the philosophy of the ceremony.
I'm taking it that's not a Biblical use of 'seed'?
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Tree seeds! Theme of the ceremony being very green, each team came on accompanied by a child with a young tree in a pot which I think is intended to go back to the country. Each athlete had been given a tree seed which was planted in these small black containers in the sides of mirrored columns which then produced green fronds from the top to make the five rings when seen from above. The seeds will be taken to plant in an area nearby to form a new forested area for Rio people to enjoy.

(I hope they can do something about the loggers and the miners, and the dam builders, and the soya farmers.)
 
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
You're not supposed to "buy" wire coathangers. You're supposed to have them by you, or just find them about.
They'll multiply in your closet, but first you need a breeding pair to get started.
No . . . wire coat hangers are the final stage of existence of a life form which starts out as a ballpoint pen. Can you ever find a ballpoint pen when you need one? They find their way into dark closets and wardrobes and, after a larval stage which we know little about, emerge into full adulthood as coat hangers.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Of course they have a larval stage. As explained above, it is as paper clips.

Or perhaps that's another species.

[ 08. August 2016, 12:19: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I found a hairgrip on my stairs the other day. The day after I had vacuumed them. I don't use them, and it was different from the ones I had when I did, anyway. I have had a visitor, but to the best of my knowledge and belief, he does not use hairgrips, either. In his hair, anyway. There was a small twig as well. That will have got caught in his cuffs when he was taking photos of butterflies. But not the hairgrip.

I picked it up with the twig, and dropped them inside a cellophane packet in the waste basket in my bedroom.

Yesterday, I had to pick it up off the floor again - in the bedroom.

It may be looking for a mate.
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
I found a hairgrip on my stairs the other day. The day after I had vacuumed them. I don't use them, and it was different from the ones I had when I did, anyway. I have had a visitor, but to the best of my knowledge and belief, he does not use hairgrips, either. In his hair, anyway. There was a small twig as well. That will have got caught in his cuffs when he was taking photos of butterflies. But not the hairgrip.

I picked it up with the twig, and dropped them inside a cellophane packet in the waste basket in my bedroom.

Yesterday, I had to pick it up off the floor again - in the bedroom.

It may be looking for a mate.
Do you have pets?
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Nope. Not a one.

The occasional moth, clothes moth, housefly or cranefly.
 
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
I found a hairgrip on my stairs the other day. The day after I had vacuumed them. I don't use them, and it was different from the ones I had when I did, anyway. I have had a visitor, but to the best of my knowledge and belief, he does not use hairgrips, either. In his hair, anyway. There was a small twig as well. That will have got caught in his cuffs when he was taking photos of butterflies. But not the hairgrip.

I picked it up with the twig, and dropped them inside a cellophane packet in the waste basket in my bedroom.

Yesterday, I had to pick it up off the floor again - in the bedroom.

It may be looking for a mate.
Do you have pets?
Or a very low key poltergeist?
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Don't go there.

Just don't go there.

I don't want it to know where I've moved to.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes, I was thinking that you were probably being haunted by someone who used hairgrips regularly.

However, this thread isn't the place for messages from beyond, so perhaps we could now revert to finding interesting uses for ordinary household objects.
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Hairgrips are very useful for hanging baubles on Christmas trees. Or clipping Christmas cards to string to display them.
 
Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
I have repurposed old encyclopaedias as shelving struts between some long shelves made from 3 solid 1950's room divider panels. Two thick tomes together are as good as a couple of bricks but taller and not as heavy. Thin steel library bookends provide stability where needed. This gives me an ideal and rather eclectic set of shelving for the tools in my studio. And if I decide I want it somewhere else it is easily dismantled.
 


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