Re-cycling and re-purposing

[pargyle]

I think everyone knows that I am a bit inclined to keep things in case I can use them in the future - not a hoarder but I get some satisfaction, after attempting to single handedly destroy the planet in my younger days, from being a bit more environmentally responsible in my dotage.

In my younger days I worked for a company that made products in aerosols .. I was given some pre-filled empty cans as samples and when they were finished with I kept them (I know - sad isn't it ?) on the basis that one day they may be some use.

Eventually, I started using them in the workshop for storing nuts, bolts and screws ... ideal containers - you can tip the contents out into the cap. I made a portable rack to hold them all so it could be wherever I needed them.

 

[pargyle]

So ...I no longer have access to unused aerosol cans but the shave gel I use has similar sorts of cans ... I wondered whether they could be used in a similar way so I've been saving them as they were used up (Much to 'er indoors dismay I would add on the bathroom window cill). Today I finally got round to dismantling one - I was a bit reticent as I know it is not recommended to intefere with used aerosol cans but I figured that shave gel was not really like a conventional aerosol so it was worth a try. Fairly easy in the end:

1. Prise off the plastic actuator,
3. Pry up the crimpin around the edge of the sealing ring at the top of the can (the small amount of aerosol propellant will escape as the edge lifts - allow it to escape fully)
4. Once the propellant has escaped you can pull the metal cap off the can.
5. Pull out the plastic sac that contained the gel and ..

Hey presto .. bit of a wash and I have some more storage cans for even more nuts and bolts.

 

[pargyle]

I've also been keeping empty pump action toothpaste tubes .. the looked useful but as I was on a roll with the shave gel cans I attacked on them next.

I could not get the pump action out of the top so I just cut the tube below the line of the pump. Pulled out the innards that were left. The lid goes straight back on the top and I had to turn a piece of wood to fit in the bottom (just glued in with some epoxy glue) - the label comes off easily and a bit of a wash to get rid of any remnants of toothpaste and I now have a further supply of nice lidded containers that I can store my drill bits and some of my lathe bits in.

 

[pargyle]

And I've also been saving my stick deodorant containers ..These are really nice for small drill bits and smaller screws and things. Easiest to convert to a useful container. I kept the inner lids that the deodorant comes with. Once the deodorant is used up - screw the push up mechanism up to the top and remove the grid that pushes the deodorant stick up - peel the labels off, give it a good wash out to remove the remnants of deodorant and replace the inner and outer lids ... another useful container for bits and pieces in the workshop.

 

[pargyle]

So ... What are you doing to recyle and repurpose .... ?

 

[gmonag]

I have a double garage. When my daughter moved back in with us, I repurposed it as storage for all her cr*p.
Now I get to keep my cars on the drive.

 

[Newbeeneil]

My daughter has her own house, but I still have her c**p in my garage!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm pretty poor at this sort of thing. Large squat yoghurt pots for storage and shredded paper for parcels are the only things I can think of but Stan's workshop is full of repurposed junk. I even caught him straightening a big fat nail the other day

My daughter has her own house, but I still have her c**p in my garage!

Same here. Even worse it's all moved twice with me.

 

[happyculteur]

Eventually, I started using them in the workshop for storing nuts,

Excuse my English, would that be called a nut case ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And I've also been saving my stick deodorant containers

A shipmate's father worked for Yardley many moons ago. He told us (whether it is true I know not) that when the first lot of stick deodorants came out, they were quickly withdrawn and the labelling rewrritten as 'take off cap and push up bottom' was causing some issues.

 

[Beegarden]

I've also been keeping empty pump action toothpaste tubes .. the looked useful but as I was on a roll with the shave gel cans I attacked on them next.


It must be very satisfying seeing all your conversions! Many of you seem to be very DIY minded, which is great; my limit is not much more than making up frames.

 

[Amari]

Excuse my English, would that be called a nut case ?

Bon mot!

 

[pargyle]

A shipmate's father worked for Yardley many moons ago. He told us (whether it is true I know not) that when the first lot of stick deodorants came out, they were quickly withdrawn and the labelling rewrritten as 'take off cap and push up bottom' was causing some issues.

It was an industry standard joke .... I don't know if the product ever reached the market but it was certainly some usage text that was put forward by a marketing manager at Mitchum who were the first company that developed a wax based deodorant stick ... I knew someone who was there at the time.

 

[pargyle]

Excuse my English, would that be called a nut case ?

Perhaps not the product but certainly the owner !

 

[Swarm]

I recently dumped a load of containers full of stuff 'that might be useful'. Thirty years or more later, still not used, I had to admit it was just junk and get rid. It was still difficult but had to be done.

 

[gmonag]

Waxed card soup/milk/juice containers make great firelighters.

 

[Amari]

I recently dumped a load of containers full of stuff 'that might be useful'. Thirty years or more later, still not used, I had to admit it was just junk and get rid. It was still difficult but had to be done.

I think this must be a common Freudian fetish. I too can't throw away small cardboard boxes, take-away dishes, tablet canisters, etc, etc, etc....

 

[pargyle]

I recently dumped a load of containers full of stuff 'that might be useful'. Thirty years or more later, still not used, I had to admit it was just junk and get rid. It was still difficult but had to be done.

I've found that after dumping stuff I've kept for years sod's law being what it is the week after whatever it is has been permanently disposed of I find that either it is valuable or I could have found a use for it. When my Mum died I disposed of the mattress of her bed - goodness know how old it was .. it was incredibly heavy and worn out but it was stuffed with horsehair ... as I was disposing of it at the local recycling centre one of their operatives came up and took it off me. I thought he was being helpful but then he explained - Horsehair - particularly old horsehait has a value - antique furniture restorers pay £25 a kilo for the stuff ... I'd just dumped about £100 of horsehair !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My uncle Caradog used to have a bike shop just outside the gates at Swansea docks, he used to make a roaring trade selling bikes to newly paid off crewmen with their pockets full of cash - he also took in their old bicycles as part exchange.

You could say he made his fortune recycling seamen ​

 

[Antipodes]

Waxed card soup/milk/juice containers make great firelighters.

We have phased out the waxed milk cartons now. All, (or soon to be all) plastic.