How can I reuse or recycle … wine box bladders?
We’ve had an email from Lesley, asking:
Has anyone got any suggestions for re-using the “bladders” from the inside of wine boxes? Being both airtight and water-tight, there must be an alternative use for them.
Given the springing of spring this weekend and the fact it’ll probably be hard enough to get it clean (ie, un-wine sceneted) enough to re-use as a drinking liquid container, I’m tempted to come up with garden suggestions.
My first thought was for brewing a liquid fertiliser using nettles but then I realised, duh, you can’t really get nettles in that little neck hole so that wasn’t a particularly useful thought. Thanks there brain.
So any actually feasible suggestions for Lesley instead?
Fill them with water, toss them in the freezer, and use them as reusable ice packs.
AAA Plus best thing specially this time of the year the nozzle comes off and goes back into place and you can shape it the way you like
You could blow them up and use them as padding in packages.
rinse out and fill with water for hiking trips. perhaps for washing dishes or something rather that drinking?
Tried it tough to get the smell/flavor out
Inflate and use as a camping pillow.
Cut off the end with the spout, sew a sack out of your favorite fabric with the same dimensions as the wine pouch and use the pouch as the liner. Add a zipper closure and you’ve got a fabulous lunch bag!
fill with water, and poke holes in them and keep them in the garden to water your plants in the dry season
You can fill them with water and use them as weights for a pool cover. Way better than the milk jug solution and more compact for storage.
Similar to my suggestion on cat litter plastic jugs, I use them to store mixed photo chemicals. I reinsert the valve after pouring in the chemicals, and place the bladder back into the box. I can then dispense easily and safely, without spilling and wasting.
When I was a kid a neighbour made a water bed for my barbie with one.
Paint with black paint (or cover in some other way with black–duct tape maybe?) and hang above your head in the sun, fill with water, and use as a solar camping shower.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/06/blow_keyboard_bagpipe_mod.html:
Check this: a guy figured out a way to use and old wine bladder and an airmattress foot pump to make a constant air supply to play his melodica. I can’t wait to build one and try it out. Looking forward to smoking my camels while playing polkas with the right hand
It’s simple, do what I do, re-fill the bladder with 4 bottles of wine. I’ve been doing this for ages and the wife thinks I’m still on the same wine box from 4 months ago ! I usually nip down the bottle bank while she’s in the bath – the perfect crime.
OMG! Thank YOU!!!!!! I KNEW there had to be a way to re-use those things. I love the convenience of the box wines and the air-tight bladder keeps the wine so much better. However, I don’t always like the wine that comes in the boxes. Actually, I make my own wine and re-cycle glass bottles. I never can drink more than a glass or two of wine at a time and the bladders keep the wine from getting funky. I love my pantry wine…but there is such a poor selection. LOL. Darling…I love you.
The only problem is that the advantage to box wine is that it doesn’t oxidize the moment you open it like a bottle does. It doesn’t spoil like a bottle can, but has the disadvantage of a short shelf life.
If you don’t do a secondary fermentation, just be sure to drink it soon and this is a great idea for re-using the bladders. This eliminates the cost of a good corker too.
I LOVE THE WAY YOU THINK!!!!
fill it back up with wine and drink ummm
Calculate the area of your loft then work out how many you wine bags you will need to cover that area.If it works out that you drink enough wine to compensate insulating your loft with conventional materials as opposed to linking up wine bags then you have a far better insulator than anything on the market.
ps I am taking out a Patent on that brainwave!
I had thought of this and wondered if it works? Have you tried it Bill?
Fill it with air, and use it for a pillow in the tub… or the hot-tub.
heat seal or sew together to make a thermal pool cover, clear one will be best
I have been thinking of this for sometime. It seems that the polar caps are melting away so artificial icebergs are needed to compensate for the reflecting of the suns rays. Why not gather thousands of wine box bladders, fill them with air, place them in a resistant net, add a central floatation tank and climbproof skirting, and set them loose in the polar regions to serve as icebergs. transmitters can be added to track them and their bouyancy.
I think Mauro may be smoking/eating something he/she should stay away from.
I plan to try to reuse one as a container for olive oil to protect from air and light…..I think olive oil should be available this way…I’ve searched a little and there are a couple of places that have tried this but I have not found locally at all….
best i have read. love the idea
I reviewed the ideas and came up with another recycling method. I have a vacuum seal machine. The bladder has an inside liner which should be removed or cut and folded to the bottom of the bladder. Then I put in meats or vegetables from my garden and vacuum seal the bag. It worked great since the weight of the outside plastic bladder is sufficiently heavy to prevent melting of the plastic. An added note, if the inside thin plastic liner is not removed or cut and placed towards to the bottom of the bladder the vacuum machine will not suck out the air. Good luck and try it out.
We have brewed some lovely pineapple and coconut wine/liquer and have been looking for a container to store the fermented wine in and this should work brilliantly and is reusable and cost free.
Insert a plugged piece of plastic tubing. Poke a hole in the end of the tubing and use it as a metered water supply for your potted plants.
Blow it up and throw in pool for winterzing, also throw in molded styrofoam packing from tvs and computers.
In our hot conditions in Australia I use cut out pieces of the metalized bladder to make covers for the sun-exposed plastic joins on our outside umbrellas . I cut them to size and use a simple home stapler to join them up making an ultraviolet resistant cover. It may look like part of the International Space Station but works a treat. If it’s good enough for NASA it’s good enough for me :)
I’ve used them as a cushion to sit on (yes, they will support a 200lb behemoth!) particularly on canoe trips here in Canada. As such, they also double as a PFD (personal floatation device). Also, I always keep one in my cross country skiing pack in case anyone is injured and needs to sit in the snow for an extended period of time.
Fill 3/4 full with equal parts isoprpol alcohol and water and freeze! Instant reusable ice pack for sprains!
I would think if you had enough of them, you could fill them with water put them back in the box and stack the boxes and paint them black for a passive solar collector. I would stack the boxes so that the valves were at the top to prevent leakage over time
How do you get the spout off the bladder?
Bladders have been used for wine for thousands of years.
They’ve also been used for bagpipes.
There are several plans for making a bagpipe out of duct tape. It seems as if using a wine box bladder would eliminate the time spent making a bag from tape.
Liquor stores will actually accept the box (flattened) and the empty bag, then refund your deposit. I donate them to a local Girl Guide troop that is raising money from recyclables.
your site and my computer abilities are not jiving I buy box wine from franzia…cheaper by a dollar…lol….Use to buy vella brand and could take their taps out, put water in for the winter . I am unable to pop the franzia bladders… any idea to help a poor woman….thanks tons plus….BTW…I use the wine boxes as magazine racks… hey it works.
I have been saving these wine bladders for quite some time. So far, the most promising idea I have come up with is to use their ability to hold air to make a boat. I am well on my way to an aircraft carrier but I don’t really need a military styled boat, Maybe I could make a fleet of barges, tie them all together and have my own island!