How can I reuse or recycle moisturiser tubs?
We’ve had an email from Diana:
What can I do with the plastic pots my moisturizers and hand creams come in? They’re round plastic with screw lids but because they’ve had chemical creams in them, I don’t want to use them for food.
Why not check if you can bulk buy your favourite moisturiser/hand cream and refill the existing pots rather than buying new ones each time?
You could also make your own creams – or give them (possibly via Freecycle/Freegle) to someone who does.
As for other reuses, they’d be perfect for storing small things like beads/button or nails/screws — and would give you an instant maraca-type instrument too ;) . They’re also pretty water tight so might be useful for small emergency kits – you could probably fit a pack of matches, a few tea lights and maybe a mini LED torch/flashlight in there.
Other suggestions?
In the U.S. most of the manufacturers are making lids that are fastened to the bottle/jar where you can’t remove it. I’m not sure what their logic is but it makes them unreuseable. I save the ones that I’m able to and they are perfect for my homemade hand cream and sun blocker.
I clean and reuse all of mine. Some of the uses are as follows:
– Needlework kit, to sort and store buttons, pins, buckles etc in.
– To store seeds and reusable items such as twist-tie bits, ribbons, screws, hooks, odd pieces of tile, rubber band etc in. I just label them properly to make things easier to locate next time.
– As paint pots.
– Stuff a foam sponge into one and use it as a pincushion.
– To store sweets and chewing gum pellets in to stop the sweets from getting squashed in my pockets or backpack. Prevents melted sweets from getting all over the rest of my things, too.
– As bead sorters for my mum, who used to make ‘knitted’ bead necklaces.
Something else: After removing the label I use a product called Goo Gone to take the sticky glue off. If anyone knows of a homemade solution for this I’d appreciate.
Quite a lot is absorbed through your skin, so anything you’re happy to use for skin care I wouldn’t worry too much about accidentally eating traces of.
They might be good for carrying soap in a washbag when travelling?
60% is absorbed, in fact, so If you wouldn’t be happy with eating three fifths of a pot of hand cream – don’t put it on your skin.
Fill two with hot water for glove warmers – a bit like hot water bottles , so that they’re toasty warm by the time you put them on – could also be a good reuse for excess hot water. would also work with socks and boots and slippers and pretty much anything small.
Make it into a candle.
Plant succulents.
Store measuring tape or ribbons.
If the tub is plastic (not glass), attach comfortable handle, fill with noisy objects for a nice rattle toy.
Fill with cement, let dry. Use as weight when making the farmer’s cheese, or fermenting vegetables.
When you fill it with cement, you can also use it as paper weight. Add some decoration.
Even more, decoupage the tub completely, or create mosaic all over. Nice decorative item for the house or office.
Use as mould for homemade soap.
Turn into an ottoman for a doll’s house, with storage space. :)