How can I reuse or recycle old brooms, brushes & rakes?
Following on from last week’s plastic dustbins and Monday’s broken ironing boards, Philip also suggested
Brooms and rakes.
I don’t know why, but people often throw out orphaned handles and heads of various garden tools. I simply play match maker. You can’t have too many garden tools on a farm. Reconditioned tools also make great presents.
Philip’s idea is a great one – my father-not-in-law collects and matchmakes them too. I think nearly all our garden tools now are refurbished old ones.
We went through a phase a couple of years ago of having a lot of brushes (and mops) break at the bottom of the handle – so had some brush heads lying around. I thought I’d covered it on the site and someone had suggested using them to make a boot brush/scraper – but I can’t find that now so many I dreamt it — a good idea though!
I imagine an old rake could be used to make a en masse berry picker like this one by kooky chap Atomic Shrimp.
Any other reuses for old/broken brooms, brushes and rakes?
I’ve got a broom handle stuck through the fencing in a corner of my henyard as a roost. They use it and I’ve heard no comolaints.
Scrubbing brush or broom head, upside down, nailed firmly into a base of something heavy. Leave it outside the door from your garden, to scrub all the muck off your muddy boots before you step inside.
Cut the brush hairs out and use for mulching.
Repaint black and use for witch costume at Halloween.
Cut the bristles off, mix them with paint and you can create special textured walls.