We’ve had an email from Adele:

What can I do with some old bath mats? I have two in pale blue which I don’t want to use in the bathroom any more because they’re discoloured but I can’t bleach them because they’re blue. Any ideas?

If it’s just a case of things being discoloured, depending what they’re made of, you might be able to dye them a darker colour to hide the murk. I can’t say I’ve looked that closely but I’m pretty sure most mats I’ve seen are, like towels, 100% cotton to cope with super-hot cleaning – and pure cotton is usually reasonably easy to dye. Maybe take them to a mid or dark blue instead?

Aside from that and depending on the thickness, you might be able to use them for the same things as old towels. If they’re flat mats, like heavy towels, they would work well as soles on towel slippers; conversely, the big loopy kind would be fun as uppers on the same slippers. You could use the non-discoloured parts of the mat for the visible bits, and the discoloured parts for the hidden sections.

Any other suggestions?

(Stock photo by konr4d)

Following on from last week’s little bottles that are awkward to clean post, we’ve had an email from Agata:

I’m really into manicures! I use lots of nail varnish and I have lots of empty bottles – any idea what to do with them?

Most nail polish bottles I’ve seen are glass so lid and brush aside can probably be recycled (I’m assuming the recycling process would clean the glass enough to get rid of the varnish residue). But obviously reuses are more fun.

So suggestions?

(By the way, we covered leftover little bits of nail varnish about two years ago.)

Ok, this may be another one that will make some people squirm and go “ick! ick! just throw them away!!” but it’s Friday and I’m in a silly mood so hear me out:

We each have things that make us that bit different from the next person (not necessarily unique but a bit different) and one of those things for me is that I can … scratch my bum/thighs REALLY loudly. I don’t know why. I like to think of it as some genetic gift: some people are great artists or gymnasts, I’m good at scratching REALLY loudly. I suspect I just hold my hand in a certain way that amplifies the sound but my second special thing might contribute to it too: my fingernails grow pretty fast – I’m not a freak, just my nails seem to grow about 3mm a week, compared to the average 1-2mm. Loud scratching AND slightly faster than average nail growth! I’m like a super hero!

ANYWAY, what this means is that each week, I have a pile of nail clippings. Since I keep my fingernails polish-free, they can be composted (they take a while to breakdown though) but I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions.

I suspect, if I harvested enough of them, I could use them as slug protection, like eggs shells around precious plants. Any other ideas? Silly, sensible, practical or creative – any ideas are welcome :)

(By the way, in case you were wondering, the “grow them 1cm/1inch long and sell them for money” idea that’s been floating around for years has been debunked as an urban myth. Shame.)

(Photo by Eastop)

We’ve had an email from Kevin:

What can I do with broken tiles? I’ve just retiled my bathroom and was careful taking the old ones off but most of them cracked in half.

I also have some whole sample tiles that I got from the supplier from when I was choosing. I’m going to use one of the big ones as a hot dish plate in the kitchen but don’t know what to do with the smaller ones.

Following on from your trivet idea, smaller sample tiles would make good coasters or a place to rest your wooden spoon while cooking – especially if they’re pretty or nicely coloured.

Depending on their condition, the cracked ones could be used to “crazy tile” somewhere that doesn’t need to look 100% (like a storage cellar or shed) or smashed up further for a crazy mosaic effect. Offer them on Freecycle if you don’t want to do it yourseld – someone else might like the idea.

(If you fancy renovating them for reusing, I’ve used a translucent glass paint thing to paint ceramic tiles in the past – it let the original gloss of the tile shine through but it wasn’t particularly hard wearing and couldn’t handle being scrubbed clean. Other tile paint is thicker so harder wearing but it can easily look messy and a bit weird because it’s opaque and gloopy. Anyone else got any advice about this?)

Aside from that, there is always crocks for the bottom of plant pots.

Any other ideas?

(Photo by ftibor)

We’ve had an email from “trapkuspt” about reusing baby wipe containers:

The kind that have the pop up feature, so the opening is a soft plastic.

They have been great for holding plastic bags I want to reuse, cotton balls, puzzle pieces, etc.

And the thin wipes box for the diaper bag works pretty good for q-tips in the bathroom drawer.

I’ve also found that the hard plastic boxes are useful for filling with tissues in places where a cardboard tissue box would go soggy such as a steamy bathroom or near a splashtastic sink.

Other suggestions?

• How can I reuse or recycle other baby related stuff?