This is possibly a bit like the sponge cleaner thing post but I thought it might be worth doing anyway.

Whenever we have (not sea sponge) bath sponges, they seem to be fine for a while then pretty suddenly go “soggy” in the middle – and the sog just won’t dry or wring out. Any suggestions for how to solve that problem?

And if not, what about suggestions for re-uses?

(Photo by lusi)

I’ve just gone to use our loofah sponge (aka luffa/loofer) in the shower and noticed it was black with mould along one side. I thought I’d been really good and let it dry thoroughly after each use but I guess I’ve slipped up somewhere, it’s stayed soggy and the mould has taken advantage.

The thought of using something mouldy as a body scrubber doesn’t really appeal but obviously I’m not just going to throw it away. So what other options are there?

It’s a natural product (not a synthetic copy) so as a minimum, I could probably compost it – but I’d like to re-use it if possible. Any suggestions?

(Photo by Jerry Crimson Mann on WikiCommons)

We had shower curtain rings a few weeks ago but what about the curtains themselves?

Our shower curtain is getting a bit passed it – it’s torn at some of the ring points, there is something that looks like hair dye along the bottom (even though neither of us dye our hair but whatever, it won’t come off) and mildew has well and truly taken over. We clean off the black mould regularly but the times between scrubbing it clean seems to be getting shorter and shorter – we think the slightly rough fabric is to blame.

Anyway, we’re going to look out for a new one – or get one of those solid screen things since they’re easier to clean. But what can we do with the old one?

Especially, any ideas that can make use of the fact most curtains have a fun or pretty pattern on them?

(Photo by danzo08)

We’ve had an email from Carole Minvielle about shower curtain rings:

I have loads of these stored for some use I am yet to discover, but I found a use for ONE! I wanted a pretty soap dish for my favourite scented soap but it had to have ridges in the bottom so the water could drain off and the soap not be a soggy mess.
But the only ones I could find were ugly.

Eventually, I had the idea of putting a plastic shower curtain ring in the base of a pretty dish. The soap goes on top, stays dry and lasts longer, the translucent white ring disappears against the white dish, and the dish looks lovely in my bathroom.
But what can I do with the other 30-odd?

We’ve got loads of wooden rings (exactly like the ones pictured) floating around too – I think the person that owned the house before us had a bit of an obsession. I’ve thrown a stash in my craft supplies box – for use, say, at the bottom of a macrame plant hanger – but aside from that I can’t think of much else to do with them. Suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Katerina. She’s been busy posting lots of useful comments around the site lately – including on the pump action spray page – but she’s got a suggestion that’s just a little different from that:

My boyfriend has an eczema and he uses a lot of emollient, creams and liquid soap that comes in pump dispensers, some specialised emollients come from pharmacist in VERY big bottles with pumps. As you can imagine – he goes through a lot of them, and I think of the ways to re-use them.

I keep dreaming of how good would it be to be able to have stations in pharmacies and supermarkets to re-fill your pump dispensers (but obviously – this is too much to ask for).

The two organic shops near us allow you to refill Ecover pump bottles in store with more of the liquid soap/washing-up liquid – but I don’t know if you’d be able to refill other random bottles.

So any other suggestions?

(Photo by nyuszika)