Because she’s a keen fixer of things, I told Alice in Blogland about our new “Repair This” feature and she replied that she had something in need of mending, but didn’t know how to go about it:

It’s a pair of waterproof trousers which have taped seams. Basically I bent over in them and the seam split right down the middle, leaving the fabric intact but tearing the seam tape. Can I buy waterproofing seam tape from somewhere? What’s it called? And do I need to sew it in some sort of special way so that it ends up waterproof – if I do it wrong then I guess all my needle holes will let in water!

Any ideas?

We’ve had an email from Alfonso, asking:

Can I recycle a torn rubber flipper (the kind used for snorkelling)? I know you can get recycled rubber products.

Rubber recycling is quite common – car tyres being the most common thing collected and reused – but while I’ve seen bins for tyres at our local tip, our local tip guys seem pretty strict that it’s tyres only.

Does anyone know of any recycling companies that take rubber from individuals or anywhere it’s collected for recycling?

And what about reuses?

We’ve had an email from Holly:

Our kids’ trampoline has gone rusty so is unsafe for them to use. We can give the metal legs to scrap but what can we do with the mat?

According to Wikipedia, the mats are usually made from canvas or woven Polypropylene. The latter is recyclable – it’s number 5 plastic – so is in theory recyclable wherever number 5 plastic is collected.

As for reuses, a waterproof mat is always handy in the garden – it could be used as a picnic mat or a groundsheet under a tent. Depending on how tight the weave is, it also might be suitable as a dust sheet to protect floors while painting or the like.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by kermer)

Regular readers of Recycle This (and my personal Twitter feed) may have spotted me talking about an impending house move for the last few months. To be specific, it took five months from our offer being accepted to getting the keys in our hands but the latter finally, FINALLY, happened last Friday afternoon.

We’ve not moved in yet because there is some damp-proofing work needed in our office and since we both largely work from home, it would be good (from logistical and breathing points of view) to have that sorted before we move over. We’re also using this short window to do other jobs that’ll be easier without us, all our stuff and cats there. Expect lots of “How can I…” style questions about house moving, renovations and decorating from me over the next few weeks ;)

First up, I’d like to make a sewing table/bench. There is, wonderfully, enough space for me to have dedicated craft station in the spare room for sewing etc – no more having to use the floor for sewing and pattern cutting, joy!

I think it would be good to have a drop-leaf/expandable table style worktop so it might be worth keeping an eye out for an old/broken dining table for that. Someone has also suggested covering a worksurface with lino/vinyl floor covering to protect it so I guess I should keep an eye out for that too. I already use some old (skip-dived) CD shelves for yarn and am tempted to yoink the shoe rack John doesn’t use for instant shelving – two layers of shoeboxes or ice-cream tubs for holding stuff.

Any other suggestions for useful features or things to make it with? What have you used? What about for storage of those countless tools and random supplies?

John is very taken with the idea of getting an exercise ball to use when he wants a change from his desk chair in our new office. He’s used them at other people’s desks and he likes the idea of bouncing while he works.

I’ve always poo-poohed the idea because we have cats who like to stretch up against furniture then dig in their very long, very sharp claws – not exactly compatible with inflatable furniture – but a friend told us his cat did that too and it wasn’t a problem because the PVC plastic is so thick. Then suddenly, mysterious, he found himself sitting considerably lower in the chair thanks to a claw-sized slow puncture. Claws one, inflatable thing nil.

So we won’t be getting on now but what are the options for reusing an old exercise ball? A single puncture or two could probably be repaired with a bicycle puncture repair kit but if the problem is more systemic, it might not be worth repair – so what else can be done with it?

I suspect with a bit of handiwork, they could still be used as seats – filled with beanbag balls instead of air – but I wonder if the sliced up “skin” could be used for anything else too…