Long time Recycle This friend (and very frequent commenter!) Anna has a question about the protective sleeves slipped around wine bottles:

Any ideas what to do with the plastic nets they put for wine bottles for protecting them when you buy one?

I don’t drink wine so I had to turn to my friend Google to see what those nets are like – some have big holes and look foamy, whereas others have smaller holes and look more like the thin plastic netting you get garlic bulbs in (a smaller version of orange/onion nets). I think the former are to provide some “bounce” protection while the latter just keep all the big bits of glass together in the event of a breakage. (Please correct me if I’m wrong about those assumptions.)

Either way, the first suggestion has to be reduce if you can: if they only add the netting at the shop after you’ve bought the wine, don’t let them: either take an old net to reuse or throw caution to the wind and just go nude ;)

As for reusing them for other things, the thinner/smaller holed nets can be filled with bird seed to make your own bird feeders, filled with the ends of old soap bars and hung on an outside tap for garden clean-up, or bunched up to make washing scrubbies.

I’d be tempted to throw a few of the foam type ones in with our reusable shopping bag stash for when we go to the supermarket for a big shop – they could cushion glass jars and other glass bottles to save them clinking together all the way home. Opened out flat, the foam ones would also be useful as cushioning under heavy plant pots (so they’re less likely to damage/dint the surface they’re stood on) or between occasionally use crockery to save that knocking together too.

How do you reuse or recycle those nets?

We’ve had another question from Ruti:

How could I recycle a wedding dress? I sewed it out of white satin and it is a skirt, bodice and separate train, also quite a bit of spare material and some small bits of netting (I’ll keep the veil).

I don’t really want to give it away, but I’m not going to wear it a second time!

So far I’ve thought of christening gown (if I ever had a girl), undies/nightdress and kiddy angel costumes. I’d kind of like to make some really frilly baby room accessories if I ever had a girl, but has anyone got any non-clothing suggestions?

If you’re want to keep it – but not bothered about keeping it in one piece, I’m sure there are loads of lovely keepsake craft sections – the satin might make a nice cushion or as the lining of a jewellery box. Or to pull in a suggestion from last week’s post on picture frames, you could use the net in an old frame to make a jewellery display for earrings and the like.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by lumix2004)

Following on from last week’s soggy sponge post, what about those newfangled body scrubber things?

For those that aren’t familiar with them, they seem to be some sort of nylon (?) net, squished together into a puffy ball shape.

They don’t “sog” up as much as sponges but as a commenter on the sponge post notes, all that type of thing are such a fab breeding ground for bacteria, they probably shouldn’t be kept hanging around for too long – and so will be thrown away when there is still a bit of life in them (and I don’t mean the bug life).

I imagine they’d be quite a fun texture for using for paint effects while decorating – but any other suggestions?

(Photo by kitalanya)

This one is from my mum.

She buys branded washing powder tablets quite regularly and each time gets a little net in the box. The idea is the tablets go in the net and then in the washing machine, and if you don’t use the net, then all hell breaks loose and demons run the earth (or something).

Anyway, as she just told me on IM: “i’ve got quite a lot of those bags,usually stick them under the sink or hang them in tall cupboard for storage” but it seems they just stay in storage.

Any suggestions on what she can do with them?

(If you can’t see the picture clearly, here’s a description of what I mean: they’re little nylon string nets with a drawstring at the top, and the drawstring has a toggle attached so you can close it up, stopping the tablet from falling out during the wash cycle. Because if it did fall out, hell, demons, etc etc.)