A bit of a blast from the past – GaryLamontL has asked @recycle_this on Twitter about reuses for wellies:

Just wondering if you have any ideas on what to do with 3 old pairs of wellies I have. They leak and I have enough planters!

We’ve covered this before but a lot of the ideas were planter-ish. So a fresh shout out – has anyone got any more reusing or recycling ideas for old wellies?

Two “repair this” posts in a row – something I usually try to avoid but this is a bit of an urgent one from Kate:

Help! My wellies are leaking! How can I fix them?!

It’s a similar, just slightly more heavy duty, problem to that of my leaky trainers – you need something that will seal the hole but remain flexible (unlike, say, superglue) because it’ll crack when dry. Alice’s waterpoof trouser question might also suggest some mending solutions.

My first thought was puncture repair kit – something suggested a lot to solve my trainer problem – but a quick Google suggests that’s not guaranteed to work. Further in that forum thread, someone mentions that wellington boot repair kits exist – presumably just a heavier duty version than standard bike tyre puncture repair kits.

If it’s only a small leak, a quick bodge not-really-fix would be to put your socked feet into plastic bags before sliding them into your wellies – at least that would keep your feet dry. Depending where the hole/split is, a strip of gaffer tape might also help reduce moisture incursion in the short term until a more permanent fix can take place.

Any other suggestions?

(If you can’t fix them and end up getting a new pair – don’t forget to reuse or recycle your old pair.)

According to something I read the other day, Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eaves hates all the wellington boots that are abandoned after the mud-fest that is the Glastonbury Festival these days. He apparently said: “I hate to see wellies being ditched. We really need to find a way of recycling them.”

…. So any suggestions?

(Photo by vierdrie)