How can I reuse or recycle … pump action sprays?

Pump spray bottleI realise yesterday’s post on aerosols would be mostly recycling rather than reuse, but how about a similar item that has more reuse potential – pump action sprays?

We’ve got a number of old pump action spray bottles around the house – from old cleaning products and from a body spray that I use from time to time – and they can all be refilled and reused, but we’ve used up all our ideas about what to put in them and still have a stack of spares.

So any suggestions what would be useful to have as a spray/mister that doesn’t already coming with its own pump spray?

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12 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle … pump action sprays?”


  1. sarar says:

    I know you can use vinegar for cleaning glass and mirrors – I guess you could put that in the spray to make it easier to apply to the windows.

    -SaraR

  2. Rosie says:

    Think these are candidates for my fly spray..
    just fill with water and a few drops of washing up liquid and spray the flies..they fall down and you grab with a piece of paper and dispose of the nasty germ ridden things!
    Death by a quick squash is more humane than the agonising end they face with the fume laden chemical spray to say nothing of the stuff being released into the air!
    Rosie:)

  3. DJ says:

    Fill one up with ice water and mist yourself on a hot day.

  4. If you don’t want anymore spray bottles, just buy a refill bottle of the cleaner, and refill the bottle with the cleaner. This way, you won’t get spare bottles, and you can fill up a few times before throwing away the refill bottle.

  5. Katz says:

    You can use them to spray your plants with water on a hot day or for cleaning leaves, also good to dampen the clothes slightly when ironing.
    Also – (I have not tried it yet, but I will next weekend) you know how they sell garden fence and furniture treatment? I find the solutions for it are reasonably priced, but power spray equipment that should be used with it is quite expensive (£15-35). I think you can use your spray bottles for the same purpose!

  6. Catherine says:

    Any ideas what to do with pump action sprays that don’t actually spray? I seem to have rather a lot of them…

  7. Katie says:

    I have had the same two spray bottles for about five years now! I refill them. In my kitchen one, I put about an inch of ‘flash’ and a cap full of disinfectant and top up with water. In my bathroom spray I also put about an inch of ‘flash’ and a lime-scale cleaner, topped up with water. Don’t buy your cleaners ready mixed in spray bottles, first you are adding to carbon omissions (in the fuel it takes to transport it) second you are wasting money. You are paying for the water that’s added, it’s free from your own home.

    • Mark McElroy says:

      Not sure what `Flash` means here. If it is the proprietary Flash detergentthen it is not a good idea to mix it with a lime-scale remover. The reason is that the `flash` is almost certainly slightly alkaline. Thus it will neutralise the acidity of the lime-scale remover. This is obviously not a wise thing to do since it renders the lime-scale remover ineffective. If the

  8. You could make a large amount of fragrance and give them as gifts.

    I use the for hair conditioners and oil. I have one with a olive oil and water mixture for detangling my hair, one with conditioner and water for leave in conditioner and one (well a squeeze bottle) with shampoo and water for washing (I don’t want all the oil to be washed out when shampooing.)

  9. Medeea says:

    I only have one, with vinegar that I spray on blouses before washing to remove the antiperspirant stains. I also spray in my shoes and then wipe with a sponge to remove bacterias and smell.
    But I would use another one with oil, to spray the pans. Life would be so much easier.


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