Because nothing particularly interesting has happened in my life over the last few weeks – I mean, aside from us moving house after nearly a decade in the old place and my best friend Katherine giving birth for the first time (*hello 14 day old baby Joe!*) – I have been unduly excited by the discovery of covers for outside rotary washing lines.

They’re big plastic covers which sit on rotary washing lines, preventing the clothes from getting re-soaked every time there is a sudden but brief downpour — there are some clear ones that can be left on all the time, ideal for the UK where it goes from blistering sunshine to torrential rain and back again constantly throughout the day. I tell you – unduly excited – I can’t believe I lived three decades without knowing about them. It’s like the broccoli stalks revelations all over again.

The basic concept seems simple enough to make myself from scrap materials – I need a sheet of heavy-duty but flexible waterproof material, ideally clear, in the shape of my rotary line, some extra length to be sides (to stop sideways rain) and possible some cane or piping at the edge between the “roof” and the sides to give it some structure. We got a new mattress when we moved in here and I’ve kept the giant plastic bag that came in, which is a good start, and I’m tempted to befriend a local carpet fitter for some more similar stuff, which they get wrapped around the rolls of carpet. An old tent or gazebo covering would probably work too. Any other suggestions?

Has anyone made something similar for non-rotary washing lines? Once my eyes were opened to the concept, I started Googling around and found these Isle of Mull dryers which combine the cover and the hanging space in an inverted V-shape. Any other ideas?

We’ve had an email from “BustyBee” (hehe, great nickname) asking:

What are the reuses for an old fleece jacket? My DH has some that are too small but I don’t want to just throw them away.

If it’s just a case of them being too small then it’s probably best to pass them on to someone who can still use them as jackets – a charity/thrift/op shop or shelter would probably welcome them with open arms at the moment given it’s becoming more wintery by the minute.

If they’re too old or tatty for such a donation, you could salvage the bits of fabric that are still in good condition to use for various crafts and the like – I’d imagine cut into strips or small pieces, it would make bouncy stuffing or larger pieces could be sewn together to make a snuggly, patchwork quilt. Any other suggestions?

What about non-craft uses? I have a half a memory of people using old (synthetic) fleeces as an insulator for frost-sensitive plants in the garden or related to that, I guess they could be refashioned into a kneeling pad for leaning on when out pulling weeds and the like. Other ideas?

Even though we use them in addition to sponge and cloths, we seem to go through washing up brushes pretty quickly, usually because the bristles all flatten out rendering them somewhat ineffectual at reaching hard to reach bottoms of glasses etc.

We keep a couple around for “dirty” cleaning jobs, such as de-muddifying trainers, where the flattened bristles do enough but what can we do with the others?

And is there a super-invincible kind of brush that lasts longer, thus reducing our constant need to replace them?

(Photo by laeste)

Following on from last week’s “Reduce This” post about cutting back on toiletries, I’d really love to hear how other people are reducing their use of related bathroom consumables, such as toilet paper, cotton wool and the like.

A number of bloggers and other people around the old worldwide web have been taking part in Crunchy Chicken’s Cloth Wipe Challenge 2009 over the last couple of weeks – giving up toilet paper for a month (and hopefully beyond). I think it’s a great idea and intend to give it a go as soon as we get a bit more settled here in our new home – I’ll probably start with just wee wipes and perhaps build it up from there. Will be interesting to see how much less paper we use as a result.

Has anyone else tried that? There are lots of great suggestions on Crunchy Chicken’s blog for sourcing cloths (it’s super easy to make them out of soft old tshirts) and containers to keep them in before washing – anyone got anything to add?

Aside from moving onto cloth wipes, what else can be done to reduce the amount of toilet paper used? Any good tricks for ensuring that kids don’t get paper-happy and only use what they need?

Another thing that is much discussed elsewhere is the use of mooncups/divacups and/or reusable sanitary towels instead of disposable towels and tampons – anyone had experience of those? Or other alternatives?

I tried to cut back the amount of cotton wool I use for skincare by making washable pads a similar size to the cotton wool pads I already use. I read somewhere (but unfortunately can’t find the article now) that babies’ nappies/diapers are perfect for such a function because they’re soft and absorbent but I’ve had problems getting them clean – I was washing them in little net bags to stop the two-dozen tiny pads disappearing throughout the laundry load and the oily make-up and cleansing goop just would not shift. I’d rather not resort to bleaching them but will try some different cleaning methods over the next few batches (I suspect vinegar will feature prominently). Anyone done anything similar?

What about other similar bathroom items? What have you done to cutback/reduce waste?