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?

We’ve had an email from Hannah:

What can I do with old flip flops?

I’m presuming Hannah means the cheap foam ones that are omnipresent in the summer but sadly disappear into the dark, dusty backs of cupboards as soon as autumn arrives, never to re-emerge.

Because, toe-thong aside, they’re pretty much just foam shapes, a lot of the suggestions for foam drink holders and foam swim float will apply here too such as floor protectors under furniture legs, cut up/carved for foam stamps, or used as knitwear blocking boards or boards for macrame. If they’re not too, um, footy, they could maybe also be used as a fun noticeboard – a few pairs walking along the wall would be super-fun :)

Any other suggestions?

After a month of frantic renovation (which is nowhere nearly finished but a lot of the dirty work is done), we’re finally moving into our new home today – hurrah!

Until the weekend, we’d been focusing on the renovation stuff – pulling down ugly fake walls, cleaning out sooty chimneys and ripping down plasterboard in preparation for damp-proofing work (the last thing resulted in the discover of a secret new room, it’s sadly unusable without a lot of expensive work so we’re leaving it for now) – and so hadn’t given much thought to the finer points of today’s move, such as working out where all our stuff is going to go.

We’ve got a giant (120cm/4ft square) frameless mirror above our fireplace in the living room here (acquired from a shop changing room refit apparently) and I think it will probably be relocated to above the fireplace in the dining room of the new house – but I think its lack of frame will look odd there.

How can I make a frame using recycled materials and/or repurposing other stuff?

My first thought is to try something make from reclaimed wood because the fireplace’s mantelpiece will be an old building joist – I’m not an expert woodworker but willing to give it a go. Heh, actually, perhaps I should make a frame using my existing craft skills and knit one ;)

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Steve asking:

How can I reuse or recycle one-cup filter coffee packs?

I think Steve means these – little plastic pots that you put on the top of your cup/mug and fill with boiling water. The water then seeps through the filter-coffee-filter sandwich at the bottom et voila!, a cup of filter coffee without needing a machine.

I think the first thing to suggestion here, as in many cases, is see if you can stop or reduce using them. I realise they’re a handy substitute for offices where there aren’t machines or anything like that, but you can get reusable one-cup filter things and cafetieres/plungers aren’t expensive either. Both of those option cut down your waste by loads and it’s also easier to reuse the coffee grounds from them too.

If you do have to use them though, it’s of course better to reuse them or recycle them instead of just binning them. I wonder if it would be possible to refill them – you might have to replace the upper filter as well as the coffee though – and that would probably be so much faff that it wouldn’t be worth it.

As for other reuses, like nearly everything vaguely pot shaped, you could use it as a small plant pot – the filter at the the bottom would allow drainage. Any other suggestions?