We’ve had an email from Maggie:

I’ve seen all your suggestions for reusing clothes but I’ve got an old coat that’s vinyl not cloth. What can be done with that? It’s got a tear right down the arm so can’t go to the charity shop.

If the tear isn’t in a very obviously place (perhaps on the underside or bodyside of the arm), it might be worth trying to repair it. I’ve not tried it but I wonder if, working with it inside out, whether a bicycle wheel puncture repair kit might work. Anyone tried anything like that?

Aside from that, it is certainly worth salvaging the material for use around the home or in craft projects. Obviously it depends on how it is constructed but I’d have thought the back panel would give you a nice flat piece of vinyl, and the sleeves opened out would be pretty good too. Take advantage of the fact it is waterproof and use it to make table protectors, swimming/gym bags, shelf liners – or if you’re very handy with a sewing machine, there will probably even be enough fabric to make a smaller version of the same sort of coat for a child.

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Pam, asking:

How do I construct a garment rack from any materials, that will display my tie dyes openly so they can be seen? It can’t be too heavy to transport, and can’t end up top heavy.

Not picky about materials, just needs to look presentable and not require anything well, like soldering tools, etc. Looking at the ones for sale, it does not look like rocket science.

I saw a great idea for making a display stand out of an old suitcase recently – the creator is using it for showing off dangly earrings but I guess it could work for ties too.

Another idea might be to make a rack out of copper pipes – like the one I featured on Things To Do Today last week – you could maybe salvage and polish up some old ones, and as the how-to explains, it’s a no-solder job because you can buy/salvage the elbows and joints and it’s just a case of clicking it all together.

Any other ideas?

It was my birthday (the big 3-0) last Monday and because I’m wild and exciting, I decided I’d like to spend the day making cheese. I’m determined to get quickly confident with soft cheese so I can move onto hard cheese as soon as I’ve got a room they can be stored in for 12 months (*insert misc house-moving grumbles here*).

I planned it out carefully to make sure we used up everything as efficiently as possible – we started making butter and used the leftover buttermilk to make buttermilk cheese (which was interesting because it was slightly sour), and I’d planned to whey ricotta from the whey leftover from the paneer and lemon-flavoured soft cheese making but there just wasn’t enough milk solids left to do it justice.

What else could I do with the watery whey? I’ve heard it can be a good protein drink for bodybuilders or people who just want to, um, build up their bodies — I tried to give some to our poorly-sick cat to help her bulk up but she was more interested in the leftover cream.

As I said, I’d like to conquer cheeses so will be producing a few litres of this a week – any suggestions? Recipes? Other ideas?

We’ve had an email from Di:

Several brands of tea I buy come in little waxy paper packets with a foil lining. Do you know if this can go straight into the recycling bin?

I think it’ll be a no regarding the recycling bin. Mixed materials – such as paper & plastic, plastic & metal, and paper & foil – tend to be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to recycling — and waxed paper can also be problematic to recycle as well (apparently it can be recycled alongside tetrapak but not regular paper).

It might be worth contacting the manufacturers to see if they have any suggestions or have any method of recycling their offcuts – if they do, they might be able to take back packaging and recycle it at the same time.

Any suggestions for reuses?

Three Beautiful Things‘ Clare sent over a link to a “grim but intriguing” story about someone making fashion items using old cigarette butts >> Cigarette Butt Haute Couture at Greenmuze.com.

When I clicked the link, I imagined it would be outfits along the lines of Herb Williams’ crayon sculptures but it seems to be more of a fabric reclamation project – which makes it considerably less grim in my opinion since fibre is fibre.

Obviously it would be better – for the environment and for the person’s health – if everyone reduced their consumption of them but in the meantime, is there anything else that can be done with them? Small scale reuse/recycle projects at home or are there any industrial recycling/reclaiming schemes?

(Sorry if the picture is making anyone else feel queasy btw!)