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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what's the best thing you have pulled out of a skip!!

96 replies

trevthecat · 07/02/2021 13:54

Just that really, we have a skip on the drive and it's a constant stream of people rummaging! It's only got house renovation crap in it!

Once there was a skip outside a bar in town and I took a silver champagne ice bucket out! It's in my mums garden now with plants in!

So, what's the best thing you have pulled out of a stranger's skip?!

OP posts:
1Morewineplease · 07/02/2021 13:57

Watching with interest.

I've often seen a few things that I've thought that I could paint or do up but I've not plucked up the courage to remove. I suppose I could have asked .

britnay · 07/02/2021 13:59

A pair of brand new wrangler walking boots. Not a sign of wear on them. Fit me perfectly. They are especially great for icy weather as they seem quite grippy :)

Original poster
trevthecat · 07/02/2021 14:11

@britnay that's a great find! A friend once found brand new uggs in a skip, boxed. Back when they were everywhere.

OP posts:
rockingthelook · 07/02/2021 17:55

I've not had anything out of a skip, but did ask someone at the tip if I could have the lovely rattan chair they were throwing?, they were so pleased it was going to a good home, I was thrilled, looks very nice in my home

Soubriquet · 07/02/2021 18:03

Not a skip..my dh used to work at the local tip and they would have no end of decent stuff being thrown

He once rescued a glass Disney tigger with a gold part. I can’t remember the brand right now, but when i googled it, it was an out of production item and was worth around £50!!

It was in perfect condition and I was well chuffed to receive it

whoamongstus · 07/02/2021 18:06

An Ercol sideboard (with permission!). Restored it, kept it for a few years, sold it for £750 when it didn't fit in the tiny rented house we moved to.

medlarmeddler · 07/02/2021 18:13

The most valuable thing we own! A flat was being cleared next to DHs work. He asked of he could have the record player they were putting on the top. Yep fine.

We had it restored at the company that made it in the 1970s. it's worth over 15k ShockShockShock.

I had to explain this to DS15 at Christmas as he got some records. We let him play his Dire Straits Brothers in Arms LP on it but we've had to get him a cheap record player now.

It does get used so it found a good home, plus we've had to get decent speakers to do it justice 🤷

Wendyhause · 07/02/2021 18:15

Not from a skip but spied in a back lane along some terraced houses a few years ago. I was taking a short cut and saw a small side table which had been thrown out. On close inspection I saw it was perfect and undamaged or stained.
Too shy to take it there and then I went back after dark hoping it was still where I found it. It was. I still have it.

Lemonsyellow · 07/02/2021 18:19

Not from a skip, but at the rubbish/recycling centre - someone was throwing it away and we asked if we could have it - a double pushchair. Perfect for us.

sueelleker · 07/02/2021 21:02

From outside a neighbor's house- a tall wooden display cabinet with glass doors. It's sitting in the corner of our living room with my Chokin china in it.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 07/02/2021 21:08

A vase in the shape of some celery with a face. Not a valuable item but it started me collecting other vegetable related vases with faces from car boots etc. which cheered my kitchen up.

Thesearmsofmine · 07/02/2021 21:18

Following, I’ve never had anything from a skip but love charity shops bargains.
My dad rescued a vintage hat stand from outside of a house once, it’s really cool.

Florencenotflo · 07/02/2021 21:30

DH found a new bike for Dd1 before Christmas. Our neighbour was moving out and downsizing. His girls are teenagers now, but he had thrown a bike in the skip. DH knocked on the door and asked if he could have it. It's perfect. Not a scratch on it. DH took it to be serviced, a new saddle, 1 new tyre and we had stabilisers put on it and gave it to Dd1 as part of her 5th Birthday present. She loves it!

SlopesOff · 07/02/2021 21:30

@EndoplasmicReticulum

A vase in the shape of some celery with a face. Not a valuable item but it started me collecting other vegetable related vases with faces from car boots etc. which cheered my kitchen up.
That would be a celery jar, for putting your celery in at meal times. I have one that belonged to my parents. Never thought to use it for anything else (but never use it anyway).
BitOfFun · 07/02/2021 21:33

All the windows for my allotment shed!

To ask what's the best thing you have pulled out of a skip!!
bridgertonian · 07/02/2021 21:33

When we were kids my mum brought a go kart back from the tip, proper pedals and steering wheel, it was amazing! We had fun with it for years.

WorriedMillie · 07/02/2021 21:34

I’ve never rescued anything, but when we had our kitchen replaced, someone knocked on the door and asked if he could take the old kitchen/appliances for his mum’s kitchen refit. I was thrilled, they were still functional, albeit quite old.

Florencenotflo · 07/02/2021 21:34

@EndoplasmicReticulum my Nan used to collect them! She had the celery, onions, beetroot.

I saw a load of them in the window of a charity shop in town a few years ago. Bought my Nan 3 that I thought she might not have. Unbeknown to be, she'd had a clear out and I'd bought her donated ornaments from the same charity shop she had given them to! 😂 I took them back later that afternoon (not for a refund, just re-donated them!).

tanguero · 07/02/2021 21:40

A collection of 25 postcards written (in pencil) by Percy Holmes one of the England cricket team touring South Africa in 1929, to his wife back home in Yorkshire....fetched £250 at auction. But more importantly, a small piece of sporting history was saved.

Thelnebriati · 07/02/2021 21:40

Two vintage chest of drawers, I got them home on the DC's skateboard. Sanded the old varnish off and stained them, bought some new handles. It took me several weeks and was well worth it.

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 07/02/2021 21:42

Back in the days before the internet I got a complete Encyclopaedia Britannica out of a skip, with the ex-owner's permission. I'd never have had the money to buy one, they cost a bomb back then.

Giggorata · 07/02/2021 21:46

A huge old oak pedestal desk, with all drawers and everything intact. Polished up beautifully.
We've got a ride on lawnmower out of a skip just this month, which a mechanic friend is restoring for us.

pepperaunt · 07/02/2021 21:50

My late DF, an inveterate skip diver, found a beautiful corner cupboard, just missing the glass. It was rounded so cost a fair amount to replace. They had it for years, though, and it now lives in DSis’s house

Meatshake · 07/02/2021 21:51

A kids ride on John deere tractor, trailer, digger combo set. A blast with a pressure washer and a bit of wd40 and it was good as new. Think they're about £100+ new.

Only problem was that I was walking home with kid #1 on her bike and kid #2 in a very small buggy and it was really hard work to drag home 🤣 kids were buzzin though!

BillyAndTheSillies · 07/02/2021 21:56

A little tikes car, which is a bit worse for wear now to be fair.

My mum found two Lloyd Loom chairs in a skip, she knocked on and asked and the people were really confused as to why she was even asking if she could have them - they were in a skip.