Tell More Than your top tips for reusing everyday items around the house - £250 voucher prize draw NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

More Than would like to find out Mumsnetters' top tips for using everyday items in imaginative and unconventional ways around the home to make life that little bit easier.

Here's what More Than have to say, "Life can be full of little frustrations. At MORE TH>N we want to help, and that's why we love collecting and sharing all sorts of tips and tricks that make life that little bit easier. We like to think of them as 'helping hands', those clever ideas you never knew you needed to know. We're always on the look-out for more great hints to share, so if you've got a top tip, let us know."

For inspiration, watch the video clip below and then share your top tips on this thread.

What do you think of the suggestions given in the video? Which, if any, would you try out? Do you already use some of these ideas around the house already? Have you got any to add? Maybe you use a rubber band around paint pots to scrape excess paint onto from your paint brush? Or, do you use magnets to make sure your bag of crisps stay sealed? Whatever it is, we'd love to hear about it.

Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Amazon voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

I use egg boxes to put paint in for ds, just chuck it away when finished.

I cut out the little ribbon hanging things from t shirts to use for card making and toy making.

The cassette/phone stand idea is inspired!

The answer is, NO, it doesn't

What do you think of the suggestions given in the video?

clever and simple

Which, if any, would you try out?

I like the loo rolls to divide cables, might try that out!

Do you already use some of these ideas around the house already?

I use the ribbons on suitcases.

Can't think of a cunning trick I use at the minute.

Lots of simple suggestions on video which are good but some look a bit naff... Already do ribbon / scarf on suitcase. Thought the elastic bands on hangers was good then realised I would get annoyed when taking things off the hangers.

I re-use things like glass jars and tins for storage in the garage/ under stairs cupboard and keep elastic bands for various uses. I keep plastic pots for the garden, for seedlings and plastic ties used in toy packaging as plant ties, bubble wrap for insulating the greenhouse, empty compost bags turned inside out to reduce water loss from baskets and eggshells as a slug deterrent around delicate plants. I keep plastic packs when I buy young plants and dig up seedlings from my own garden and plant them into the packs so I can sell at car boot sales or give away to friends. Garden is a great place to re-use and recycle!

I store christmas presents in the draws under the bed as this is the only place my children haven't thought of looking.
Loved some of the ideas in the video. My ingenuity is mostly confined to recycling household objects into rabbit toys.

I love the elastic band over a stripped screw, so simple but so good!

I reuse loads of stuff, I use boxes/tins from sweets/biscuits for storing lots of different things. Cards are great for the kids crafting. The ribbons on the shoulders of tops are great for crafting too and can be made into little bracelets for DD.

Squeezy sauce bottles cleaned out are great for kids to use to ice cakes.

I use some of the ideas already, loved the cassette suggestion.

I use old nutella jars as tealight holders and use glass pens to decorate. One shape of the nutella jars also makes a great drinking glass. The ink from the glass pens I use comes off in the dishwasher so I also use them to write names on wine glasses when friends come round so that glasses don't get mixed up. Makes a good alternative to the wine charms you can buy.

Also clothes pegs to seal packets and takeaway containers reused for the freezer.

We use old toothbrushes for difficult to reach places in cleaning.

Empty bottles, toilet rolls, wrapping paper, ribbons for children's crafts.

Old t shirts used as rags in the garage.

I use carrier bags for bin liners in the bathroom bin, rather than buying them.

I love to pick up new tips and will be watching this thread for inspiration!

If your DC have outgrown needing bottles, use them to mix dressings or cocktails, the measures on the sides make it easy and the tops mean you can shake stuff properly without worrying about it spilling.

The smaller baby bottles (the ones that are 4 oz bottles) are great for carrying dressings with you for packed lunches.

use fruitshoot bottles as container for dilute squash in their lunch box. they are less leaky than new sports bottles

when dismantling anything, keep all the bolts and screws, and fixings. my box of bits has been very useful when I have had a screw loose

my cooker is held together with roofing bolts, and has been for 7 years.

A sheet of kitchen roll will help open jars/ bottles.

If you are out of gift tags, a piece of the same wrapping paper makes a good alternative.

DC old vests and pjs are kept and used to patch up soft toys when they become full of holes.

I like most of these because of their niftiness but I don't feel like it's a new dawn for me. I have yet to lie awake at night wondering how to solve that eternal dilemma of keeping bugs out of drinks.

My favourite handy ideas are

• using the plastic tray from the meat to pour the excess fat into
• using a paper/polystyrene cup to make a phone holder (more likely to have one of those than a cassette case lying around!)
• I use old nappy boxes to "file" the DC's toys - easy to pull out because of the handle and they line up nicely on shelving in the cupboard
• I keep all my little baking bits (eg bic soda, icing, decorations, yeast) in a large clear box, and all my little savoury bits (eg spices, herbs, seasonings) in another large clear box - so I only have to pull it out to find what i need instead of rummaging through the whole shelf

I use pegs to clip together opened bags of frozen peas, cereals etc.
I use egg boxes to chit my potatoes in.
I use the glass jars of nutella when they're empty as...glasses!
I use tissue paper as wrapping paper, and re-use gift bags.
I use old toothbrushes to clean grouting and shower screen 'gutters'.
Always do the ribbon on the suitcases.

I have been turning outgrown babygros with nice patterns into dribble bibs this week.
We use some pretty plastic tubs from bath salt scrubs as a pot for hair bobbles and clips.
My sewing basket is full of recycled buttons and empty pots from moisturiser etc for pins and elastic etc

Once empty, laundry gel tablet boxes can be reused for lots of things. My toddler keeps things in them and I use one for laundry powder - I find the tight seal on the plastic laundry tab box works better than the closures on cardboard laundry powder boxes. I also keep a small scoop (the type you get for strain remover powder) and a dosing ball in the plastic box along with the laundry powder, so it's all together.

Quite like the peg to hold a nail in and the toilet roll holders to store wires - nice to be able to label them on the side so you know what is in there before you start unravelling. I used an old toothbrush to clean our nit comb between brushes and to give it a proper clean between treating children.

Dustpan from a dustpan and brush to direct water from a tap to fill a container you can't fit in the sink - google it and you'll understand!

Oh I loved that video! Great ideas especially with the rubber bands.

I always reuse my toothbrushes for cleaning, and a thin trainer sock works wonders cleaning mirrors!

I reuse jam jars to keep in small amounts of paint - so I don't have to open the tin if I just want to touch up a spot on the wall if it's been chipped or stained.

Yogurt pots are great for building towers, and empty shampoo bottles make excellent bath toys!

I use old toothbrushes for cleaning and old pants/socks/clothes for dusting

I use old yoghurt pots/tin cans/egg boxes for planting herbs/salads and other seeds in.

I also but oranges in the wooden crates from Tesco when they sell them then paint the empty crates to use on DS shelving units for loose toys, I use a crate for keeping a 'kit' of nappies and wipes in the bathrooms, bedroom and downstairs (I paint them with the leftover pain from the walls so they match )

I use the tins from when DS has formula milk for storing odds and ends in, they're handy and easily decorated to look nice, both my elder boys have one each as a 'spare change' pot too.

Large bottles are used upside down with their bottoms cut of as plant water-ers, and some are used to protect little shoots from frost and bugs.

Old bottle bottoms are sunken in the ground and filled with cheap beer to catch and trap slugs.

... I have way to many of these

One of the better ones was using swimming noodles sewn into a 'tunnel' I sewed into a double sheet to stop DS falling out of bed.

I am in the process of reusing a pretty dress that's way to big for me to make into a sock bag, the carrier we're currently using is hideous.

Any unwanted perfume, bath salts, herbs etc are used in the garden to deter the cats leaving their calling card!

Like these tips.

Old baby bottle brushes are good for cleaning.

Clothes pegs for sealing frozen peas/crisps/ anything.

Keep the wrapper from butter and use it to grease baking sheets.

Left over coca cola for unblocking sinks
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