My Little Bag Of Reuse Tricks

I just helped my King do a quick fix by manufacturing a washer out of a piece of plastic milk jugs. Will it last forever? Probably not, but it will patch things up until he makes his next trip to the hardware store anyway.

There are lots of things that I make a second use out of. I save those fine mesh bags that cloves of garlic come in to put my slivers of soap into. Tie a knot at each end and it makes a soft scrubby with soap that’s perfect for grubby hands.

The larger mesh bags that onions or oranges come in work great for putting small things  in the dishwasher like lids that would fall between the racks. I hook the bag around a couple of the posts to hold it open and toss my small items in the bag. They come clean and I don’t find them at the bottom melting on the heating element.

The thin bags that the grocery stores give you to use for vegetables work great as doggy bags. I take care not to tie knots that you can’t undo so that the bags can be reused after you get your fruits and vegetables home and into the crisper. They are thin enough that I can get several of them into our zippered bag that we have on a lanyard for when we take Indiana for his walk.

I buy my dishwashing soap in large gallon jugs and refill my small sink containers, but occasionally I’ve ended up with an extra small container. The brand I buy comes in the same kind of plastic that the heavy duty jugs come in, so it’s really sturdy and won’t break even if it gets bumped like some of the more brittle plastic containers. I have one that I’ve washed out well and I use to put cooking oil in. It’s perfect to take camping for greasing the pancake pan and the pop-top opens and closes easily. If you make your own salad dressing, the containers can also be used for that.

Plastic milk jugs can be reused and adapted for all sorts of different things. I’ve made myself new containers for my zipper bags if the original boxes get destroyed, or just to condense the boxes into one. Just take a 2 litre milk jug and cut the top off, then take a second one and do the same. Put them together and cut a slot in the top. Put your bags in one of the milk jugs, then fit the second jug over top and tape together with clear tape. The new container can be sized for small to large zipper bags and you can fit at least 2 large boxes of zipper bags into a milk jug container.

With the leftover milk jug tops, you can make a closable lid for open plastic bags instead of twist ties. I like to leave the handle on to there is something easy to grab on to in my pantry. The lid makes it easy to pour beans or pasta right out of the bag.