Things to do with pantyhose/tights/socks besides wear them

I consider pantyhose to be right up there with duct tape as an essential toolkit item.  A friend with two daughters saves them for me. 

 Have a spool of nylon fish line  that keeps getting loose?  Got a box that you're tired of re-taping?  Lost the straw thing on your WD-40... again?   Pantyhose do it all and more!  And they come in colors!!   Even better, discarded pairs are FREE!

Step 1: What you need

A. Pantyhose, stockings, knee highs, tights, socks... holes or not, all have a potential future.
Some version is usually available free from parents of little girls or big girls.  In a pinch one could (shudder) purchase  new pantyhose at any grocery or drug store.

B. Sharp scissors suitable for cutting cloth.  If you don't have a pair of sewing scissors designated for "cloth only!''  this is a good reason to get a pair  - and label them.

Comments

[nastypuppy]

now this is just inspired!

[mole1]

Thanks, nastypuppy! You might want to cut the boot covers longer, so the whole thing wouldn't go in if a mouse jumped on it. [Hadn't even thought about mice before. If there had been pantyhose back then, my mom could have used a 'body' on the toaster... ummm don't think too hard about that]

[nastypuppy]

wow! great idea. u are NOT phobic for sure. i put my foot inside a big rainboot after it had been stored (inside my closet) & felt something lumpy. so i turned it upside down & there was a dead mouse inside. guess he jumped in & no way out. YUCK! i always save my old pantyhose anyway. after the mouse incident, i put my boots inside trash bags, etc. but this is a way better idea. u can still see the boot. thanks a bunch.

[vanwazltoff]

a lot of the others are obvious but this i had not thought of, i will be using this

[mole1]

Thanks for your comment, vanwazltoff, I'm glad you found it useful.

[sunshiine]

What clever ideas! Thanks for sharing your hard work!

[mole1]

Thanks! Glad you like them.

[inkerbel]

I have nylons used for tying things up, but putting the body around a large box or using over skeins of yarn to keep from unravelling is genius. I also love the idea of using them in place of plastic bags so things can breath, and using them to keep straws with spray cans instead of rubber bands that eventually rot & fall off.
Thanks for sharing all of your ideas, they're great.
We use an old knee-hi to filter the rinse water from the washer. They are also great for:
-buffing old pillar or taper candles that have gotten dull or scratched.
-putting over the end of the vaccuum hose to suck up small items (change, jewelry, etc.) from a place you cannot reach without sucking them *into* the vaccum.
-stretching over a wire hanger that has been made into a loop to make a minnow net.

[mole1]

Thanks, inkerbel! I'm glad there were some new uses for you. Like you, I filter the washer rinse water to keep the drain from getting full of lint. The guy who installed my washer said NOT to do it because if a knee high (or section of leg) ever gets loose, it can go right down the drain = major plumbing bills. So now I always keep a wire mesh strainer in that drain to catch any escapees.

The candle buffing idea is a new to me... mine are all dull, so I'll give it a try.

I don't have any fish to catch, but I wonder how your minnow net made with sheer nylons would work to round up small flying insects. Going to have to wait for fruit fly season.

[deltasierra]

Oh wow, that yarn idea is great! I sometimes get the skeins with patterns on the inside of the labels, but when you take the label off, sometimes the skein is more likely to unravel. What a great idea for keeping it together! :)

[mole1]

Thanks, deltasierra! I didn't even think to try it with new skeins.

[harlyquin]

Another fantastic use: buffing shoes. I've seen a few people do a finishing buff on their leather boots for a really nice shine.

[mole1]

Using them to buff or rub something is a totally new facet for me. I'm looking forward to trying it. Thanks!

[Goodhart]

Hose are especially good for this. :-)

[Thinkenstein]

Cool ideas. A very nice instructible.

[mole1]

Thanks! That means a lot. I'm awed by what you do.

[paintchick]

A good collection of uses! It's nice to see someone else sorts their myriad of pencil crayons into color groups. I might want to rethink my pencil storage after seeing your solution.

I use a toe piece as a pre-filter over the intake of the pump on my wet saw. When cutting tiles the residue is very fine and clogs the pump quickly. I routinely rinse out the stocking piece and I don't have to replace the pump as often.

[mole1]

Thanks, paintchick!

The pencils were a recent solution. It takes too long to find the right pencil in the whole bunch, and I KNOW I'm not meticulous enough to put each one back after each use into it's very own slot in a pencil roll. ( Brrrr! Just thinking about it makes me twitchy. ) This seems to be a workable compromise... portable, easy to put away, and if one wants to work with the pencils upright, the partially open trays can lean against something without the pencils falling out.

Would you post a picture of your pre-filter arrangement? I think many of us would be interested in seeing how you set it up. Your use of pantyhose makes even buying them new a bargain!

[paintchick]

I use aquarium pumps with suction cup feet and the power cord and hose outlet coming out the top of the pump. It is simple to cut the toe of the stocking off 4-5 inches long into a bag shape. I then put the pump into the bag and use a plastic twist tie to secure it around the hose and power cord. I realize this prevents the suction feet from attaching to the base of the water tray but with so much gunk that accumulates from sawing tile the pump starts to slide around anyway. The pump fits neatly under the bracket for the sliding tile tray and stays in place that way. I hope this solution works for others.

[mole1]

Thanks! That's much simpler than what I was trying to picture, and would give more filtering surface area than just covering an intake. Smart!

[SiderAnne]

My family puts a bar of soap in the toe and hangs it over the faucet of the utility sink (in the laundry room or garage). The soap will lather up through the nylon and when it starts to get small, you can just add another bar on top. You never lose it down the big drain hole. We've even used this while camping when running water comes from a gallon jug, not a faucet.

[mole1]

Wow! That's even easier than making lace envelopes for the ends of soap! So do you tie the soap in, or is it always connected to the wall?

[SiderAnne]

To use your parlance: we take one leg, put a bar of soap inside it all the way down to the toe, tie the top of the leg to the faucet.
This could be done with the knee high variety of nylons too.

[nanosec12]

Love this instructible!!!

Another use that I have found for used hose is for my fish tank. I have an external filter, and use the feet of old hose (or sections of the legs) to fill with activated charcoal in the filter. I save a decent amount of money by not purchasing the 'pre-made' filter cartridges and making my own.

with the charcoal/hose combo you will need to make sure and rinse the home made filters under running water for a bit before using in your tank to avoid the black cloud of charcoal dust getting into the tank.

Nano

[mole1]

Great idea! I'd love to see it - could you add a picture?