11 surprising uses for old loo roll tubes

1. If you have an open fireplace, cut up loo rolls make excellent kindling. Cut them into small strips and keep them to hand for cold nights.
2. Stop the tops of long boots from flopping over and creasing by popping an empty kitchen roll or toilet roll inside them.
3. Make a thrifty air freshener by popping a few drops of essential oil into an empty tube and hiding it in a bathroom cupboard.
4. Protect a young plant from drooping (or being knocked by pets) by popping a loo roll around its stem.
5. Another tip for the green-fingered: instead of buying biodegradable starting pots for seedlings, use the cardboard from toilet rolls instead. Cut them in half width-ways to make two discs per roll, and pack them into a tray, close enough that they won’t tip when you water them. Fill each with seed-starting mix and get sowing.
6. Use them for organizing string, Christmas lights or anything else prone to tangling. Just wrap around the outside of the tube and secure with masking tape.
7. They also work well at protecting lightbulbs that have lost their box.
8. If your grandchild has a pet hamster or gerbil, donate the odd loo roll for their pet’s cage – they love to nibble on them.
9. Cover them in peanut butter, roll them in bird seed and hang outside for a thrifty bird feeder.
10. Cut a slit all the way up one side of a roll and slide it like a cuff over a wrapping  paper tube to keep it in order in the cupboard.
11. Keep your compost heap aerated by ripping up tubes into little pieces and adding to the pile. Cardboard decomposes easily while created much-needed air pockets – ideal if it’s starting to whiff a bit.

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