11 surprising uses for old loo roll tubes

- 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.
- Stop the tops of long boots from flopping over and creasing by popping an empty kitchen roll or toilet roll inside them.
- Make a thrifty air freshener by popping a few drops of essential oil into an empty tube and hiding it in a bathroom cupboard.
- Protect a young plant from drooping (or being knocked by pets) by popping a loo roll around its stem.
- 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.
- 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.
- They also work well at protecting lightbulbs that have lost their box.
- 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.
- Cover them in peanut butter, roll them in bird seed and hang outside for a thrifty bird feeder.
- 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.
- 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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