Kitchen sinks and faucets come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, not all of them accommodate filling a bucket. Here is an easy solution: Buy an inexpensive pool noodle, slide one end up onto your faucet head, let the other end fall into your bucket, and turn on the water! A side benefit is that it will be so much easier to lift the bucket from the floor than it will be to lift the bucket out of the sink to place it on the floor!
Speaking of inexpensive pool noodle uses, if you live in an area where the winter season brings below freezing temperatures, snow and ice, cut a pool noodle into the approximate sized pieces and place a piece over each of your windshield wipers. Not only will you protect your wipers from getting frozen onto your windshield, requiring lots of muscle to scrape and move while the defroster is kicking in, it will keep the ice/snow from freezing onto the thin rubber of the wiper itself.
So, you’ve got left-over pieces of pool noodle after you make your windshield wiper covers? If you’ve got a green thumb and like to do a lot of pot planting, cut the pieces into equal sized rings (1 inch or less) and use them to line the bottom of your pot before adding dirt! This will allow extra water to seep below the surface of the dirt, so it doesn’t get too wet and prevents root rot, and the dirt will soak up the water as it dries.
Have a pair of boots which tend to fall over when you put them away? Slip a piece of pool noodle the height of the boot’s leg inside and they will stand up straight!
Pool noodles make great bumpers for a child’s bed to help keep him/her from rolling off the side of the bed. Just slip one under the fitted sheet on both sides and tautly finish tucking the sheet in. It will create an instant barrier to keep the child from rolling off the edge.
The uses for this inexpensive piece of foam can be endless. From using them for cable management to putting a piece on hangers over which you drape pants/slacks/etc. to avoid a crease to using a piece on top of your mouse pad where your wrist rests when you’re using the mouse, when you’re looking for an inexpensive solution to a problem, you might want to stop and ask yourself, “Hmmm, could a pool noodle be the solution?”
So, use your noodle and use a noodle!!
And here’s a little bonus that has nothing to do with pool noodles:
Who actually likes the task of cleaning the filter of the clothes dryer after each load? (Me, neither!) But… if you have a wood fireplace or enjoy camping with an evening campfire, or even use a charcoal grill, don’t just toss those balls of lint into the trash! Save them in a plastic bag for when you want to start a fire. It turns out that lint is extremely flammable, so spreading some out in the space where you want to start a fire assures that it will start burning with the touch of a flame. It’s easy to store a bag of lint (doesn’t take up much room, either) and will be especially helpful if you’re dealing with damp wood or charcoal!
Ramblings and Ruminations 