What kinds of things do you use to death???

[Momto2Boyz]

I tend to not to throw things away until they are completely unusable. My DH makes fun of some of the things I completely wear out before throwing out. Does anyone else do this? If so, what kinds of things have to be completely without use anymore before you will throw them away????

Here are some of the things I use to death:
Jeans ~ I wear them until the holes in the knees are too huge to keep my legs warm anymore!
Socks & undies...these need to have holes and stretchy elastic before they get tossed!
Sponges ~ I clean them, so they don't get yucky...but I use them until the fall apart.
Fry pans ~ my last electric fry pan, was in bad shape when I finally threw it away. The teflon was wearing out & the legs fell off...while I was using it.

Right now, that is all I can think of. I know there is plenty more...but those are the things that DH makes fun of me for "over-using".

What kinds of items do you use to death???

[Neeley]

My biggest one is bath and beach/pool towels.

[PrairieRose]

Towels, wash rags, dishrags, underwear (when I can no longer catch a cat in them, I toss 'em...lol)...that's all I can think of right now.

But I have blankets on our beds that are 31 years old...still in good shape.

[peanut]

Gotta be towels. They get recycled into so many thing here, including clothes to apply stain when refinishing furniture. Also as dishcloths and rags. We wear them to the bone! We have "towels" from when we were married...27 years ago!

Jean

[dcompton]

I agree on the underwear, mostly because it is one of the things I hate spending money on to start with.

Favorite mechanical pencils - use them until they won't advance the lead anymore.

Umbrellas, but they still get replaced pretty often. A courtyard between the parking lot and door to work is a whistling wind tunnel on windy rainy days.

These are the first things that come to mind.

[Toonces2]

sneakers! I use sneakers until the sole is falling off or there are holes in the toe.
Also towels, we still use te ones with holes worn in them.

[inneedofhope]

I rarely have to replace bedding, towels, or kitchen towels.
I still have and use my first set of dishes I ever bought, in 1996. I've only lost a few peices here and there, but still have service for six, which my table accomodates. I haven't had to replace any pots or pans either.
My car will be used to the death!!

[nodmicks]

Towels, bedding and washrags.

[frugalfarmwife]

Towels, wash rags, dishrags, underwear (when I can no longer catch a cat in them, I toss 'em...lol)...that's all I can think of right now.

But I have blankets on our beds that are 31 years old...still in good shape.

Ok, laughing hysterically here! I'm sure you meant catch the cat in a towel right? RIGHT? I'm invisioning chasing my cat down with underwear, lololol!!!

We use just about EVERYTHING to death here on the farm! Jeans that the knees go out become shorts, the legs shop rags for hubby. Same with T shirts. And most of these are bought at Goodwill to begin with, unless given to us.

Heck this time of the year even buckets, we get them super cheap or free. With having to bust the ice out of them a few end up cracked, usually higher up, still use them just don't fill as full. Now a crack in the bottom and then they're used to haul dry grain.

I even use baling twine from small bales to make plant hangers, net wrap from large bales for a trellis for beans/peas etc.

If it's got any life left in it we use it here

Oh, and margarine containers for "tupperware", watering bowls for bunnies, feed scoops. Again, until they crack.

kj

[Missy]

underwear, shoes, towels, kitchen cloths, cars...

[mommy4ever]

Underwear, until stretched out or holy. Socks until holy.
towels, when the hems get shredded I re-hem them. When there's holes, they get cut down to wash clothes, when they get ratty there, they are rags for when painting garage duty, then tossed.

t-shirts- dh wears until holes, I then rip them into rags.

sheets- oh my. I just bought my first new sheets after christmas for the kids. I looked at our sheets after wahsing and could see throught hem. i realized it was time. These were given to us used 13 years ago. I bought new ones, 320+ thread count for $4.44 at walmart..lol. I know big spender. Our bed, I received 2 new sets many christmases ago, got 1 free set($400 count) with a purchase. So still haven't bought any. All our camping bedding is well used as well, mostly flat sheets as the beds are odd ball sizes.

my winter jackets. I finally replaced one after having it for 12 years. It was donated to goodwill. There was actaully little wear to it, I've just "grown" out of it unfortuantely.

Jeans- i wear out seams..lol. So if it's not a nice place to patch up, they are cut up, keept he good pieces for future projects.

Fleece - I've only owned 4, still wearing them. On has a broken zipper, time to retire it, but can't be bothered, it'll be designated for camping.

[FreesiaE]

Socks, towels, sheets and for some reason boxes. They tend to be reused for all sorts of things around here.

[cab54]

Towels. Absolutely.

I have clothes and sneakers that I 'pass down' to a 'cleaning clothes' pile. Then they go to a pile of cleaning clothes for REALLY cruddy work (or cleaning with bleach). Then a pile for painting and wallpapering--then the rag bag ripped up for scrap cloths. Oh, and sneakers that are about falling apart are good for gardening.
Paper--I make lists on cards, both sides of tablet paper, whatever's laying around.

Of course, then, there are zip-lock bags. Washed and hung to dry and reused till they don't zip anymore or are cruddy. Especially ones that just have rolls or cookies in them.

I'm a quilter, so unless something is really not quiltable, it goes in a big box upstairs for quilting.

[stinkbug]

Pretty much everything that's been mentioned...except underwear. I hate baggy nasty undies! They are always on sale and I buy a few here and there and thin out the icky ones. Just a weird thing.....

[wulong32]

socks, towels, shoes, jeans, sponges, hair brush