Upcycling is a great way to give life to an otherwise useless item. Pinterest is full of wonderful and creative upcycling ideas but how practical are they? I recently found a link for 15 ways to reuse old socks and I’ll be honest some of the ideas were useful, some creative, and a few that were just odd. The one that stuck out to me the most was the first one on the list, dusting. I will not be using a sock as my main dusting item around my house but I do think its perfect for dusting the 9 radiators that heat my home. I’ve always struggled with the radiators because I normally buy Swiffer dusting products that are thin enough to go between the openings, but the Swiffer dusters are primarily made of polyester which when thrown away don’t decompose.
I searched my home for the dirtiest radiator and the grossest one just happened to be in my bedroom (ew). As I started cleaning I ran into a problem; I tend to wear my socks until they have huge holes in them, so if you give this a try I recommend using a sock that has lost its mate. I did not use any dusting spray or cleaner and the socks pushed a majority of the debris to the floor and I needed to vacuum afterwards.
In conclusion I think this idea works pretty well, but I would only use a sock for the radiators since my hands are small enough to clean those small spaces. There are better upcycling alternatives you can use for dusting flat surfaces in your home, and I will explore those options in a later post.
Before I sign off I want to tell you about a partnered recycling program between Swiffer and TerraCycle, a waste management company. The Swiffer recycling program allows you to send in Swiffer mopping, sweeping, and dusting pads for recycling, and the best part is TerraCycle pays for shipping so there is almost no excuse for not participating. When you send in products to be recycled you also earn points that can be redeemed as donations to a school or charity of your choice.
The Swiffer recycling program is brand-specific, you cannot send in generic brands. Your shipment can also be of any size and you don’t need to clean the products before mailing them but the products must be dry.
Check out TerraCycle’s website for more recycling programs, DIY projects and lists of products that help reduce single waste plastics.
Eco..ish 