Old Nylons New Uses

I dedicate this wiki to another stocking that has bit the dust.

Many women have felt the frustration of being all dressed up when disaster strikes -- a run in your nylons. Maybe it's small and in an inconspicuous spot, and can be salvaged with clear nail polish. But if the run is beyond hope, here are some great alternative uses for your damaged stockings.

Nylons can:

• Tie up things, like plants that need to be staked.
• Filter old paint from one can into a new can.  Just stretch the nylon across the top of the new can and pour the old paint through it. It will filter out lumps and dried paint.
• Store scraps of soap.  Collect enough pieces, and tie it off. It will made a good soap scrubber
• Protecting very small items, like handkerchiefs and doilies, in the washing machine and dryer (low temp).  They may need ironing afterward, but lace trim and hemstitching will be safe from the zippers and rivets of other clothes, and they won't find their way into the lint trap.
• Be made into sachets.... put in some lavender flowers, cedar chips, or your favorite potpourri, tie a knot, cut above the knot, repeat up the leg and then toss the little bundles in drawers, shoe boxes, the pockets of stored coats... wherever. 
• Remove cat hair from furniture.  Pull the stocking over your hand, and wipe down your couches and chairs.  It creates static and the hairs come right up. 
• Find lost contact lenses, earrings, or other such tiny items.  Put the stocking over the end of the vacuum hose and gently vacuum the area where the item was dropped.
• Repel deer and other animals from your garden.  They hate the smell of humans, so you can use nylons with ivory soap staked in the garden to keep the deer away.
•  Shine shoes like the best of them.
• "Scrub" silver, plexiglass, and other easily scratched surfaces.
• Store things like screws, nails, nuts, etc.  Pour the items into the stocking, tie it off and hang it over a work table.
•  Be attached to the discharge hose of your washing machine to catch lint before it goes down the drain.
• Be pulled over a yardstick to dust under the fridge, washer, dryer, or under any hard to reach area.
• Be used like a bungee cord to tie things down.  Keep an old pair in your car trunk.
• Become a pet toy- for cats, fill the foot with pieces of old fabric, then tie off the opening.  Add a bit of catnip for an extra treat.  For dogs, put a tennis ball in an old sock and tie a knot.
• Apply varnish or finish in the hard-to-reach places where a brush won't fit.
• Keep kids warm- on extra cold days, use clean old stockings as mitten liners for children. They are ideal because they can provide warmth at least up to the elbow.
• Keep kids entertained- nylons can be used to make a crafty seed sprouting creature.
• Bind piles of newspapers and magazines.  Cut the top of a pair of nylons off, and voila!  You have a large rubber band.
• Reduce your heating bill.  Make a stocking snake to prevent drafts by filling the leg of a nylon with sand and tie the end shut.  Place at the bottom of the door to prevent cold air from seeping inside.
• Haul around small toys, like action figures. This works great for road trips.
• Replace expensive stuffing in homemade pillows or dolls.  When the stuffed toy wears out, you can take the nylons out and use them again.
• Protect shoes from scuffing while traveling.  Store one shoe in each leg of the nylons.
• Create an outdoor hand washing station.  Put a bar of soap into an old nylon and tie it to an outdoor faucet.  If you don’t have a convenient outdoor tap, an old laundry detergent container can be filled up with water.  Tie the soap to the handle.  You can use a hammer to poke a hole near the bottom of the container, and stick a golf tee inside to create a lower level of water flow.  Now you can wash your hands after gardening, walking the dog, and playing or working outside.
• Be used to create a non-slip bar of soap for kids’ bath time.  Put the bar of soap into the nylon, and tie off the edges.  Cut off any tail.  This makes the soap have better grip for kids.   
• Be used as a disposable headband.  Cut the nylon across the leg to create circles.  In a pinch they can also be used as hair bands for ponytails.  
• Be turned into an inexpensive softball that won't hurt kids or your furniture.  Stuff an old stocking with other old pairs of nylons, and sew the top closed.
• Scrub your back when you can’t reach- place a bar of soap in the middle of a stocking, and tie off both ends.  Now you can grab each end of the stocking and seesaw your back clean.
• Help someone with a broken arm or leg get dressed.  Cut the foot part off of a stocking, and stretch it over the cast.  This nylon will keep clothing from getting caught on the cast.
• Make you rich quick- go to a bank, pull the nylons over your head and... um… maybe not. ;)