My name is Charlotte, sometimes known as Ms Lottie, occasionally as The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady. This is my blog, where you'll find me writing a lot about my quilting and textile arts and a little about my family's life in a small seaside town in New Zealand. Haere mai!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

How to dispose of used sewing needles.

I'm a big advocate for frequent needle changes when you are using your sewing machine.  It comes from many years of experience - the first thing I do when I get skipped stitches or messy tension or something else weird, is change my needle.  And about eight times out of ten that fixes it.  So now I just change my needle more frequently and consequently I get less problems.


And here is my tip of the day: tic-tac containers are perfect for storing used needles, or broken needles, or bent and blunt pins.  They are small and flat so slip neatly into sewing kits; they fasten securely so are safe; and it's easy to see that they have pins in them so you don't get confused with your real tic-tacs!  Tape the opening shut when full and chuck them in the rubbish bin and you have a safe method of disposal.

And no, I'm receiving no payment for this post (although, if tic-tacs felt so inclined.....!)

4 comments:

  1. I used to use film canisters.... remember those? I do wish we could take them somewhere to be recycled though. Imagine all the needles, from all the quilters, let alone sew-ers, that are in landfulls.

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  2. That's funny, I also use Tic Tac containers! Great minds eh... ;-)

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  3. I have a rotary cutting blade case - well labelled! - that collects all mine.... so much safer than just tossing them in the bin! [tic tac cases sound yummier :-)]

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  4. I use old teeth floss containers

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