What to do with paper cardboard cylinders

By

PupperMom

Those cylinders aren't just for the birds, Krystle ( and your post IS great); we save 'em up and throw one in with gerbils a couple of times a week. They have fun running in and out of it and then go to town gnawing away until it's gone.

Helps keep the teeth from overgrowth and can also be used for hamsters and mice.

By garlicbreath (Guest Post)

When we go camping we stuff newspaper inside the cardboard tubes as fire starters. Just leave a little bit of newspaper sticking out the ends so it's easier to light. Works great.

By

Krystle

Well This is nothing great, But, My Bird LOVES them. He plays with the Cardboard cylinders all the time & they are a safe bird toy. He likes them better then actual bird toys.

By Krystle (Guest Post)

Well This is nothing great, But, My Bird LOVES them. He plays with the Cardboard cylinders all the time & they are a safe bird toy. He likes them better then actual bird toys.

By Connie Davies (Guest Post)

My neighbor decorates them and then stuffs them with appliance electric cord. No more tail of cord dragging. No more twisties or Velcor, just fold it up to four inch sections and slide it into the tube. PVC tubes work too especially if the cord is short (not enough to fill the tube).

By Mrs B (Guest Post)

I am looking for documented ways to sterilize toilet rolls cylinders to make them acceptable at my childs school for craft. I have heard of the microwave techinque 30sec in microwave oven on high, but can find no documentation to back it up.
Can you help?

Editor's note: I haven't heard of any documented ways but I'd wrap them in foil and put them in a preheated 250 oven for about 5 minutes. That should kill any bacteria. The microwave might work too but don't use the foil. : )

By Suzanne S. (Guest Post)

*Use several stuffed inside boots or shoes in place of a shoe horn to help shoes keep their shape.
*Decorate and cut into napkin rings.
*Decorate and cut lengthwise for young girls to use as bracelets for playing dress-up.
*Store knitting/crochecting needles inside.

By Choti Bahu (Guest Post)

hi, i like to decorate these cardboard rolls and gift them as lip liner stands.
All is do is wrap them with bits of different coloured wool pieces, on the top i add woolen hair, braid them or just leave them like locks of hair on one end, making two big eys with buttons and seal the other end with any cardboard sheet. looks like a pretty , feminine piece to hold ur stuff. thank u.

By Val from Illinois (Guest Post)

Just learned this cardboard tube trick at a lecture on holiday organizing -- use the wrapping paper empty tubes to wrap your Christmas tree lights around. Cut a slit at each end to catch the plugs in and, when stringing lights on the tree, the tube is very easy to pass from worker to worker as you all work around the tree.

By Tawnda (Guest Post)

I have seen ideas in magazines where for birthday parties they filled them with confetti or items you would normally put into a goodie bag or candy and wrap with tissue paper. Some used them as name cards at the table and it was easy to identify who's treat it was.

At New Years or Fourth of July the kids can "pop" by pulling each end in opposite directions and the confetti pours out.

I also used to work in a day care and we used them as the general rule of whether a toy was too small for a child to be playing with. They say a toilet paper tube is about the same size of a small childs throat and if a toy can fit easily through the cylinder it is too small for the child to play with.

By

ThriftyFun

I have a hint for using cardboard tubes from paper towels,etc. I split them down one side and place them around my outside pipes, layer after layer and then cover with duct tape. This keeps pipes from freezing! haledv

By

songberries

There are two things I do with them, cover with pretty contact paper and use to hold the excess on extension cords, or store the cords in the. I also use the to put used feminine napkins in when I put them in the trash.

By

ThriftyFun

I save them and use them to wrap small presents. You can wrap small pieces of jewelry in tissue paper and stuff it in the tube. Or stuff scarves, gloves or other small pieces of clothing in the tube. Then wrap them. I quite often leave the ends long and tie them off with ribbon for a more festive look. The large rolls or wrapping paper tubes are also good for this.
- Marianne

By

ThriftyFun

I keep one in my kitchen drawer. When I buy vegetables at the store and bring them home in plastic bags, I put the bags, closed end in first, into the tube. One tube will hold a dozen of these bags. I put garbage in these
bags and keep my kitchen waste can clean. I always know where the extra plastic bags are and my kitchen drawer is neat.
- Judy

By

ThriftyFun

I think there was a recent question about what to do with paper towel and T.P. tubes. I remembered something I do with them. Some of them fit together, so I stick them together to fit in my windows when I shut them down for Winter. Otherwise they are too hard to lift. I leave enough open space to let a wee bit of air through as I can't stand to be completely closed in. I also put plastic newspaper bags over them to keep rain from drenching them. This has worked well for 24 years.
- Linne