ScrapHappy – January 2022

Everytime I do a lateral flow test, and have to throw away so much stuff, a tiny part of me dies a little death

Then I had a genius* idea

My hairdryer doesn’t get a huge amount of use, especially since I stopped having a day job in 2014, but I’ve noticed that the external sheathing was worn through.

I’m no electrician, but I’m not an idiot, and I know that will eventually lead to the inner sheathing rubbing and then the two wires connecting. One would hope the fuse would blow before I’d be fried, but, hey. Let’s not test that assumption.

So. This is old enough to have a proper plug, and I’m old enough to have been trained how to wire them (in fact, I’m so old, dad taught me using black and white TVs, that had valves and with red and black wires, telling me “red is live and therefore brown is live cos it has a R in it and black has an l which looks like a – sign” a phrase that’s actually quite hampering now!)

All I needed was 5 minutes, a pair of screwdrivers – a possie and a flathead – scissors, my magic alligator tape** and the flexi test tube bit from a used (negative) NHS Lateral Flow Test pack. That element sat in the dishwasher for about 3 weeks, repeatedly getting washed, just to be on the safe side!

Cut a length of alligator tape, wrap it round the damage. Trim the tube so it will fit neatly over the cable

Remove the plug – if unsure how it will go back, take a photo for reference

Thread the tube over the cable and wodge it into the sheath at the other end as far as it will go. Because it and the alligator tape are both silicone, they’ll grip together nicely.

Rewire the plug.

Make a drink and bask in the smugness of saving two items from landfill

NB – if I were better at this, and if the hairdryer had any obvious way of disassembling, I’d have taken it apart properly, shortened the cable an inch and rewired. But it doesn’t, so I had to bodge instead.

*aka #Geniearse in the Gilly household

**I get mine from KernowCraft coz they are local to me, being in Cornwall (as the name suggests!) but I have it on good authority that if you can’t shop from them, you can get silicone pet bandage in different widths and sizes. I use mine for all sorts of things, mostly for protecting my finger and thumb when doing a lot of filing, or wrapping round plier jaws to soften the edges and give a little grip

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose