Ways To Use Old Stockings and Pantyhose

• Hand buff a wood floor to a beautiful shine with a pad made by inserting a folded bath towel into an old nylon stocking. The stocking will get snagged, so gather up plenty of old hose.
• Old nylons make perfect applicators for stains, varnish or polyurethane, especially in places a brush can't handle.
• Keep an old pair of pantyhose in your trunk to use to tie down the lid of your car trunk if you have something bulky to carry.
• Need an extra-large rubber band? Cut around the elastic top of an old pair of pantyhose. Two of these, crisscrossed, work fine when bundling newspapers or magazines. Use one to hold a bag in place in a garbage container, too.
• Make your own inexpensive softball that won't hurt kids or furniture: stuff an old sock with pantyhose and sew the top closed. Stuff dolls, pillows and toys, too, for softness and washability.
• Use old nylons as a "wick" to water houseplants.
• For great smelling sheets, put one nylon inside another and fill with 1 /2 cup potpourri. Wet the nylons, tie in a knot and toss in the dryer with the sheets.
• To find a contact lens on the floor or carpet, cover your vacuum nozzle carefully with a piece of nylon hose to keep the lens from being drawn in. Gently move the nozzle over the floor.
• If it's difficult to scrub your back when bathing, center a bar of soap in an old nylon stocking and tie knots on both sides of it. Holding one end in each hand, seesaw it across your back.
• Carry some old nylons in your camping kit. In an emergency they can be tied together and used for rope. They also make good bags for children to put their collections in.
• A piece of nylon secured to a jar with a rubber band makes a good home for an insect collection.
• Slip the leg portions of stockings or pantyhose, with feet cut off, over an arm or leg cast. The nylon helps the cast slide into clothing easily.
• Store plant bulbs in the foot of a nylon stocking and hang them high to dry.
• When you've gathered pods from your garden for seeds, pull a nylon stocking over them and hang to dry. When dry, shake, and the seeds will fall to the toe of the stocking. Cut off, knot and store.
• Roll an old nylon into a ball and use it as a non-scratchy pad for cleaning sink and tub.
• If your skin is sensitive to a wool sweater, line the sleeves by tacking in the legs from old nylons.
• Old nylons make good ties for tomatoes and other plants because they're strong, yet won't damage vulnerable stalks.
• Strain lumpy paint through an old nylon stocking. Some interior painters strain all paint this way.
• Use a nylon stocking to hold mothballs in the closet.
• Use the waist elastic from old pantyhose to gather waists or wrists in children's clothes you sew.
• Stuff the toe of a nylon with catnip, knot and toss to the cat to keep her happy.