Friday, June 10, 2011

Day 8 and what do you do with cotton balls?

It's day 8 and I'd like to say that I didn't spend any money this entire time but I did this morning.  I bought three gallons of paint to get the fascia painted on my house.  It's been warm enough outside that the wood dried out after last weekends soaking.  I'm not entirely going to count it as spending money, although it ended up costing about one hundred dollars.  The bug-out renters son is a professional painter and he came to visit his folks for a week.  He flew down here from Washington.  He wanted to thank me for helping out his mom and his way of thanking me was to paint whatever I needed to get painted.  How could I say no to this?  So today his dad dropped him off around breakfast time, I fed him along with the rest of us then we headed off to Home Depot to pick out the paint.  This project was something that was planned before I started my 10 days of no spending so I think as long as I don't spend money on anything else I'm still going great. 

I had everything else that he needed except the mesh for inside the bucket which he needed to take paint off the roller.  Sticking to the not spending money mode that I was in (other than for the paint) we decided to improvise with what we had here at the house.  I have several different types of wire and he was able to take 1/2 inch gridded wire and cut it to fit the two gallon bucket that he was going to use for the roller.  It worked great.  So, no money spent...sort of.

I was asked why I wanted to grow cotton plants.  I've always found lots of uses for cotton.  I've never tried to spin it but it would be an interesting craft to take up.  It's more for small projects and tasks.  They are disposable, which is something that I like.  Best of all, it's something that can be grown and my attitude has always been that if I can provide for myself there no reason to spend money on it. 

There's several first aid uses for cotton balls. 
1. One that we all know is if you get a shot or have blood drawn a cotton ball is placed under the bandage to help soak up blood and also to put a little more pressure on the puncture. 
2. It's also good if you have athlete's foot or something like that.  Dilute some rubbing alcohol and soak a cotton ball with it.  Dab that on to the affected areas.  Then throw it away. 
3. If you have pills or vitamins, once you open the container you want to make sure that moisture doesn't ruin the pills.  If you keep a cotton ball in the bottle it will help absorb any small bits of moisture. 
4. It's also useful for cleaning small cuts or abrasions or applying salves or creams. 

There are other, not medical uses too:
1. You can wipe your glasses or a scope with a cotton ball and a drop of water for scratch free clean. 
2.  Cotton is good when soaked in vinegar.  You can use it to freshen a room, the refrigerator, or trash can.
3.  Tinder for a fire, especially when used with vaseline or other grease.
4.  Cleaning a baby bottom if they have a rash.  It's softer than using a rag. 
5.  When using your vacuum cleaner, if you take a cotton ball and soak it in something, either vinegar or a perfume, it will scent the room as you vacuum.
6.  If you are wearing rubber gloves the gloves will last longer if you throw a cotton ball in the end of each finger tip. 
7.  They make great shot for using slingshots in the house.
8.  Cotton balls can be used in art projects.
9.  If you need to soak a small area with something, such as a stain with a little bleach, a cotton ball works perfectly.
10. They are good for putting on and removing makeup, nail polish, etc.

1 comment:

  1. You're right there are lots of things to do with cotton balls! I'm a spinner, so I have spun it...not fresh from the field...too many seeds and they're a real b_tch to get out. Cotton is a pretty plant...it's related to hibiscus and okra...the flowers are amazing. The first time we grew it I thought we had 1,000 acres of okra! Yuck...I'm not an okra fan.

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