Hello everyone! Karen here, not talking about food for a change! A short while ago I ordered something a little different for the shop. You may have seen them next to our gravity dispensers amongst many of our waste saving bits and pieces. They look like colourful tongue depressors but they're much better than that. They are FixIts sticks and to be honest, it seemed nobody quite knew what to make of them. I've decided to try them out for myself and I'm here now to tell you how I did.
So FixIts sticks say they save you money and waste by allowing you to repair things that would otherwise be difficult to repair. Each stick is made of compostable bio-plastic which can be moulded into any shape you like and can be reused again and again. They are also non toxic and are made in the UK! They are easy to use if you follow the simple instructions: heat, dunk, remove, mould. Or in my case: heat, dunk, remove, heat, dunk, remove, heat dunk remove and finally, mould.
So, the charging wire for my kindle was looking a little shabby with wires exposed around one end. I had heard that this was the perfect job for a FixIts Stick and so set to work.
So you start by simply placing the stick into hot water. I had read the water should be above 62C but, after watching a video about how to exactly this job AFTER the event, it seems a much higher temperature is better and quicker.
The stick starts to soften and you can easily tear a piece away to mould into whatever shape you need. I allowed mine to dry out as I was using it on an electric cable afterall!
I then moulded it around the bare wire and squashed it tightly on there. Then I just waited for it to set! I'll be honest. As I alluded to earlier, I made a bigger deal of doing this than needed. I wasn't patient enough and started trying to mould it too soon and with water that wasn't really hot enough. It soon became too difficult to mould and then had to reheat it to get it soft again. At least this means that I can vouch for the fact that it can be reheated and remoulded again and again!
So there it is, easy and quick, if you learn from my mistakes. As I said, I found a video demonstrating the exact repair I had just done so if you follow the link you'll see the whole process, as done by a competent human being! https://youtu.be/0fGdbPcFTGU
I think FixIts Sticks are a great idea and I think I'll get a couple more to have on stand by. It got me thinking about about other potential uses:
- You could fix your glasses and be super stylish!
- Make a new, more comfortable handle for a tool.
- You could mould different colours around your keys so you know which is which, or even just mould a unique keyring.
- You could replace the dangly zipper on a zip that has broken, you know, where you end up nudging the zip along whilst holding the two sides of the zip together to get the job done. No longer necessary! Just attach a blob of FixIts Stick!
- When you get to the advanced level of FixIting how about making a chess set.....okay, maybe not that one but how cool would that be!
I'm sure there are plenty of uses but if you have any feedback yourself we would love to hear it! If you want to find them in the shop, just ask. We have an order due any day with a whole range of colours to choose from.
Thanks for reading.
Karen
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