Craft Materials to Save: A Practical Guide to Your Recycling Bin

Knowing which materials to save for crafts keeps you from two opposite problems: having nothing on hand when an idea strikes, and having a closet full of boxes you will never use. A small, sorted supply beats a large, messy one every time.

This guide walks through what is worth pulling out of the recycling bin, what should stay there, and how to clean and store the keepers so they are ready when you are.

Paper and cardboard worth keeping

Paper-based materials are the backbone of most projects. They cut easily, take glue well and store flat.

• Corrugated boxes. Shipping boxes give you thick, stiff board for frames, drawer dividers and wall pieces. Keep the large flat panels and let the small flaps go.
• Cereal boxes. This thin, smooth card, a type of paperboard, folds cleanly. It suits gift boxes, notebook covers, templates and tags.
• Paper tubes. Paper towel and bathroom-tissue tubes become pen cups, napkin rings and wall art. Keep only clean, dry ones.
• Magazines and printed paper. A few magazines, some wrapping paper, old maps and calendars cover almost every decorating need.

Choose magazines for their color more than their content. Pages with large areas of solid color or pattern are the most useful.

Containers worth keeping

Stick to containers that held food or drinks. They are easy to wash and you know exactly what was in them.

• Glass food jars. Jam, sauce and pickle jars with smooth rims and matching lids. Keep a range of sizes, not ten of the same one.
• Food and drink cans. Standard food cans make holders and planters. Cans opened with a smooth-edge opener are the easiest to handle.
• Beverage bottles. Clear plastic drink bottles work for planters and scoops.
• Jar lids. Loose metal lids become saucers, small frames and ornament bases, so keep them even without a jar.

Jars are the most versatile container in the bin. The guide to glass jar crafts covers which ones to choose and the main ways to decorate them.

Fabric and trimmings

Soft materials take up little room and finish a project nicely. Save fabric remnants, clean worn-out clothing with a good print, ribbon from gift wrap, lengths of twine and yarn ends.

Wash fabric before you store it, and roll or fold pieces so you can see each one. A scrap as small as your hand is enough to cover a jar lid or make a tassel.

What to leave in the bin

Some containers are not suited to craft use, however sturdy or attractive they look. Residue can linger in plastic and in seams, and washing does not reliably remove it.

Do not save any container that held:

• cleaning products or laundry products
• paint, stain or solvents
• motor oil or other automotive fluids
• pesticides or garden chemicals
• medication
• anything you cannot identify

Cardboard has its own skip list. Leave out anything greasy, such as the base of a pizza box, along with board that is damp, moldy or musty. Glue and paint do not hold on grease, and a musty smell tends to stay.

Also pass on glass with chips or cracks and cans with badly dented or rusted seams.

How to wash and dry containers

Clean containers as soon as they are empty. Dried-on food is much harder to remove a week later.

1. Rinse out any remaining food or drink.
2. Wash inside and out with warm soapy water and a dish brush. Scrub the threads of jars and the inside seam of cans.
3. Rinse until no suds remain.
4. Stand each container upside down on a dish towel and let it dry completely, then turn it upright to air out.

Take care around can rims. Wash with the brush instead of your fingers, and check the rim for sharp spots once the can is dry. Dry cans promptly, since bare steel can rust if it sits wet.

Lids hold on to smells longer than glass does. Wash them separately, dry them well and store them off the jar so air can circulate.

Labels can come off now or later. Soaking loosens most paper labels, and the step-by-step method for removing labels from jars and containers deals with the sticky residue left behind.

Flatten, sort and store

How you store materials decides whether you use them. Aim for a setup where you can see everything at a glance.

• Flatten boxes. Slit the tape, fold the box flat and stand the panels upright like files.
• Bundle tubes. Hold a handful of paper tubes together with a rubber band or stand them in a tall can.
• Nest jars. Place small jars inside larger ones, with lids in a separate bag or jar.
• Roll fabric. Rolled remnants show their pattern on the outside and do not crease as sharply.
• Keep paper flat. Slide loose pages into a folder or between two pieces of cardboard.

Store everything somewhere dry. A damp basement or garage will warp cardboard and can leave paper smelling musty.

Set a size limit

The most useful rule is also the simplest: one bin. Choose a single storage bin or box, and let that be the whole stash. When it is full, something has to leave before something new goes in.

A limit forces good choices. You keep the cleanest box, the jar with the nicest shape and the magazine with the best colors, and you let the rest go to the recycling bin as usual.

Save with a project in mind

Saving works best when it follows a plan. Pick one or two projects you want to make, note what they need and collect only that. Three matching jars for a set of vases is a goal; a shelf of random jars is clutter.

If you have not chosen a project yet, the starting guide to recycled crafts for beginners matches common materials to simple first projects, which tells you exactly what to set aside this week.