3 Ways To Reuse Household Metals

Chucking out some coat hangers, copper wire or metal cans? Have you thought about giving them a second purpose instead? There is a surprising amount of ways to reuse metals that we’d normally throw away without a second thought. You can turn it into practical items like storage and holders, or let your creativity run wild and create art that will brighten up your home. In this blog, we are going through the creative and fun ways you can turn your metal trash into treasure.

 

Metal Cans

The possibilities for using metal cans around your home are practically endless. With a fresh coat of paint or punching a few holes, your metal cans could be the pride and joy of your home. Here are some things you can turn your cans into:

 

  • Lanterns: just carve out some holes and put in a candle
  • Pen holder: just clean out a can and paint it, then you have a cute new holder for your pens, paint brushes or anything else
  • Cookie cutters: if you have a soda can then you can bend into cute shapes for your baking
  • Metal flowers: you cut the top on the can then cut vertically to make petals
  • Jewellery: you can cut and bend cans into pendants and bracelets

 

There truly is so much you can do with cans; the only limit is your imagination.

 

With the right know how you can turn plain old cans into a brilliant work of art. In fact, metal can art can be incredibly stunning, just check out Noah Deledda’s work. Scrap metal art takes a bit of fiddling but it’s an art form for everybody. You can start by cutting the metal into animal and geometric shapes and go from here.

 

 

Copper wire

 

Copper wire is easily bent and shaped into beautiful art. Because it is sturdy, aesthetically pleasing and malleable it’s a sort after material for artists. It is good for making a strong base and framework for sculptures. Your new ground-breaking, soul-inspiring artwork will hold together with decent copper wire.

If you don’t mind a bit of arts and crafts copper wire can be used to upgrade your décor. For starters, you can use it to replace string for hanging up picture frames, artwork and mirrors. If you hang a metal peg off some copper wire you have a new way to put reminders around the home. You can even use it to hang pot plants! If you’re extra crafty you can turn copper wire into candle holders, napkin holders, baskets and Christmas decorations.

 

Also, with the right copper wire, you can set up some fascinating and cool science experiments for your kids. You can start with a simple copper wire and battery experiment and go from there. Copper wire is conductive and is a key element in a lot of electromagnetic experiments.

 

Coat hangers

 

If you’re about to replace or throw out your coat hangers hold your horses. You can use coat hangers in other ways around your home. All you need is a decent pair of pliers. There are plenty of life hacks with coat hangers that will make you want to hang onto them:

 

  • Towel holders
  • Pot lid holders
  • Magazine wrack
  • Tablet holder
  • Pot plant holder
  • Bowls
  • Wreaths and decorations
  • Frame for vines, tomatoes and other plants

 

Just like with copper wire, you can use metal coat hangers in your art. For example, they can be easily be bent into frames and stands for sculptures. Start playing around and see where your creativity takes you.

 

The right kind of scrap metal can be traded in for money, so don’t miss out on earning some extra cash for recycling. Metal Man Recycling buys scrap metal and can even pick it for you to save you the hassle. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 03 5941 6677 today.

 

 

 

Where to Find Aluminium Scrap Around the Home

Aluminium is a non-ferrous metal with a huge number of applications. It is used in everything from construction to transportation to everyday household items. One of the great things about aluminium is how easily it can be recycled: it is able to be recycled endlessly without deteriorating in quality. Here are a few places that you can find aluminium around the home, so that you can earn some cash for scrap metal.

Cans and packaging

A great way to start selling scrap metal is to collect all your soft drink, food and beer cans. If you collect enough, you can get a surprisingly good return on these aluminium cans. Aluminium is also found in aerosol cans, so be sure to hold on to empty deodorant cans and cleaning sprays. Cans and tins aren’t the only source of aluminium packaging; the valuable metal can also be found in foil, takeaway food containers and pie trays.

Car Parts

Aluminium is being increasingly used in car manufacturing, and can be found in car parts such as wheels and cylinders. Once recycled, this mixed alloy aluminium scrap is used to make casting alloys for engines and gearboxes.

Electronics

Electronics such as computers, gaming consoles and even iPods all contain aluminium. If your electronics no longer work, don’t throw them out, salvage their parts for aluminium and make some cash for scrap.

Utensils

The kitchen is a great place to look for scrap aluminium as it can be found in a variety of kitchen utensils such as cutlery, baking trays and cookware.

Bike frames

Instead of throwing out your tired old bike, salvage the frame and add it to your pile of scrap metal.

Aluminium can be sourced from a variety of household items and is a great metal to trade in to your local metal recycler. Not only will you be able to get cash for scrap, your recycling will also benefit the environment. Metal Men Recycling accept all kinds of aluminium scrap and can even arrange a 24-hour scrap metal pick up service.