Save money in your workshop
With everybody trying to do 'their bit' to help the planet, you can easily make a few changes to the way you work in the workshop and save yourself some cash while making a difference.
There are plenty of small changes that have a big impact on your carbon footprint and create a healthier home environment.
Organise your tools
It's not necessary to leave battery chargers plugged in all the time. Most cordless tools have nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries, which will hold some charge for up to a year. They lose 15 to 20 percent of their juice each month, but only take a couple of hours to power up again. Newer tools with lithium ion batteries lose just 2 to 5 percent of their charge each month, so they'll be ready to go even if you haven't charged them in ages.
As an alternative to electric power to charge up your tools, why not consider installing a DIY solar power kit in your workshop? A small DIY solar power kit will take a couple of hours to install and you will never have to worry about power outages whilst in the middle of a project. These DIY solar power kits are great for the home too!
Light up the space
If you're still using incandescent bulbs to light up your workshop, it's time to replace these with a single flourescent fitting. Not only will you shed more light in the space, you'll also cut down on costs by replacing energy-guzzling incandescents with more efficient flourescent lights.
With the government looking to ban incandescents and move towards LED lighting, if you are planning to make any improvements in your workshop - putting in a false ceiling and mounting LED downlights is the way to go. For work areas that require additional lighting, consider installing LED strip lighting.
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Recycle for storage
Plastic containers and tubs come in very useful for storing nails, screws and leftover paint. It's always a good idea to keep some paint for touch ups and margarine tubs make the perfect paint pots. If the lid doesn't have a tight seal, pop some clingwrap over the top before popping the lid on. Empty glass jars are ideal for screws and nails. Simply screw the lid to the bottom of a shelf so that you can easily see what each jar contains.
Solvent-free workshop
Switch to acrylic and water-based enamels to reduce solvents in the workshop. These new paints are formulated to be just a tough as oil-based but don't contain toxic solvents that poison our water supply. If you need to clean paintbrushes or remove paint, choose an eco-friendly paint stripper such as Plascon RemovAll. Alternatively, soak paintbrushes in a solution of warm water and vinegar to remove stubborn paint.
Mix it up
Any leftover paint you have comes in handy for small projects here and there. Even if the colour is wrong, keep light coloured paints for base coats and reduce the amount of paint you need for a top coat.
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Recycle lacquer thinner
When using lacquer thinner to clean up after using oil-based paints, allow this to sit overnight so that a sludge settles on the bottom of the jar. Carefully decant the clear thinner top layer into a clean jar and reseal it for future use and dispose of the leftover sludge at a hazardous-waste-disposal site.
Rags to riches
No matter what job you are doing, you are going to need cloths to clean up somewhere along the way. Instead of forking out for rolls of mutton cloth or cleaning cloths, recycle old clothes for rags.
Projects for free
More often than not, when buying board products you need to buy an entire sheet. Make it a habit to take home any offcuts you have paid for to use for smaller projects in and around the home. You can always ask the supplier to cut larger offcuts into manageable sizes for easy storage. A visit to the Home-Dzine
craft section will provide you with plenty of ideas and inspiration for using board offcuts.