For a long time I've been wanting to try pool noodles for keeping tomato vines from bending in half when under a heavy load of fruit. Finally I remembered to stop by Dollar General yesterday to buy one and they wanted $4 for what cost $1 last year. They can keep it! Maybe they'll sell them cheap at the end of the season. I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

Anyway, I happened to find something like a pool noodle in the carton that the new water heater came in a few weeks ago. Woo hoo! I cut a piece, slipped it over the top wire of a tomato cage and carefully moved a vine with a heavy load on top of it. I think the foam will prevent the vine from crimping in half as it's now a nice gentle padded bend. I think I'll cut a few more but more narrow to get the most out of the piece of foam tube.

I bet this would also work when put around the edge of a pot where a melon might be growing. Same thing about protecting the vine from crimping after it starts running over the edge of the pot.

Um...that's insulation for the hot water pipe. I guess we can argue on this forum which is the better use for it.

They have those 4' noodles at the Dollar Tree here. Cheaper @$1.25, than the price I paid for the pipe insulation at HD, but not a whole lot.

@pepperhead212 , thanks for that heads up. I'll check there.

@Setec Astronomy, the installer apparently didn't think it was necessary. The pipe from the heater that goes into the wall is fairly short so I don't think it's necessary either. The piece was just 2' long so I'll put it to better use.

I tried that a few years back in the back garden, green pool noodles. I honestly did not like it. I thought it took up air space in an already stagnant area. If that makes sense? I seem to remember it did work fairly well. I did not just use them up top, I had put them up the cage wherever it was needed, cut in 6" lengths to fit the 6" horizontals on the crw cages. One year was enough, and I think I finally threw them in the trash, last year or two. And I NEVER throw anything away that might be useful, so they must have gotten in my way one too many times.

I still have some longer lengths of them I want to put under the edges of my jet sled for positive flotation. Duck decoys can shift around in there and when a corner goes under, what a mess. So that is my excuse for those pool noodles still sitting somewhere in the cellar.

btw I'm now seeing, in the freezer section at $1.25tree, dollar tree plus stuff. $4. $5. per item. And the good deal items have disappeared. So dollar tree's reign as the best of the lot, sticking to their mission statement, seems to be coming to an end. Next year pool noodles there will probably be $4, too.

WHICH IS WHY I CAN"T THROW THEM AWAY JUST YET

There's a power pole near the front of the house with the transformer. We put a dayglow orange pool noodle on the guy wire so no one would back into it. Worked great for a year or so before it got brittle and faded from the sun exposure and had to be replaced. This spring a crew from the power company came to inspect the pole and they must have had a good chuckle as they replaced the pool noodle with a 6' long bright yellow plastic piece.

@JRinPA , I hear ya. I think we're fellow pack rats. The minute something possibly useful gets tossed out, a need arises for that very thing!

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 7:39 am The minute something possibly useful gets tossed out, a need arises for that very thing!

That's just Murphy's Law. I always liked "the chances of the bread falling with the buttered side down are directly proportional to the cost of the carpet"

I will mention the pool noodle hack to my husband. He can jerry-rig and macgyver anything with 35 years of stored up parts, cast-offs, and do-dads. And don't forget duct-tape. It won't be long until the late season tomato garden starts leaning and unravelling and my Red Green Knight will come to the rescue. I know I sound all helpless, but I plant, tend, weed, water and he ensures all stays upright.

This pipe insulation scraps are scattered all over the job sites I go to.
Just for the picking for free.
That and the so called insulation board.
You could build a mansion with what gets thrown away.
I've even picked out wall outlets and switches that end up in the trash for use at home.
Not to mention expensive drill bits that just need sharpening.

See I told y'all.

worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 6:52 am This pipe insulation scraps are scattered all over the job sites I go to.
Just for the picking for free.
That and the so called insulation board.
You could build a mansion with what gets thrown away.
I've even picked out wall outlets and switches that end up in the trash for use at home.
Not to mention expensive drill bits that just need sharpening.

It's the old adage "Waste not, want not." No need in buying stuff you can scrounge for free! Good haul, Worth.

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 9:01 am

worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 6:52 am This pipe insulation scraps are scattered all over the job sites I go to.
Just for the picking for free.
That and the so called insulation board.
You could build a mansion with what gets thrown away.
I've even picked out wall outlets and switches that end up in the trash for use at home.
Not to mention expensive drill bits that just need sharpening.

It's the old adage "Waste not, want not." No need in buying stuff you can scrounge for free! Good haul, Worth.

I've got my eye on some nice scrap lumber.

worth1 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 9:56 am I've got my eye on some nice scrap lumber.

That's ALWAYS a great find and big money saver too. Can't have too much scrap lumber. Those odds and ends are always useful.