Comments on: Crochet Plastic Bags

By: dutch margreet

dutch margreet — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:23:41 +0000

In the Netherlands we have two types of plastic bags, thin ones, like those you receive magazines in, maybe a tiny bit thicker, and those big bags you take bought clothes home in. The first are not so hard on hands, the second I would use the fabric softener hint, but I give those to thrift shops, they re-use them to pack sold things in, like books etc. I read in one of your posts somebody had the paint on the bags painting her hands. I have that sometimes only carrying a plastic bag home, sweaty hands loosen the paint. Before cutting to make plarn, try this: make a strong water/salt liquid in a cup, rub with cottonswap and liquid, if the paint loosens, give bag to thriftshop or try handwashing them. They do this in Africa, real moneymakers. first retrieving the bags from the big dump, washing, drying, making plarn items, selling them, money for food to them. I would buy the items, but wash them at home, because the rinsing water looked still brown to me and I would know where they had been;-) but it is a clever idea, don’t you think? I guess the thicker plarn is used for the sleeping mats for homeless people.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:37:16 +0000

I used plastic bags to cover the legs of my swing that is on my deck. I didn’t want them to rust over the winter with all the cold, ice and snow. These bags lasted for 5 years, through all kinds of weather. I am now in the process of crocheting a rug for the deck. I am just using double crochet and it will be square when I finish. (probably 48″ x 48″) It takes me awhile to finish things, cause I get bored with some, and some are just too large to carry with me. Right now I am working on two full afghans, a baby blanket and some dishclothes, not counting my rug which is also too big to travel. I plan to crochet a grocery bag with plarn, as soon as time allows.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:47:05 +0000

Hi Gini, I haven’t had a problem with my plan disintegrating yet. Only time would tell, so I can’t give you an exact time frame. But I can say that the purses that I crochet with plarn seem to hold up better than the ones I crocheted with regular yarn

By: Gini

Gini — Mon, 16 May 2011 04:01:21 +0000

How long does the plarn last in a project? Plastic bags do disintegrate over time. Just wondering.

By: Crochet Spot » Blog Archive » Tips for the Frugal Crocheter - Crochet Patterns, Tutorials and News

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:02:00 +0000

[...] or any other stuffing product? Cut up some plastic grocery bags (if you can spare any from your Plarn projects) and use that for stuffing. You can also use unwanted ends and scraps from finished [...]

By: Singlemom Rule

Singlemom Rule — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 06:52:29 +0000

Oh i like doing recycled things. Thanks for the idea.

By: Rowan

Rowan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:36:18 +0000

Great post. I made myself a water bottle holder out of plarn last summer from one of my local supermarkets. Am thinking of doing a bigger bag for the beach as you can just rinse the sand out afterwards.

By: starling

starling — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:42:14 +0000

I got a bag crocheted out of plastic bags as a wedding present. It’s in the colours of my country (red, white, blue, orange) and lined with an old pillow case made of a traditional fabric. It’s also got a little dangly thing on the zip made out of Hama beads. It is TEH AWSUM, to use some awful netspeak.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:29:10 +0000

Oh, cool Janice! I’ve never heard of that technique before! I’ll have to try it. Thanks for sharing

By: Janice

Janice — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:18:22 +0000

My mother told me that her grandmother used to crochet with the plarn and when she did, she would soak it overnight in a solution of 1/2 liquid fabric softner and 1/2 water. Then let it dry and it would be easier and softer to work with and use.