Having a slack couple of days I have been visiting daughter, her husband + GD. Thoroughly enjoyable. Sitting in the garden I notice a redundant double bed & mattress. Son in law Tim can't get it to the tip. Council want 30 odd to collect. Let's have a look says I. Remove all visible screws, castors & fittings. Two bases with drawers. These drawers knock apart easily. Just a boot. Straight in the bin. Fabric strips off the bases very easily leaving wooden frames covered with kapok type covering. This covering removed and kept for possible future use. Frames knock apart easily with the use of hammer & boot. All stapled. Timber will go through the fire in the next few months. Bases gone. Surprised to find that much of the frames was decent hardwood, oak/ash/beech. Mattress. A very different kettle of fish. Outer covering stripped easily & binned. Left with sprung interior covered by a horsehair or coir [1] exterior which is quite securely stapled to the springs. With use of snips and brute force this is removed. Had a good look at the remains. A stainless steel structure of innumerable springs. A very intricate making. Angle grinder soon put this to bed, never leave home without one. Job took about 1/2 hr and was interesting. All disposed of in two wheelie bins. Finally gets to the point: [1] the horsehair or coir covering is decent and very strong. Would this be of use to anyone or should it just be binned? Upholsterers etc. I hate wasting anything. Thanks, Nick.

Fold it into layers, insert into cushion or duvet cover and use for dog bed. Use as dampening in loudspeaker enclosures. Weed control or plant frost protection in the garden. Coffin lining to absorb 'leakage'. Wadding layer for oven gloves if sufficiently flexible. Pipe or cylinder insulation. Owain

What's in a bed?

Nov 29, 2013 22 Replies

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Grimly Curmudgeon 12 years ago

Interesting. A bloke I worked with did it the other way around. Where we worked, there was construction going on over the longer term and there was a big pile of gravel - he took several pounds of it home every night, in a carrier bag. Over the year, he gravelled the path around his house.

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chris French 12 years ago

My FIL used to be an Air Traffic Controller (now retired). Early on in his career (late 50's/ear;y 60's) he was working in Wales (Cardiff maybe

- they lived in Bridgend)He dug a load of clay out of their back garden (a few tonnes worth IIRC) .He used to take a couple of bags to the airport in the boot of the car and distribute it there in the more remote areas

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Chris Hogg 12 years ago

Was he a POW in Stalag Luft III ?

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