Now…this is an intriguing package to receive. A compact cardboard box with what appears to be two tennis balls inside and a warning about strong neodymium magnets. There’s also a toothpick, a paperclip, two little squares of Lego, the aforementioned Nd magnets, the tennis balls and a few packets of that most excellent mouldable glue Sugru…oh and booklet entitled “Home hacks made easy: with a little touch of genius” by way of explanation.
Within, there are clues from Jane NÃ Dhulchaointigh, the inventor of this wondrous material as to what all those bits and pieces might be used for. She does warn that using Sugru for home hacks can become addictive once you realise how many different applications a small blob of the stuff that sticks to anything and stays stuck has.
How about making a three point wall support from three chunks of Sugru moulded into hooks for your iPad, whether you want to keep it visible but off your workbench, kitchen worktop or desk? Those same hooks might be used for crocks and pots, utensils, scissors, tools, headphones, spatula, NMR tubes, fountain pen, the dog’s lead, coats, anything…and of course you could use a blob of Sugru to stick a conventional metal hook to any wall surface. Think also bathroom fittings without the risky business of drilling tiles.
There are hacks for using Sugru to make wire protectors/strain relievers for your smartphones USB cables etc, which are notoriously easy to break, and how about adding a few tiny blobs to the USB jack on the cable itself to improve grip for when you’re pulling a cable out of a tight space at the back of the computer or TV. One particular company’s proprietary cables are notoriously difficult to get a grip on (I’m thinking specifically the RCA connectors that allow one to connect an iPad to an old TV, for instance).
If you have ornaments or other objects that might be prone to scratch a wooden surface on which they find themselves perched periodically, a blob or two of Sugru could save the surface from scratches. Similarly they make excellent rubber feet for toasters, external hard drives, rotary evaporators, docking stations etc. And even door bumpers.
If the woggle has snapped off your zip, make a new one from a piece of Sugru, whether luggage, coat, sleeping bag. You can stick a Nd magnet to any non-magnetic surface with a piece of Sugru and open up a whole range of storage possibilitoies for attaching magnetic objects to non-metal panelled refrigerators or glass-fronted fermentation cabinets, perhaps, or use to magnets one stuck to the surface the other Sugru’ed to a non-magnetic object to allow them to be attached temporarily to each other.
Oh and how about attaching those tennis balls to the inside of the wardrobe with a couple of bits of Sugru and using them to hang your tennis shoes, saving space and keeping stinky sneakers out of sight. I haven’t thought of a good home hack for the toothpick just yet…
More info and perhaps even clues about the toothpick on the Sugru website.