DIY uses of aluminum in the home
Aluminum is one of those metals that is becoming more popular among homeowners due to its innate recyclable properties. Although it is a metal that is mined from the earth and processed into sheet metal, it can actually be recycled an infinite number of times without ever losing the innate integrity of its properties, thereby relieving the pressure on original resources.
In fact, 75 per cent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today in one form or another. Recycling processes have been significantly improved over the years, to make it cheaper, faster and more energy efficient. Any drinks can that is put into a recycling bin is back on the shelf within just a couple of months.
Uses of aluminum in the home
Aluminum is a great addition to your home. It is relatively cheap, pliable, versatile, good looking, and as we have already discussed, sustainable. If you have a local supplier, or can buy aluminium online, there are a variety of different ways that you can incorporate it into your DIY projects to give your home a chic, sharp and modern finish.
Below we have highlighted just a few examples, but once you become more familiar with the metal and its properties you will no doubt find many more uses.
Kitchen splash back
While we are used to using materials such as tiles, plastic and glass for kitchen splash backs, metal is more akin to larger commercial kitchens. However, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be used in domestic kitchens too. Not only is it highly durable, able to withstand the clashes and bangs of a busy family kitchen, but it is scratch resistant. This makes it a hygienic choice that can be regularly cleaned down and sterilized.
Notwithstanding, aluminum splash backs look great. They add a sharp modern twist to kitchen designs and could be the low cost freshen up that you need if budgets are tight.
Cookie cutters
As a budding baker in your rejuvenated kitchen, you can create your own molds and cooker cutters out of the highly malleable and flexible aluminum can strips. You can let your imagination go to all sorts of different places in creating shapes and designs that are not easily found on the open market. This could even be the start of your own business, a side hustle that uses waste products.
Craft projects and works of art
For the budding artist, aluminum is a gift – and you don’t even have to purchase it new. You can take any aluminum products that you might have previously sent to the recycling bin and turn them into your own crafting project or work of art.
Everything from soda can flowers, lanterns and candle holders to bracelets and drinks coasters can be crafted from discarded soda cans. The only limit is your imagination.
Garden paraphernalia
Aluminum is particularly great for the garden. Due to its non-corrosive properties, it can withstand damp, cold conditions without any loss to its overall integrity. For example, you can cut small strips and, using a small letter stamp to spell out the names of different plants, stick them onto wooden sticks such as old lollipop sticks. These make attractive and versatile markers to remind you of what you have planted when staking out your vegetable beds.
If you have a bit more of an artistic bent, then you can cut up butterfly shapes from the cans and decorate them using permanent marker pens. You can create a whole collection and fix them to your garden fence, bringing a flutter of delicate color and nature to an expanse of bland and boring fence.
