Super-Size Cotton Bud

Here's a fun project to make - a super-size cotton bud !!

We created this item for the Super-Size challenge. It took us a while to come up with the idea which is what we love about the challenges - that they push us to think of things we'd have never come up with otherwise.

We wanted something that was clearly just a bigger version of an ordinary household object, but that would still have a use. We rejected a few ideas before coming up with this.

a bit of plastic pipe we had left from another project,

toilet paper,

wallpaper paste,

an old towel,

some wet-wipes,

It was super easy to make. I just wound the loo roll round the end of the stick, smoothing a bit of wallpaper paste on to the paper every now and again and moulding it into the correct shape - a bit like papier-maché.

I did try adding a final coating of cotton wool but that didn't work at all so i just wiped it off and stuck to the toilet paper.

Then I left it to dry in the sun for a couple of days.

This is the finished giant cotton bud and you could use it like that for cleaning purposes ...

... but we decided to make some quick re-usable covers for the bud.

For the first we just tied a piece of kitchen paper around the bud.

For the other two i used a piece of old towel and a wet-wipe and just sewed them into the rough shape of the bud. These can be used wet or dry and can be washed for re-use. Yes, even the wet-wipe can be washed and re-used a few times! The toweling cover can be re-used many times - till it falls apart.

The super-size cotton bud worked a treat and can be used to clean all those hard to reach places. Especially useful for short people with high ceilings.

You can probably come up with your own uses for it!