Plastic Bag Rugs

A while back someone said they would be interested in seeing pictures of the rugs I made with recyled plastic bags.

I started saving plastic bags from the grocery store and collected some from family and friends. After I had accumulated about 100 bags, I flattened each bag, trimmed off the top and bottom, and cut them into strips about an inch to 2 inches wide. The wider the strip, the thicker the rug will be. Each strip is a loop.

The next step is to hook all the loops together to form a ball of plastic yarn. When the yarn ball was large enough, I simply crocheted the plastic into rows using a single crochet stitch. It is harder to work with plastic than yarn but the results are worth the effort.

The two rugs I completed are rectangles about the size of a bath rug. One was made with the same pattern and color of bag and the second one was made with several different bags.

The first rug is about 150 plastic bags.

The second rug is about 200 recycled bags of different thicknesses, colors and patterns.









I'm working on a round rug and if there is any interest, I'll post a picture of it when its finished.

[edit on 18-8-2009 by Hazelnut]

How cool is that!

My neighbour makes bags too - love it!

Well done

Wow very cool! So this is what I can do with the bags full of plastic bags I have in the pantry! I never would have thought of this. Great way to recycle! S&F

Wow very cool! So this is what I can do with the bags full of plastic bags I have in the pantry! I never would have thought of this. Great way to recycle! S&F

reply to post by chillpill


I'm glad you like it, do you suppose your neighbor would mind posting some pictures? I would love to see them! Being creative is such a happy experience.

Off topic: We joined ATS the same day. Coincidence or fate?

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I hope you do! It takes a while to flatten out the bags, line them up, cut them, then loop them altogether and wind into a ball. It takes about 2 hours for one person to do 100 bags.

I used a size M crochet hook. I think there are bigger hooks, but that size was the largest I had on hand. I suppose you could knit them too. I'm not a knitter.

The plastic doesn't have as much give as yarn and it tends to have some drag while working it. It takes a little bit of hand strength too so if you have arthritis or whatnot, it may be a bit painful at first.

When you stand on them in barefeet, it feels very nice, surprising even. They are kind of spongy. If you make strips wider the rug is plusher (and harder to make).

reply to post by Hazelnut


Hello!
Very nice work!
Could you give as any detail on the actual miking of the bags?

Take care,
GTG

reply to post by Hazelnut


I will ask her tonight! Fate, my darling, fate!

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


The bags I used are for a single use to carry items from a store to a home. They are the thin plastic bags that almost every store (in the US) uses.

Part of the reason I wanted to reuse the bags are quoted below from Wikipedia.

Plastic shopping bags are made from petrochemicals which are not renewable.
When disposed of improperly, they are unsightly and endanger many forms of wildlife.
Plastic bags, conventional or "compostable", do not readily biodegrade in a sanitary landfill as paper and other materials don't either.
Plastic bags (particularly thin dry cleaning bags) can cause unsupervised infants to suffocate when not handled properly.[10]
According to the UK government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, there are several problems with plastic recycling, and in particular plastic bags:[11]
the high volume to weight ratio of plastic means that the collection and transport of this waste is difficult and expensive in England

hazelnut...you're a lovely genius...

here's some cool vids I found!



I liked this one - may make one of these this weekend...although his mention of purchasing a cheap rucksack for the buckles was wasteful!



love the creativity - think I may make a rug like that to cover outside portion of my door...to catch some of the dirt off my dogs' paws...

cool post! great message!

reply to post by chillpill


Thanks for posting those videos!!! I love how that girl showed her craft and explained it so well. She made it look easy. But the important thing was that we use those bags for such a short time and then throw them away. The wastefullness got to me. Besides, if you're bored and don't have a lot of money to entertain yourself, whalah! Instant project, no cost, environmentally responsible and you can make some really cool stuff.

I hope you do your project and then share your work with us.

reply to post by Hazelnut


as an aside..I also love baking and growing my own food...

hope this tickles you guys! it had me wetting myself laughing..

reply to post by chillpill


OMY - that looked tasty.

So next time I make bread, I'll be thinking of this vid.

Wow, pretty ingenious.

However, the first thing I thought of was about what plastic does when it burns. I certainly wouldnt use these items around anything close to a heat source.

Sorry, dont mean to be a party pooper, just had too many plastic melt burns for comfort.

reply to post by XKrossX


I'm glad you made that reminder for us! Melting plastic on skin is gruesome and excrutiatingly painful. I stepped on the paint/plastic used for crosswalks and ended up with a blister on the bottom of my foot the size of a man's fist. It was so painful, I couldn't walk for almost a month.

I use mine in bathroom and the kitchen. If you use them outdoors where the ground is rougher, the bagrugs wear out faster.

star, and flag...OMG I would make a smart **s comment about bag weaving, but I am in shock, and awe at the fact it looks really darn good..

I think there are a million things we throw away, or discard that have other uses as you've pointed out.

How very cool! No way... I thought you were joking about plastic bag rugs in the other thread so I made a joke about the dye used lol. You were serious! I was only kidding about the dye number two. The rugs are a great idea.

reply to post by Hazelnut


Impressive!
A lady I once knew - sadly passed on now - used to make bedsocks from them Don't know how comfortable they would have been though. She also used to make coat hanger covers from the same media.

Your rugs may just recycle peoples creativity

VA

I am currently making a round rug using plarn ( made from the grocery bags) It's fun to see the different patterns you get with the colors and textures.

I have made a few other things, such as soft drink holders to keep cans cold, and recyclable totes for the grocery store.

I use a J hook, because the smaller hooks made it difficult to pick up the loop.

People have to do a double take when they see what I am working on and find it hard to tell it is plastic at first.

What do you use on the back of your rugs to keep them from slipping?

reply to post by Blanca Rose


I haven't put a backing on the two I made. I believe the craft stores sell a product that can be attached. I was thinking about it, but decided that I like them the way they are, even though they don't hold debris. It makes them easy to clean Just pick them up and sweep the floor as usual. If the round one I'm working on turns out right, I might buy the backing material to adhere to it. What do you use?