Upcycling: build your own laundry basket

A DIY laundry basket made from sustainable materials in a bathroom — A stylish eye-catcher: A laundry basket made from sustainable materials

Difficulty

easy
Cost

<50 £
Duration

1-2 hours

Introduction

Our dirty laundry doesn't always make its way straight into the washing machine – but with this trendy laundry basket, it does at least have somewhere to wait that isn’t a bedroom chair! Thanks to this project, you can not only eliminate clothing chaos, but also find a use for used items that would otherwise probably end up as junk. Grab a worn car tyre and those old brooms from the storeroom and conjure up your own functional upcycled jute laundry basket in just a few steps.

We show you how in this guide.

You need

Tools

Utilities

Rubber gloves
gloves
Hearing protection
Safety goggles
Dust mask
Set square
ruler
measuring tape
masking tape
pencil

Materials

1x car tyre (size 185/55R 15 82V in our case), dimensions: 58cm wide, 20cm thick, 38cm inner
5x broom handles approx. 28x1500mm
5x hooks 4.4x50mm
5x screws 4x50mm
Screw-on felt feet
Acrylic paint
Jute bag for up to 25kg
2x clamps

L: Length, W: Width, H: Height, D: Diameter

Let’s start – step by step

This step-by-step guide shows you how to easily build your own laundry basket. Here are all the tools for your project at a glance once again:

All tools and resources for the laundry basket project — Everything at a glance: this is what you need for your jute laundry basket!

Step 1 5

Prepare the old car tyre

Holes are drilled into an old car tyre — Prepare the car tyre for the jute basket holder

First, take the old car tyre and mark five points centrally and at regular intervals. Here, it would be best to measure the circumference with a measuring tape and divide the result by five. Tape over the marks with crepe tape strips so you can see them to drill the holes later. Then, transfer the points to the back of the tyre, preferable using the set square.

Now clamp your tyre to your workbench. Then, drill through one side of the tyre using the 4mm multi-purpose drill of your AdvancedImpact 18. Use the 10 mm multi-purpose drill bit to drill through the other side.

Step 2 5

Precisely cut the holes out

The car tyre is sawn into using the UniversalSaw 18V-100 cordless jigsaw — You can make precise cuts into the rubber of the tyre with the Universalsaw 18V-100

In this step, saw a cross in each of the 10mm holes using your UniversalSaw 18V-100. Here, saw around two centimetres in four directions from the drilled hole. We recommend always wearing protective gloves when sawing.

Step 3 5

Paint the tyre

The car tyre is sprayed green using a paint sprat system — Decorate the tyre with a trendy colour!

You can now paint the tyre in your desired colour using a paint spray system. Ensure that you prepare the surrounding area to protect against paint using a protective sheet. Wear rubber gloves when spraying paint and always wear a respirator for your safety.

Step 4 5

Adjust the broom handles

The broom handles are shortened using a cordless jigsaw — The UniversalSaw is put to yet another use: adjust the broom handles to the desired length.

The broom handles are fixed to the tyre using a screw — Just affix the holder and your DIY jute laundry basket is done!

Now it’s time to shorten the five broom handles to prepare the holder for the jute bag. Shorten the handles as follows with your Universalsaw 18V-100: 2x 90cm, 1x 110cm, 1x 130cm and 1x 150cm. Then mark a point at a distance of 88cm from the cut edge on all broom handles. Then drill a hole around 1cm deep in this point on all the handles using the 4mm wood drill. Finally, carefully sand the cut edges and drilled holes on the broom handles using the PSM 18 Li.

Step 5 5

Affix the holder

Now you can screw the hooks into the drilled holes in the handles. Then, insert the broom handles through the cross-shaped holes in the tyre and fix them in place using the AdvancedImpact 18 through the lower hole with a screw. Don't forget: you must put the felt foot onto the screw before screwing it all together.

Finally, align all the hook towards the centre and hang the jute bag into the holder. Now your new upcycled laundry basket is ready for your dirty laundry!