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I have discovered a source of lots of these protective hats, they are worn by workers who pack pharmacutical products and are disposed of in their hundreds. They are made of what appears to be the same fabric used for garden fleece, quite thin though. I thought about using them for protecting lettuce during autumn and winter and maybe spring cabbage from the pigeons during winter, perhaps two can be used if thicker fleece is needed. Any ideas what else I could use them for? Here's a picture so you know what I'm talking about.

rofl sorry, just have image of rows of lettuces with hats on hahahahahaha ;D

use them with strings attached for suspending squashes/melons/drying garlics?

You could try making Little Wire/Fine steel loops and placing them over that!!! ???

Jesseveve what do you think!! 8)

Jesseveve, what a great idea where did you discover these i would love some for my Fuchsia cuttings. do tell great for keeping the frost off new cuttings or
early seeds.  Rosebud.

Would they stretch to cover seed trays?

Derek

People who grow posh pears make little net bags to put over each pears to keep the wasps off - the hats would be great for that. 

My father works at a pharmaceutical packaging company, the packing staff have to wear them whilst they're packaging drugs and after each product line they have to change protective wear so that the possibility of any dust from the previous drug line does not contaminate the next drug line. So these hats are worn only for a short time before they're binned. He's been collecting a few each day for me.

They would stretch over a small seed tray, they're about shower cap size and I've used a few during this snowy spell to cover the plants that are emerging from my pots outside, I put a short cane in the middle to keep the fleece cap off the plants, they fit nicely over a medium sized pot and the elastic keeps them in place.

Wow excellent idea Jesseveve, my brother works in a pharmaceutical company

too, so I shall have a word with him

Thanks for the tip ;)

Debs

Hat update - My bro confirmed what you said Jesseveve, so I shall soon

be getting a supply!

Debs ;D

What about using the hats for isolation of flower trusses etc when saving seed to ensure varietal purity, ie with tomatoes?  :)

Great ideas, thanks. Especially like the protecting pears idea, last year we lost most of our pears to wasps, the wasps can have the pears at the top of the tree where I can't reach.

Nikkrud, how would that work? do I polinate the flowers with a paintbrush and then cover them over with the fleece? I have Gem Squash growing this year and have been told that unless the flower is manually polinated and then sealed closed the flower will cross with other squash and saving the seed will result in a non-Gem squash squash (if that makes sense!). I would really like to save "true" seed as they are not readily available in this country.

That makes perfect sense to me Jesseveve!

According to the HDRA seed-saving guidelines, Squashes, Melons and Cucumbers will readily cross with one another, mostly by the transmission of pollen by the honeybee. As they are so very promiscuous, it is reccomended that you do hand pollinate and isolate the plants.

For squashes, such as your Gem one, select at dusk a female and male flower that are just about to open. The male should come from one plant, and the female from another, and they must be of the same variety. With a piece of masking tape, seal the flowers to prevent them from opening and mark them with a cane so that you can find them again.

Next morning, remove the male flower with it's stalk and carefully remove the petals revealling the pollen bearing stamen in the middle. Take this over to the female flower, carefully remove the tape, and brush the pollen onto the style of the female flower.

Re-seal the flower with the tape to prevent further entry by insects or at this point you could cover the flower with the bag, wrapping a piece of cotton wool around the stem to prevent access by insects even further. Obviously, once the fruit is growing, you can remove the bag from the stem.

Pretty long winded I'm afraid, but once you get it clear in your head, is quite easy really! The guidelines do mention that one male flower can be used repeatedly for several females if there is a shortage of males.

Another source of info on home seed saving I have found really useful is the book by Sue Strickland called 'Back Garden Seed Saving' Its printed by the HDRA I believe, at least that's where I bought my copy from. Are you an HDRA member? You might be able to print off there guidelines directly from there website. Otherwise, let me know, and I will copy mine and send them to you.

Hope your eyes don't hurt too much now ;D

Quote from: Jesseveve on February 24, 2005, 09:21:45
My father works at a pharmaceutical packaging company, the packing staff have to wear them whilst they're packaging drugs and after each product line they have to change protective wear so that the possibility of any dust from the previous drug line does not contaminate the next drug line.

Er... doesn't that mean that the hats may be contaminated with unidentified drugs? I am surprised that the company doesn't dispose of them as clinical waste. They may be breaking the law.

Otherwise sounds like a great idea, if you wash 'em first!

Would they be thick enough to put manure/nettles/comfrey for making plant tea/feed?

I would be a little worried using them, unless they are rinsed of course.  Mind you, you might find none of your lettuces have headaches, but lovely shampoo and sets!  :P ;D

I'm pretty sure they're not contaminated in any way. The company is quite happy for them to be disposed of in a regular bin, not for chemical waste or anything strict like that. They change the hats reguarly because they are over cautious and have to because of EU laws etc. Most of the production line where my dad gets the hats from is re-labelling, i.e. taking a bottle of pills, taking off the label for company A and putting on another label for company B, the pills are never exposed to daylight. Another line is checking that the bottles have the labels on securely and the lids are securely fastened so again the pills are not exposed in any way but are kept well sealed in their bottles or blister packs. A lot of the medicines also are not classified medicines or prescription only medicines but rather things like paracetamol etc which are pretty harmless in small amounts.

Jesseveve,   I worked in a pharmaceutical company.   Those hats are sometimes to protect the product from the workers hair (mites etc) and sometimes to protect the worker from toxic chemicals which go into the drugs.

Please be careful!