Join the action now! Help draft demands and proposals, add more languages to the website, and spread the word!

Join the action now! Help draft demands and proposals, add more languages to the website, and spread the word!

New and improved balcony

New and improved balcony

I have these shoes that I've worn for a few years, but they're actually still quite okay, if it wasn't for the washed-out color. That makes them look very worn out and battered. The fabric is linen and they used to be a denim-style dark blue. I'd really like to give them back some color so I can keep wearing them, but short of painting them all over with a thick marker, I have no idea how this could be achieved with lasting effect. I mean your standard methods for dying fabric (which I don't know what they are) are probably predicated on the fabric not being sown to a rubber sole etc. - right? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

This illustrates more clearly what the previously seen safety nets are for! It has a plastic "roof", prompted by the upstairs neighbour smoking out of his window, dropping down ashes and even the occasional cigarette butt. This roof is what became of the plastic table cloth that I initially bought as a curtain btw 😄

Any suggestions for sensible knots that would allow me to a) tighten the loop around the screw at the bottom post-hoc and b) adjust the length of the cord post-hoc (but it holds the weight of the boards + books)?

So I want to hang this transparent table cloth up as a curtain. The plastic is pretty thin (less than 0,5 mm), but it feels like it should be fine. So my question is, how would you make the holes to put the rings through? The curtain is 140 x 180 cm, and the material is probably (less than 0,5 mm) thin, hence pretty light (~300 - 400g). I figure if I just cut horizontal slits, it'll be likely to tear. Circular holes would need to be big enough to fit the scissors through - I don't exactly have any special tools at my disposal rn. I'm mostly wondering if I'd need to reinforce the holes somehow or it'll hold its weight as is without tearing. Any advice would be much appreciated. P.S. I'm open to any alternative suggestions, also considering some sort of clamps instead of rings, but the ones you get for curtains are meant to hold textile curtains, no idea how well they would hold this smooth material.

(Side note: Why is the curtain transparent? Answer: it's not meant to keep the light out or prying eyes, but a cold draught! I've been using my regular curtains for this, but turns out I need the daylight to still come in. My bed is right by the window, and in winter that spot is super drafty and cold, but if I keep the sunlight out, I can't wake up in the morning. Also the bed won't fit anywhere else in this small bedroom)

The first photo might look slightly more dramatic than it is, here area two more:

So I tried to remove the gas compression spring of my new office chair from the sockets to send it back. It's firmly stuck in both ends, and I read the recommendation to knock it with a rubber hammer. I couldn't find one, so I covered the gas spring with some soft cloths and tried a regular hammer - and was a bit too enthusiastic. Is this spring still safe to use? I'm guessing/hoping that that's not really the outer wall of the gas cartridge? It is still working, extends and compresses smoothly.

EDIT: so I saw a couple videos about this topic where people removed the holding clip on the bottom end of the gas lift, allowing them to remove the cylinder that I dented from the actual gas spring. I did that on my gas spring and low and behold, I was able to remove it and verify that the dented part isn't actually under pressure - it's rather a duct/guiding rail and pretty cover for the lifting bar that sticks out of the actual spring. So the spring is safe to use once I put everything back, but that outer cylinder might never go anywhere ever again. However, since the spring is still usable, I'm keeping the darned chair and have no more need to get it out for returning.