checking needle sharpness

[RHunter]

Probably a dumb question. How do you dispospe of the needles without the risk of someone accidently getting speared?

I thread inject at my daughter's work place. I wrap up the discard needle in cardboard, yet I worry about the scroungers and rubish haulers getting hurt, let alone the dumpster divers.

I have a razor vault I dispose of my used double edge safety razors in.

The opening is just large enough to let in a razor blade, but makes getting one out next to impossible. Old utility knife, X-Acto, and needles go in there.

To paraphrase..."sharps check in, but they don't check out...."

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[MoldyFrog]

Joanns has little screw cap plastic containers that go on sale all the time for two or three bucks. They are called twisterz, I think they are meant for beads generally but I often seem on end caps near the thread. The lids are pretty thick so I epoxied the lid shut and got a small drill bit just a bit larger than a needle and drilled a single hole in at an angle. They easily go in but even if flipped upside down they would need to hit the angle just right and have enough room to slip out. Nothing has made it out yet.

[slugbait]

An old pill bottle would also work (and little kids wouldn't be able to open it). I use a discarded machine needle to pick out strands of Amsteel for tapering when splicing.

[scrope]

I've sewn multiple top and bottom quilts as well as hammocks and I just use the same needle. It doesn't hurt to put in a new needle for every project but to my mind that's way overkill. Even my most complicated sewing project is only about 15 minutes of actual sewing time.

I change needles when a) I switch to a different type of fabric, e.g., sharp needle vs ball needle, b) change the weight of my thread, or c) I have a problem. Since I switched to clips and not pins I've stopped hitting my needle on stuff so it's rare that I damage them that way any more.

So, sew your own sew and change your needles for every project if you want. The cost of a needle is tiny compared to the cost of the fabric. However, if you're more of the "if it an't broke" persuation, don't worry needlessly about it.

[P-Dub]

I tape needles, used utility knife blades, and used razor blades (+ any other sharp stuff) to a piece of cardboard before tossing...

[Irishjihad]

I have a razor vault I dispose of my used double edge safety razors in.

The opening is just large enough to let in a razor blade, but makes getting one out next to impossible. Old utility knife, X-Acto, and needles go in there.

To paraphrase..."sharps check in, but they don't check out...."

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I used to live in a place that had a metal slot in the bathroom wall labeled for razor blade disposal, with no obvious way to remove it for emptying. When I went to renovate the bathroom I found that out that that metal slot just dumped it inside the cavity of the wall. There had to be 300-400 blades in there.

[MoldyFrog]

I used to live in a place that had a metal slot in the bathroom wall labeled for razor blade disposal, with no obvious way to remove it for emptying. When I went to renovate the bathroom I found that out that that metal slot just dumped it inside the cavity of the wall. There had to be 300-400 blades in there.

That was standard not too long ago before Gillette sold everyone one on disposable razor heads with forty seven space age blades. People used safety razors and the blades had to go somewhere. Medicine cabinets had slits built into them for just that reason. They drop into the wall space behind the cabinet and are safe from kids. You could store probably thousands in that space before it filled up. Assuming weekly blade changes it was basically a lifetime of space. Odds are you aren't knocking down that wall anytime soon so was considered a safe thing to do. So yeah, watch out if you are doing renovations on older homes as blades may well be in the walls.

[slugbait]

Long ago and far away, my 6th grade teacher told us a story he'd heard growing up in New York City. A man who lived in an apartment for many years and used the razor blade slot thousands of times tried to push one more blade in there and was electrocuted. Apparently the wiring sheath was gradually cut through and finally metal touched metal. Zap!