Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Keep out the cold with a draft dodger

Freeze Yer Buns ChallengeAnd, no, I don't mean cozying up to Dick Cheney.

If you want to keep drafts down in your house, then I suggest making your own draft dodgers (see picture below for those who need visual aids). Even beginning sewers can do this project.

Measure the length of the door or window you want to deploy this on and add an extra inch or two. Choose a thick fabric - something heavy like corduroy, ThermaFleece or whatever's on sale at your fabric store. You'll cut your fabric the length that you measured by 8 inches.

With right sides of the fabric facing each other, sew up one end and both sides. Turn right side out, and fill it with rice, dry corn, beans, polyfill, batting, cut up old blankets or shirts, sandbox sand, pretty much whatever you have on hand. Sew up the remaining end.

Draft dodger from GaiamIf even this project is still too much for you, you can always rustle up some tube socks, fill them with whatever you want and tie a knot at the ends. When the weather warms up, you can pour that sand back in the sandbox and wear those socks again. Or, you can cut up an old pair of thick women's tights, fill it with rice, and tie a knot at the end of the legs. Now you have two matching door stoppers.

If you want to make a very durable draft dodger, cut the legs off a pair of used jeans, fill them and sew or tie up the ends. If you don't have any long socks, tights, or jeans then head to your nearest thrift store for supplies. You'll be cozy in no time. Dick Cheney not required.

Finally, if you really don't want to spend the time on it, you can buy the one shown above at Gaiam for $20.

Doesn't this look suspiciously like the bun warmin' bed warmer? Hmmm. With a little planning you can really extend your project for multiple uses.

9 comments:

Greenpa said...

So I gather you survived the flooding- that's good!

One thing for people to keep in mind- you CAN, very definitely, make your house TOO tight. Two things inside your house need fresh air- at all times. The people; and your heater/furnace/woodstove.

It has happened many times that energy enthusiasts have made their house SO tight that the internal air quality drops below downtown LA in July. Usually it's difficult to make older houses (older than 30 years) that tight; but newer houses are typically constructed with tight vapor barriers everywhere, tight windows, tight everything.

Sure, if the door is blowing a blizzard on your feet, by all means block it. Just keep in mind; the house MUST breathe; just like you. Some air must be allowed in, somewhere.

Chile said...

That's a good point, Greenpa. One alternative may be to use draft dodgers intermittantly. We'd only need one in the bedroom, for instance, at night while sleeping.

Crunchy Chicken said...

greenpa - good point

chile - that's precisely what I was thinking. I wasn't expecting people to plug up their homes with draft dodgers in every corner, although I suppose if you've got the time...

But, really, you don't need Dick Cheney, I mean a draft dodger, in every room.

Okay, eventually I'll get tired of that joke. Bear with me.

Kristi said...

Old ties work well, too, and almost all of the sewing is already done for you. If you're feeling particularly crafty, glue on some google eyes, a tongue and maybe a poof of yarn on top for a silly snake (yes, I know snakes don't have hair. Well maybe one ---- Dick Cheney?) :-)

Crunchy Chicken said...

kristi - I be RTFLMAO. Or whatever the acronym is. I can never remember.

I think that I should hold a "Best Dick Cheney Doorplug Joke" contest. Just for fun.

Think of the merriment. And the jolliness.

Like I said, bear with me.

Anonymous said...

The Cheney Draft Dodger Door Plug: Guaranteed to seal all leaks -- except those involving Scooter Libby and Valerie Plame. Available exclusively from Halliburton -- special discount price of $10,000 each to anyone purchasing with taxpayer money. We all know what torture a cold winter (in Iraq) or a hot summer (in GITMO) can be. Stop those pesky winds from desert storms and tropical breezes today!

Order now and we'll throw in a free Bush-wacker Weed Eater -- the only weed wacker that burns unrefined imported oil, throws a 1,000 foot cloud of smoke around your (white) house, and obscures the truth indefinitely.

Special rush delivery available for soldiers who are about to be redeployed.

Crunchy Chicken said...

Oh, by the way, I definitely do not recommend dual purposing the Dick Cheney Draft Dodger Door Plug as a bun-warmer in bed.

No matter how cold you are.

anonymous - That was brilliant.

Sweetpeas said...

No worries about our (5 yr old) house being too air tight, cold air blows in through the electrical outlets when it's windy, sigh). Now, here's my question, the doorway (or door?) on the door from house to (uninsulated, almost as cold as outside) garage is so out of square that you can see light through the crack between the door & the doorjam from the handle down to the floor. Anyone have any (no cost) ideas on how to stop that draft but still have a usable door?

Jenni said...

We have 12 cats that perform that function. They're more fun for the kids to play with and they catch mice, too:o) You should see them all fall in whenever someone opens the front door, though.