Playing Around With Plastic

Lego is known and loved round the world – but did you know the origin of its name? It comes from the Danish leg godt 'play well', from lege 'to play'. And now there is another product which got its name in a similar way – the Irish word for play is súgradh – from which we get sugru. Sugru is as versatile as Lego, and [dare I say it] it is even more useful. Do you know about this fabulous product?

it is a wonderful malleable playdoh like substance which dries overnight into a silicon rubber. You can find out more here

Invented by this Irishwoman, called Jane

We have been using this product for a few years now. Bob has repaired tools, replaced knobs and handles…and now he has fixed my Filofax. I love my Filofax. It is my diary, address book, notebook, and more- it holds photos of Bob and the girls, a few postage stamps, business cards, mini Post-it notes…Keep your iPads and your Blackberries, my black leather treasure has been retaining vital information for me since the 1980s and I hope will go on doing so.

BUT the little metal cap on the press stud disappeared, leaving sharp edges. This is a common problem, it seems [there are geeky websites for Filofax nerds, lamenting this disaster] So Bob spent a few minutes with some black sugru – and now you wouldn’t know that the stud had been damaged. It looks like new. [thanks Bob]

If you look at the sugru website, you will see all sorts of creative uses for this product – which was developed by people who share my redemption philosophy that something that has been damaged does not mean something that should be discarded.

sugru works – even if its name means play!