Old Tires – Use Them In 8 Ways

Old tires are, as it might seem, completely useless waste. However, hardly anyone realizes that they can have a really huge decorative potential. It all depends on your ingenuity and your ability to imagine what ordinary old tires can become with a little effort and fantasy.

Old tires are made of a resistant material (a special elastic polymer), commonly known, albeit incorrectly as “rubber”. Therefore, even though they are completely worn out and no longer suitable for use in cars, old tires may still be useful for other purposes.

Rubber is a material that can be of natural or synthetic origin. Natural rubber is this product that is obtained from Hevea trees (rubber trees) originally grown in South America, or from a special species of latex-producing plants (such as the coca-sagiz dandelion). Synthetic rubber, on the other hand, comes from the processing of crude oil.

Due to its flexibility and impermeability, rubber is an extremely widely used material in industry. In fact, after recognizing its versatility and durability, people began to recycle it and use it as a raw material for many other products.

Is it possible, then, to reuse old tires, or should the rubber contained in them be reused at home? Yes of course! In fact, old tires have more than one application.

With the aim of reducing the environmental pollution that results when tires are no longer used in vehicles and end up in landfill, you can find literally hundreds of ideas for reusing them for a variety of applications.

However, in our today’s article, we will focus on how to use old tires at home – so read on!

Old tires at home – the best ideas for using them

There are actually many ways to recycle your old tires. The most common way is to grind, cut and crush them, and then use them as one of the materials to build or produce, for example:

• The surface of roads and highways
• Sidewalks, promenades and other hard surfaces
• Artificial grass
• Sports field surfaces
• Tracks and paths for runners
• Fenders for boats to protect their sides

However, given the fact that many people already have products that use recycled old tires in their homes, in many cases completely unaware of this fact, it’s worth remembering that there is another series of ideas that you can also enjoy without having to cut open and tire shredding.

Are you ready to put them into practice? Take your creativity to the next level! Besides, even if your idea turns out to be wrong, you won’t lose anything – old tires don’t cost anything.

1. Tire swings

Just buy a rope of any color and spray paint over the old tires. Then attach the appropriate length of rope to them and hang the finished swing in your yard on a thick tree branch, making sure that the whole thing is strong and safe enough.

As an additional form of improving the swing, we recommend covering the tire with a material so that the child does not touch the rubber of the tire directly with his skin after entering the swing.

2. Sandbox

For children who are too young to swing, you can implement another creative idea that will allow them to have fun. What do you think, for example, about a sandbox for children?

The sandbox mentioned above is very easy to make. You only need to wash, dry and paint over any old tires as you wish. Then fill them with sand and put them somewhere in the right place. Certainly, this quite specific sandbox will quickly become your child’s favorite place to play.

3. Garden elements

Due to their shapes and sizes, old tires are perfect elements for decorating the exterior of your garden. First of all, because they are very durable, water does not damage them and they are perfect for growing various types of plants.

Just take a little spray paint from your favorite color range and paint over the old tires to create completely new, original pots for flowers and garden plants. If you want, you can also leave their original color and use them as a temporary container for creating seedlings of new plants.

4. Mirror frame

Old tires from a car are not the best option for making a nice frame for a mirror. However, thin tires from a bicycle can easily be used for this interesting idea.

Just wash the tire and try to align it with your mirror. If the length and width are suitable, use clear spray paint in several layers so that the black of the tire produces a glossy shine.

You can also spray paint the tires gold, bronze or another color. You should look for a mirror that fits inside your tire, mount it properly and voila – the mirror is ready to be hung on the wall or placed on the ground.

To fix the mirror securely inside the tire, you can use industrial glue applied to the inside of the tire.

5. Pet bed

It is not necessary to spend a lot of money to create a great bed for your pet. Old tires offer the perfect shape to create a pleasant and original bed. To do this, just fill the inside of the tire with a soft pillow. Decorate the tire however you like.

6. Rubbish bin

Combining different old tires can make your trash can really cute and eye-catching. Of course, its appearance may vary depending on your level of creativity.

The basic idea is to stack three tires on top of each other to form a deep cylindrical container. Then, to make it easier for you to take out the rubbish, place a garbage bag inside. And that’s all. All you need to do is decorate it in any way you want.

7. Outdoor coffee table

This decoration made of old tires is very stylish. Certainly, many people use this material to create eye-catching furniture and tables for their garden or terrace.

Just put one tire on top of the other and paint them however you like. Then apply a plate made of plastic, wood or any other material to the very top to complete your table creation.

8. Outdoor sofas

To fully enjoy family reunions in the garden, on the plot or outside the home in general, you can make yourself comfortable couches using old recycled tires.

Just connect several pieces of tires together, depending on the number of sofas you want to make. Overall, it would be best to use two tires for one sofa. Paint them any colors you like and fill them with soft pillows.

As you may have noticed by reading our article today, old tires don’t have to be just rubbish. After all, there are many ways to turn them into both useful and decorative items. Enjoy being able to give free rein to your own creativity!