"Draft snake"??

Crafters, you know the long things often shaped into a snake figure that people make to place at the bottom of a drafty door? What is inside them to give them weight and air-blocking properties? Is it just sand??

Obviously I'm thinking about drafts today as a nice chilly westerly is whipping my place today.  

dry beans or wheat(might encourage mice!) maybe? I think sand might be a bit too messy unless it was enclosed in a inner sack?

Not sand. I"ve seen old pantyhose stuffed with rags or hunks of quilt batting, tucked infront of doors. In a pinch, old folded towels. The thrift store in town has lots of old towels.

How about #3 chicken grit?

I am hoping to try and make something attractive. So at least a nice outer cover.

Uno I pulled my "Elnita" out the other day and it still causes great gobby nests of thread on the underside of whatever I'm sewing (I managed to hem a pair of jeans!!! Look at ME GO!) so I'm thinking it's up for this task. I just need to find some fabric I like.

So I take it they don't have to be heavy, just dense.

The ones in Australia are heavy. I think dried beans would be the go. There are lots of sizes and types.

I will see if I can find you the answer.

They are plastic pellets..that way it doesn't matter if they get wet. You can usually find them at any craft store.

Here is one, it says play sand or kitty litter.

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farmchiq wrote:

Uno I pulled my "Elnita" out the other day and it still causes great gobby nests of thread on the underside of whatever I'm sewing (I managed to hem a pair of jeans!!! Look at ME GO!)

Farmchiq, get that machine in for repairs! My Elna does this on a regular basis and it is telling me it needs an adjustment.

A sewing machine chiropractor is needed here!

Mine have rice in them but it is a temptation for the rodents.  I HATE rodents!

Farmchiq, the fabric/quilt shop in Armstrong has a regular sewing machine guy who does maintenance. Drop your machine off and they'll call you when it's all fixed up.

If you are not worried about your draft stopper getting wet, use beans or sand. But if there will be moist warm air meeting cold dry air, you are going to have moisture and potentially a big stink if your dry beans get funky! Also..is sand/beans a heat mass or a cold mass? I would use a filler that was temperature neutral, like old rags.

At least if the hounds grab you draft snake and shake the stuffing out, you can gather old rags. Imagine plastic pellets or dried beans flung far and wide! Yikes!

Buy aquarium pebbles , added with some cotton baton and away you go

Your tension on the bobbin or the upper thread tension is incorrect. Probably the top, check that first before you send for repairs. Hope you find something for those drafty drafts!! Have an awesome night, with day to follow, CynthiaM.

I'd be like Uno and use old towels, socks or whatever packed nice and tight.  They make those big buckwheat pillows so that would be dense and work well as long as you don't have a rodent problem.  I would use a polar fleece type material since it won't wick up moisture like cotton.  Maybe I'll have to dig out my Grans old sewing machine and see about making one for the front door.  I put new weather stripping around but it still has too much leakage sigh

coopslave wrote:Here is one, it says play sand or kitty litter.

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I remember sand in ones I have come across. If the fabric is tight enough weave it will handle it, just have to have good and tight seems too I guess or make a sleeve that won't let sand out, make it easy to wash the case too if you made a sleeve. I'd use an old pair of jeans and cut the legs in half length wise. Not sure about that kitty litter option. . . . had brief image of what might happen if it got wet - ooooooooweee.  

Go for some ticking. You know, the ones that down duvets are made from. That is extremely dense fabric and do you have a needle for the machine designed for jean sewing? That might help too to go through dense fabric, or maybe a regular sized needle will work too. Another thought, get a set of pillow cases that are like 400 thread count cotton, that is dense material too. Lots of options, and you could actually make something really cool. If you use sand, you got lots of that stuff, smiling....make two, an inside sleeve and an outside sleeve, having a nice and pretty fabric for the outside sleeve. That would keep your sand in, I would go for sand, it would be heavy and stay in place. Good luck, have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Try this. I use a pair of older jeans legs, cut about a foot longer than the door, stuffed with fabric. We have been in old homes for ever. Drafts are a problem. At one place I used the jean legs, with a fleece flaps to get tight in the cracks. Washable, kid proof, pet proof, and quite cheap (that's me always). My daughter had a pair of "Fancy Ass" jeans (big name in the 80's), that she got acid on from a battery. Used them to make her one for her window ledge. Sewed the pockets on the legs, so she could put stuff in, big hit. Make a strip of fleece and sew it to one side of leg. Cut slits into fleece to make it easy to get into tight spots. Hope this will help.