As many of you might have guessed by now I am quite keen on recycling/upcycling and recovering usable parts before putting things in either the recycle or waste bins.

This thread has given me a suggested use for some items that I have been collecting from Pump type soap dispensers. I usually strip them down because they usually have a useful spring in them.

The springs themselves are not the star of the show here though. As well as a spring most dispensers also have a glass bead, which sitting at the bottom of the spring creates the siphon when pumped.

What do glass beads and Vallejo paints have to do with each other? Well if you drop a glass bead into your paint bottle they make great paint mixers.

Taking the top off to add the bead is quite easy,  take the screw cap off them gently grip the top of the bottle with a pair of pliers and pull. the top will come off.