Have I finally flipped

Hmmm...depends on the quality of the bag. I've certainly washed out certain bags and line dried them.

Well, carrier bags are not exactly as rare as hen's teeth, it's just that you have to pay for them now!

40 years ago we had an elderly neighbour who regularly pegged small plastic bags on her washing line - they weren't supermarket carriers though.

They are relatively posh M&S ones complete with proper handles!
I take your point Ana, they are not exactly rare even though you do not see many about now. I am not going to iron them though (under a damp cloth that is).

I regularly wash out good quality ziplok bags as they are too good to throw away.

Yes, I'd wash them too. Out of concern for the environment, of course, rather than because I'm too tight to buy new ones.

Alima you've got to iron them! Where is your self-respect?

I wash the strong plastic bags too, always have. Alima at least you haven't gone as far as my grandmother did, she used to peg her teabags out to dry for re-use!

I miss the jolly Xmas-y decorated ones from M and S. Just these black and white ones now.

Noooo - life is too short to stuff a mushroom/wash out carrier bags - put them in the recycling.

Depends on what you're going to use them for. If only for bin liners, there's not much point in washing them first.

I'm with you washing and reusing bags. in my impecunious youth I saved old tights and even thought about tumble dryer fluff for stuffing cushions it's genetic as my gran saved paper bags and was perfectly sane.

Like Lona, I wash ziplock bags and reuse them if they haven't been used for anything messy. They can be re-used for storing things like bags of flour and sugar, or storing a few wet wipes in a rucksack - any number of things really. I don't wash plastic carriers though; never occurred to me. Might have to think about it though, my stock is going down!

Never washed out a plastic carrier bag, but I do like to reuse things whenever I can, waste not want not.

We had a member of staff who used to wash out and reuse the plastic sandwich bags she brought her lunch in

My MiL used to save the waxed paper linings of cereal packets, all folded neatly in one of the kitchen drawers, along with all the plastic bags that her fruit and veg came in from the supermarket. I never did discover what she used them for .

The cereal packed linings I might know about because my Granny did that too. It goes back to the days when butter and marge came in blocks and the lining paper was used to grease cake tins and such with butter or marge (or Trex) for baking. You tore off a bit of lining paper and wiped it over the spread and used it to grease and the tin. She kept the wrappers off the spread for the same reason.

My granny did that too! It was a free alternative to greaseproof paper.

PS Washing out carrier bags is sort of ok, but hanging them out on the line is verging on dotty and will have the neighbours talking!

S'ok, now in airing off by the radiator!

That's a relief!

Years ago when we were camping we noticed that another camper (French or Belgian) had pegged out tea bags on the line to dry - were they going to make another with them?

But yes, I would wash out the bags if they were new ones! But I would dry them with a tea towel and finish off on the radiator!

It goes back to the days when butter and marge came in blocks and the lining paper was used to grease cake tins and such with butter

Our butter still comes in blocks and I have just used the paper to grease the cake tins ..... call me old-fashioned

Years ago my friend used to bring her sandwiches to work in waxed cereal bags.

My mother did exactly the same with the waxed paper cereal bags! She also reused tinfoil time and time again as long as it was clean and had a drawer full of neatly folded paper bags and little plastic ones. She also had a huge ball of string as she just kept winding any new pieces onto the ball plus a rubber band ball. I think it was the war that trained her to think like that. She told me she had once made a dress out of her brothers black football shirt and had pleated pink dusters for the skirt. Very much admired apparently.

We're so wasteful these days!