I use pencil on blind slats also. It's be far the easiest for me.

Doesn't seem messy to me at all.

The mini-blinds idea looks to be a good way to use those unwanted blinds. Great idea. Thanks.

I use P-touch labeling on popcycle sticks for starts I am planning to give to others - I typically will dig up a start in early spring or late fall, settle it in to a temporary pot, tuck in the label, and set it aside in my old sandbox holding area. I use the white labels for that application and the leaching that the wood invites doesn't seem to affect the label for the short time that I need them (usually 1-6 months). The recipients can then re-use my label, make up their own, or just put the plant in the ground. For unknown recipients (such as plants to take to a swap or round-up) I may also include my name for any follow-up questions.

I had no idea pencil would write on mini-blind slats! TY. I'm sure that DOES last longer than a regular sharpie.

I've been trying to figure out why we need a Dremel... 'cuz I know we do, just not enough rationalizations built up yet. I wonder if one could be used to engrave plant tags with pretty flowing script? Don't think I'd bother for myself, but would make an awesome addition to gift plants. Dremel owners, enable away...!

Speaking of sharpie not lasting long, who has typed the letters off of their keyboard & had to occasionally write them back on? Putting clear nail polish over the sharpie helps a lot. My keyboard at my last job kept anyone else from messing anything up (a little store with one computer.) There was only a Q and a Z to work with!!! I told them it was a security feature, leave it alone.

Purple, my husband used to simply call the computer mine and refused to ever use it - often bugging me to look something up for him. He finally told me he was unable to use the computer because it didn't have the answers. I hadn't really noticed that the letters had mostly all faded away. I found one can order replacement stickers from an office supply store, and he can now once again use the family computer.

I have an engraver, but it is cumbersome on metal labels, and more difficult to read. For the several hundreds of blinds labels I use each year, a simple pencil is quick, easy to use, and always available. Press hard if you use #2s. Paint pens seem to be good and at least as long lasting (only tested 3 years so far), but the point isn't fine enough for all my data. Pencil is great on vinyl blinds, but is not very permanent on aluminum blinds. The surface isn't porous enough, and the graphite rubs off and smears easily.

My "messy look" comes from my horrible handwriting.

>> who has typed the letters off of their keyboard

Many times! I kept replacing the keyboard with cheap ones from Goodwill.

Finally someone at work took an old keyboard of mine to the electronics assembly shop, and someone there painted the letters with some high-tech enamel that clings to plastic. That is wearing off more slowly.

As you know, I run off at the keyboard a lot. Also, I HAMMER at the keys, keeping people in nearby cubicles awake. I'll have 6o try the clear nail polish over the enamel. It doesn't dissolve the plastic?

Leftwood said:
>> Pencil is great on vinyl blinds, but is not very permanent on aluminum blinds. The surface isn't porous enough, and the graphite rubs off and smears easily.

I haven't tried any aluminum blinds yet. However, sometimes I clean old plastic blinds in the dishwasher with harsh dishwasher detergent (caustic) and scrub them with Comet Cleanser (abrasive). In my imagination, that makes the plastic surface rougher or more porous ... or at least less greasy.

I seldom re-use those slats now that I realize they get brittle over several years. But when I did, I used a rubber eraser until someone pointed out that a green nylon scrubbing pad takes most of the pencil mark off, and Comet takes the rest off.

I've tried the softer "B" lead in a mechanical pencil. It MIGHT be slightly darker than HB, and it MIGHT smear easier, but the difference seemed slight to me. I'm mostly using a "Pentel" lead that claims to have a "super-polymer base" ... I wouldn't bet 5 cents that it's any darker than any other brand. It MIGHT break less often.

RickCorey said:I seldom re-use those slats now that I realize they get brittle over several years. But when I did, I used a rubber eraser until someone pointed out that a green nylon scrubbing pad takes most of the pencil mark off, and Comet takes the rest off.

I raid the waste bin where they cut blinds at Home Depot. So trying to reuse already used labels seems silly.

Maybe I should go into business.....

My laptop has no letters. They've all wrorn off, too. It's only 18 mos old! But I never learned to keyboard. I leaned to type on a typewriter. My dd's say I am noisy on my laptop, that I pound on the keyboard. I'm sure I do! Come to think of it, I leaned to type on a typewriter without letters also! My age is showing!

Rick, I admire your slat collection. I'll have to find that waste bin at HD!

After I trim mine to length, I tie them into blocks using waxed twine (so they take up less room and look even more compulsively obsessive, or is it obsessively compulsive?

My SO took down some old mini-blinds, and planned to throw them away.I got excited and tried to grab them ALL (more than a life-time's supply).

"NO!" She said. You'd only save them and make even MORE clutter!"

Well, that is true, but I didn't think that was a BAD thing!

>> Maybe I should go into business.....

I've noticed that nurseries sell almost the exact same thing for more than a few cents per tag. That's when I realized that going to some nurseries is like feeding dollar bills into a shredder. They might make well-draining potting mix, but there ARE less expensive approaches to gardening.