# What can I do with metal washers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2025, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036 "2025-12-24T23:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/21 "2025-12-25T22:31:58Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I found myself in need of a jam nut a few weeks ago, and guess what I found in the little drawer with the odd-looking nuts? Three thumbscrews, a locking washer, two brads, and a half of something that you’re not sure of but think it used to be a rivet? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/22 "2025-12-25T22:48:36Z")
Nope, all of those have their own little drawers. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/23 "2025-12-25T23:06:16Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > If you have Google translate that page It is a wikipage, I don’t have those translated by Google! There is a link to the English page with the same content right there! And yes, it links to the English wikipage about washers. Which is longer than the German one and has more pictures. Strange name, washer. Makes no sense. Needs more letters. I tell you: Unterlegscheibe is self-explanatory: _Unter_ → below; _leg_ → lay; _scheibe_ → disk. Thus: Disk for putting under whatever when you need it. But I am ready to concede the English page is more interesting. And has more footnotes (27-2). TIL that washers are a to me hitherto unknown culturally relevant item for a certain sub-population in the USA. They seem to be meticulous. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just sometimes something makes clear what different lives we live. Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/24 "2025-12-25T23:19:04Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Washers help spread the load when a bolt is attached through a pice of metal. And also help keep the bolt/nut from slipping through the hole, which may otherwise enlarge with wear. And sometimes function as spacers. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > sometimes something makes clear what different lives we live. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/25 "2025-12-25T23:27:41Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I tell you: Unterlegscheibe is self-explanatory: _Unter_ → below; _leg_ → lay; _scheibe_ → disk. Thus: Disk for putting under whatever when you need it. That sounds like a coaster, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/26 "2025-12-25T23:36:31Z")
You mean like a **[trivet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivet)**? No, that would be an **[Untersetzer](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untersetzer)**, not an Unterlegscheibe. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/27 "2025-12-26T04:11:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That sounds like a coaster, to me. Or a whoopee cushion ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/28 "2025-12-26T04:57:10Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > Do what I do: put them in a jar or old food tub (like what margarine used to come in) and park it on your workbench. Then every few months, look at them and wonder what in the hell they came from, and will I ever need them? Then put them in another place on the workbench. Rinse and repeat until you die. (I haven’t died yet, but I learned this procedure from my father, and I still haven’t cleared off _his_ workbench, and he’s been gone for years.) This all sounds very familiar. My father cleaned up (probably threw out) all of his old collection when my parents moved, after I was out of the house; but I have started my own collection since we lived in this house – screws both wood and sheet metal, bolts and nuts, and yes washers, not in jars or tubs on the workbench (don’t worry, the bench is usually cluttered with other stuff) but in containers in drawers. I marvel how I accumulated all that stuff in just 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/29 "2025-12-26T05:10:32Z")
Save up a few hundred, and wire them together for a passable costume set of scale mail. Or, well, that’s what I did with some smaller-holed washers without the gold-colored coating. Useful for my [Amtgard](https://www.amtgard.com/) gear now many decades ago! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/30 "2025-12-26T17:35:10Z")
Oh. I saw a lady with a sweater on that had what looked liked tiny washers sewn allover. Very cute. They dangled nicely. I wanted to touch and see if they were metal. But, I figured bad idea. I just stared at her back, in line, trying to figure it out. Til Ivy elbowed me to not stare. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/31 "2025-12-26T21:49:50Z")
[A link](https://www.coburnmyers.com/industrial-fasteners-news/understanding-f436-washers-applications-and-advantages-in-structural-engineering#:~:text=Hardened%20for%20Strength:%20F436%20washers%20are%20heat-treated,ensure%20a%20proper%20fit%20in%20structural%20applications.) where all questions are answered. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/32 "2025-12-26T22:15:23Z")
Yes, according to Prof. Google. There are pictures too. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/33 "2025-12-26T22:22:36Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I accumulate a lot of scrap metal. Every couple of years I’ll take it to the scrap yard. For the small stuff (bolts, nuts, washers, etc.) I keep them in Zip Lock bags, and include them when I go to the scrap yard. My spouse has accumulated more Xmas cookie tins than even Mrs. Claus could ever find a use for, so my stripped nuts, dinged bolts and bent nails go in one of those until full, and then I run a couple rusty screws through the rim so they don’t fly apart in the scrap yard when I go every other month or so. Washers, though - they ALL get saved - too generically useful to discard, and they pack well. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/34 "2025-12-26T22:50:38Z")
> [@vbob](#): > > …Xmas cookie tins than even Mrs. Claus (…) they ALL get saved… I think we have a winner in vbob. Sir, please tell your splendid cat hello for me. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/35 "2025-12-26T23:08:58Z")
Jeezum crow, this post perfectly describes me…_and_ my father. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/36 "2025-12-27T00:39:37Z")
🎶 What can I do with metal washers? What can I do with metal washers? What can I do with metal washers? Put 'em un a scupper with a hose pipe on’em. Ear-lay in the mornin 🎶 But seriously, if’n you do any handywork around the house, or someone who does, put them in a little bin and label it. The label bit is key, and be specific, don’t just say “washers” unless you’ve got a big ol’ bin of washers that you are willing to paw through to find the right size. But based on your original question…either recycle or give to a toolsy friend. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/37 "2025-12-27T12:33:01Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Sir, please tell your splendid cat hello for me. Consider it done. You do realize, of course, that he IS a washer, even when not actually in the act of washing… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/38 "2025-12-27T16:01:47Z")
If you were the sort of person who had a workbench full of stored random hardware, you wouldn’t be asking the question. So in your case (as in mine now) storing it for some nebulous hoped-for later use makes no sense. Most public recycling systems can’t take loose hardware, so dumping them in a recycling bin is probably mucking up their recycling stream. They’re ~$1.25 for a 6-pack at Home depot. It will cost you more to save them than they are worth. There’s a trash can in your kitchen. Use it. IMO YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/39 "2025-12-27T17:06:18Z")
If I don’t save it, I’ll surely need it in a bad way, soon. It’s a mindset. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036/40 "2025-12-27T22:17:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It’s a mindset. I keep those in a shelf box right next to the nailsets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-metal-washers/1026036.md?page=3)