Episode 17 Money for Nothing

I love these! What are these?

How do you make money for nothing?

This is beautiful, why are you getting rid of it?

The answer could be hiding in over 20 million tonnes of household waste

thrown out by us every year.

I'll just do a quick check for granny's gold!

That's why reclamation expert

Jay Blades wants to get his hands on things

before they hit the skip.

I've been a builder, I've been a philosophy student,

and now I'm a furniture restorer,

so I know more than most about transformations.

I revamp the old and turn it into the new and sell it on for a profit.

And with some of the country's elite designers and makers...

So what do you think?

HE LAUGHS

Oh!

..he can transform his finds into desirable...

Boom! Smashed it.

..valuable...

It's got real potential.

..and hopefully saleable items.

I've got to take my hat off to you, sir.

If Jay is successful, then he can hand the profits back

to the very people who had no idea

there was cash to be made from their trash.

That's surprising.

Is it?

Today, our restoration rocket, Jay Blades, is in wonderful Walsall.

-Morning.

-And he wants your rubbish.

The trash is flooding in and I'm ready for a rummage.

Jay will not quit until he's saved three items

that have the potential to be turned from trash to cash.

Come on, Walsall! Get those boots open!

And just in case you fancied joining Jay on his mission, don't bother.

Jay had to get special permission to plunder from the public.

Won't be long now, don't worry.

And he's parked himself at the front gates so he doesn't miss a thing.

What you throwing away then?

-Wife.

-The wife?

What a cheek!

JAY LAUGHS

Well, maybe you'll have more luck with what Indy's chucking out.

-How we doing, mate? You all right?

-All right, mate, yeah.

Go on, Jay, give him a hand

and check out the lovely leather while you're at it.

-Why are you throwing it away?

-It's part of an old sofa.

It's a centrepiece,

we used it for the kids' bedroom for a bit

-but the wife said just get rid of it.

-So where's the rest of it, then?

-I'm a bit greedy!

-The rest of it's in here somewhere,

about two months ago.

Oh, is it? Oh, man! Is this like Italian leather?

It's Natuzzi leather, yes.

-Natuzzi?

-Yeah.

-That's an expensive brand.

-Yeah, yeah.

Yes indeed, it's a company known for making furniture

from the finest of leathers.

You've got to get your hands on this one, Jay.

So if it's all right with you, what I'd like to do,

stay in contact with you,

if we get a chance to transform this into something good,

we're going to get back in contact and let you know what we've done.

-Is that all right?

-That's all right, yeah.

-So I can have this, yeah?

-Yeah, that's yours.

-Thank you.

-You take care.

-No problem. And you.

Grazie dante!

So, Indy, do you think Jay will make your cream sofa

rise to the top again?

It might come in useful for something, I don't know.

You know what I mean. It's one of those things.

If he can do something, when somebody can use it for something,

-why not?

-Well said.

Wow. This used to be a really luxurious modular sofa

and this would have been the middle section.

And the leather is just to die for.

There's a number of people that make great things from used leather.

It is hard work and I believe I know just the person to take this to.

If your sofa is starting to sag, then go and see Neil Wragg.

Neil creates handmade one-of-a-kind designer bags

from unwanted and unloved materials.

It may have fallen out of fashion,

but if he can get a needle through it, he'll work wonders.

Some of the bags I make could be described as eccentric

because I would keep some of the former character from the fabrics.

So if somebody's given me a leather jacket

that they can't wear any more,

I might keep a part of the jacket in the new bag.

I wouldn't say the bags are weird but they've certainly got

their own eccentric personality in every single one of them.

I love making stuff that is not only upcycled

from something that's unwanted

but it's something that is going to last another lifetime.

These are bags that have a second life.

Neil, you're just the man for the job

because this thing is firmly stuck in the past.

That's one item down, two to go, and Jay is in the groove.

You starting a party? Is that what that's all about?

-It works, you know.

-It works?

We should have a dance then, shouldn't we?

That's my dance partner, not yours. Don't muscle in!

I've got her!

Now, now, boys, calm down.

Perhaps Jay should waltz over and see what Mike's up to?

Jay's met Mike before at the tip.

But will his box of metal bits take his fancy?

-What have we got here, then?

-It's a last...

-A last leg?

-No!

A last...for making shoes.

Oh, this is for making shoes?

Well, putting soles on shoes or making them.

Mike is right, Jay. It's a cobbler's last,

a holding device shaped like a foot

that's used to fashion or repair shoes.

-Put the shoe onto there.

-Yeah?

You cut your leather for the sole,

then you put brands all the way round.

Will it come in different sizes, like...?

Yeah. Look, it says ten and a half.

-Yes.

-Oh, wow!

All of these are different sizes and then you just stick it in there.

-That's right.

-How come you've got one of these?

It was in the house when we bought it.

I don't know what you're going to do with them.

-I

-don't know what I'm going to do with them.

But I'd like to take all of it.

I don't think we're going to use it all.

-Is that OK with you?

-Marvellous, yes.

Jay's got a big box of bits.

Are you glad to see the back of it, Mike?

I'm delighted.

If he can make some use of it and it can be recycled,

then I'm all in favour.

To tell the truth, I haven't got a clue what to do with them

but I know someone who's got a bit more creativity

to turn this into something really, really beautiful.

So, what I need to do is take a step in the right direction.

Well, let's meet the man Jay will be hot-footing it to.

If it's old and rusty, you better believe that Guy Trench

has tried to stick a bulb in it!

Together with his band of happy helpers,

Guy creates one-of-a-kind lighting

that's guaranteed to brighten up any home.

I enjoy my work so much - every day is different.

I just can't sit still for a second,

my mind is always buzzing and I'm looking around everywhere,

whether it's a scrapyard, whether it's a skip.

"Ooh! That'll do, have that out of it,

And then clean it up and turn it into something of really great use.

Every day, I'm creating something.

I don't think... No banker, no insurance person,

no car salesman has got a better job than I've got.

It is a great thrill

to turn something, for nothing, into something.

He's a happy chappie, isn't he?

Well, let's see if he's still got a smile on his face

when he clocks this lot.

Fantastic!

That's two items now safely squirrelled away.

I know. It's close enough.

Whatever Jay finds next will be his to work on himself.

Look at that! Flipper's got a friend.

It's amazing what people throw away.

Yeah, astonishing.

Jay will really need to step it up a gear if he's to...

Wait! THERE'S a squirrel!

Quick, let me start over.

Bah! Here's Stan with some chairs.

-Hello. How are we doing, all right?

-Not so bad, mate. Not so bad.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

My name's Jay. There you go.

-Stan.

-All right? What you doing with these then, Stan?

-Dumping them.

-Why are you dumping them?

-I don't want them.

-You don't want them.

Ask a stupid question.

How long have you had these?

-About two years.

-What did you use them for?

-In the garden.

-You just had them in the garden?

-Yeah.

-So what, are they all wet or are they waterproof...?

I don't know what they are but, to me, they're scrap!

THEY LAUGH

I've worked on something like this before,

and these are like a 1950s kitchen chair.

I've never heard of anybody using them out in the garden, though.

No, that's me!

If it's all right with you, I'd like to stay in contact,

just in case we're able to transform these

into something different than what they are.

-Yeah.

-They look a bit rusty now.

And then I'll show you exactly what we've done.

-Is that all right with you?

-Yeah, do me.

All right. That'll do you.

Cheers for the chairs, Stan.

But do you think Jay can make them desirable again?

If they do anybody any good, they can have them. That's all.

He tells it like it is.

The thing I love about old furniture is they made things to last.

You've got to think, these were made in the 1950s

AND they've been left outside in English weather. Come on.

The timber that's in there, it's not damp, it's really, really solid.

As you can see, these need a bit of work.

But I think we'll be sitting on a nice profit.

If you say so, Jay.

And, with that, we have our three items.

Neil will tackle the Italian leather sofa bit.

Guy will cobble something out of the collection of metal.

And Jay will bring the rusty kitchen chairs bang up to date.

What a fantastic array of items today.

But now I've got to take them from tip to top end

and really make some money for nothing.

For Jay's first stop,

he's travelled to the quaint town of Marlow in Buckinghamshire.

A place with so much bunting, if you laid it all out flat,

it would reached to the moon and back.

Well, near enough.

Jay's brought along the dated, cream-coloured sofa

to see if our bag man, Neil, can bring it up to date.

I've got Jay coming today.

I know he's got certain ideas on colours and schemes,

so it could be an interesting day.

Phew!

It's precious cargo, this is.

Brought this down to my main man, Neil, so he can make some bags.

Hopefully going to make something cool, and something contemporary.

Well, you've brought it to the right place.

-Jay.

-How're you doing? You all right?

-Good. How's yourself?

I'm good, I'm good. If you get on the end for us.

-OK.

-Just carry that.

-A bit of furniture removal.

Yes, please, yeah.

-Wow. It's lovely leather.

-Yeah.

-So what are we thinking?

-I'm thinking bags, but not just any bag.

Thinking a satchel.

The reason being is this used to be in a kids' room

and, hopefully, we can have that kind of link towards the kids,

-like going to school and stuff like that.

-Yes. No, that's fine.

So a satchel. The leather's nice.

It's certainly something I can use.

For me, I like the idea of a satchel, but the colour,

can we do anything about this?

We certainly can.

-We can dye it, we can make it darker.

-Cool.

We can go black, chocolate brown, or a saddle tan,

-whatever you want.

-Black for me is like, yeah.

Could we leave an element of the bag in this colour?

That's fine. So we can go to black for the majority of the bag

and then keep some element of the original colour.

Just on a pocket, or something like that.

A monochrome look sounds nice, but Jay is all about the colour.

Luckily, Neil's got something to show Jay

that should be right up his street.

I love that. That's really, really cool.

-We can incorporate that orange.

-Yeah?

-We can even get some orange thread.

-Orange thread?

Yes, so we've got black, white, and the colour that says, you know,

-it's from you.

-Oh, man.

You are certainly talking Jay's language, Neil.

Keep it colourful and you'll keep him happy.

So how many satchels can we get out of this? Not bags.

I know we'd probably get loads this size.

-You can get a few of those.

-OK.

-But how many out of this?

-With this,

we've got a bit on the back, as well,

so we can certainly get two satchels from this one chair.

-Oh, cool. The only thing is the price, now.

-Right.

-What can we do?

-We can do it for around £90, £85 a bag.

OK. I did like the 85.

-If we can do both of them for 85 each...

-Yes?

-..I'm a happy bumblebee.

-I'll be happy too.

That's good. Thank you, Neil. That's brilliant.

Jay's buzzing,

although is Neil definitely going to get two bags out of a single-seater?

There's going to be no room for error on this one.

I'm over the moon with that one.

Neil really gets it. So we've got two satchels,

a monochrome kind of theme going on, we've got a splash of colour.

The piece de resistance is that orange stitching

that we're going to have on there. £85 each.

I think the profit's in the bag.

Well, what do you think, Neil?

Actually, it's a bit too comfortable to cut up.

It'll be £170 in total for two bags.

That is if he manages two bags.

For our next stop,

Jay has travelled to the village of Woodham Mortimer in Essex.

And tucked away in the middle of nowhere,

happily scraping away at something or other, is Guy.

Jay's going to come and see me today and I'm hoping he's going to bring

something interesting and we can turn it into something of beauty

and something a bit different.

And when you walk in the room you go, "Wow, that's a bit different."

Reach for the stars, Guy.

So, today, I'm dropping off this box of odds and sods down to Guy.

I can't wait to see what ideas he comes up with.

Something different, I would imagine.

How are we doing, Guy? Are you all right?

-Hi, Jay. Good to see you again.

-Likewise.

What I've got for you here is a box of goodies.

Hopefully, you should be able to make something out of this.

Tell me what you think.

This looks a bit interesting. It's an old cobbler's shoe last.

That's right. And that's my size, actually.

-Ten-and-a-half-inch.

-That's me.

-Great.

-What I was thinking is like a table lamp, or is it possible?

Cos you're the man that knows, really and truly.

I think we can do something like a table lamp, you know,

long granite base like this here.

-OK.

-Pipe coming up the back.

Light bulb in here. Shade on top.

That would look nice. But these are quite interesting pieces.

I quite like the look of this as maybe a wall light.

-What do you think?

-Oh, that would be cool.

It's got... Just seeing that by itself coming in, with, you know,

-a bulb on the top, I think that could be quite fun.

-Yeah.

That's one word for it.

Yeah, I think that would make a really nice wall light.

This all sounds great.

A table lamp and a wall lamp.

But is it going to cost an arm and a foot?

I think this is a fairly simple one to do.

It's not an awful lot of cleaning up to do.

I would think about £100 to turn that into a table lamp.

-And then the wall light.

-The wall light, yeah.

I think it would be £125 for this one.

OK. What I'll do, is if we say 120, so that's 220 in total.

-Have a got a deal?

-We've got a deal.

-Good man.

That Jay drives a hard bargain.

I can't wait to get into this one.

This is going to be really fun to make and I think whoever buys it

is going to have a big smile on their face when they see it.

You're right about that.

Really, really chuffed with that.

I just knew Guy was the man to bring that box of odds and sods to.

So we settled on two ideas for the lights

and now we just have to wait and see

if we're going to shine some light on some profit.

It'll be a total of £220 for the two metal shoe lamps.

Mm. Guy promised us different, but is this just too different?

With our makers off and running,

it's time to head to Jay Blades' HQ in wonderful Wolverhampton.

Jay's got his rusty '50s kitchen chairs to revamp.

Jay, how are they looking?

These, cleaned up and redone again,

I believe they're going to be smashing.

They just need a lot of work,

so that means taking off all of the dirt,

taking off the rust, giving them a new coat of paint

and then I've got some beautiful fabric.

It's really going to bring these back to life.

So, let's get to work, eh?

Jay's reupholstering the seats and backs

and giving it all a good clean-up.

He might have his work cut out with those frames.

Jay starts to dismantle the chairs.

He's hoping the wood under the orange vinyl

is still in good enough condition to use.

That's the hope, anyway.

What would have happened with this is it would have been sealed,

it would have been heat sealed, and that's why you see no tacks,

no stitching, nothing.

Heat sealing, or plastic welding,

is a quick and cost-effective way to create a strong and airtight seal

without the need for traditional stitching or tacks.

And it looks like it's done the job.

This is really clean.

This looks as if it's just come out the factory.

With the wood in good condition, Jay moves on to the new padding.

Now...let's do four backs.

Plastic foam padding revolutionised upholstery in the 1930s.

Before that, they would stuff anything in there

to make it soft on your bum -

sawdust, grass, feathers, and then, more commonly, horsehair.

Everything's cut out. So now it's sticking time.

You're going to get quite loose with it, so you're going to spray around.

You don't want anything next to it that you don't want to be stuck.

Jay's using an aerosol adhesive.

This will ensure the glue is spread evenly,

and will form a strong and lasting bond.

There you go. Simple as that.

Next, Jay adds a layer of fire-retardant polyester wadding.

This adds an extra layer of comfort

and makes it compliant with all UK fire safety regulations.

So now it's fabric time.

Clean-up and fabric time.

Seriously, though, that glue gets everywhere.

Jay's chosen a pale yellow, short pile velvet

to cover the seats and backs.

And the something a little bit special...

It's that, a lovely bit of leather.

..lovely leather.

Now this will be on the back

and then we'll have a black frame.

So it will just look like a plain black chair.

And when you come round to the front,

you're welcomed by sherbet yellow.

I'd say it's more canary.

With his trusty staple gun, Jay starts to re-cover the chairs.

And to add the luscious leather, Jay's using a backtacking strip.

Why do we use a backtacking strip, Jay?

Instead of having tacks all the way along there,

or staples all the way along there,

the way to make it look neat is to staple...

inside here and then, once you've stapled that,

you pull it back and there's your neat line.

So it finishes off like that.

Jay has spent £40 on materials and fabric for the new chairs

and they're turning out quite smart,

but it might all be for nothing

if he can't shift the layers of rust from those frames.

Back we go to bunting country in lovely Marlow,

where Neil honours the town's proud traditions

by having some up in his garden too.

Neil has already cut the cream sofa into the usable sections

for the new satchels.

Let's get started.

This is the messy bit, so it's time to get the pinny on.

Jay wants the leather in black, so I'm going to transform...

Strangle myself.

Take your time, Neil, and let's try that again.

Jay wants the cream leather sofa

turned into a rich, dark black here for the bags.

So what we need is the gloves, the rubber gloves,

and we're going to use a roller and we're going to use some oil dye.

Heavy-duty gloves are essential for handling leather dye

because if that stuff gets on your skin, it's not coming off.

Before Neil applies the dye,

he first gives the leather a liberal squirting of water.

In order to get the oil to distribute evenly,

the dye evenly across the leather,

we put some water on it and I'm just going to scrub it,

break up the surface a bit.

Rubbing leather with a fine sandpaper

removes the old surface coating and makes the fibres more absorbent.

And now I'm going to dye.

Neil's using an alcohol-based dye.

Time to roll.

Alcohol absorbs quickly into moistened leather

and carries the pigment deep into the surface.

Right, I'm going to leave this to dry now,

put on an acrylic protective glaze and then we'll be ready to sew.

Right, the dyeing is all done.

That was quick.

We've got the lining, which is going to be from an old scout tent,

some heavy-duty canvas, and it's time to start sewing now.

Neil has taken on board Jay's ideas and sourced some neon orange thread.

Jay should be over the moon with that.

Neil starts by making the front of the bag.

I'll make a couple of pockets in the front,

big enough for your mobile phone.

Leather is a very difficult material to sew.

A heavy-duty machine is required,

and you should always use a fresh needle.

I'm liking the orange, it's a nice contrast to the black,

to the monochrome and the black, just having a splash of colour.

You're starting to sound more and more like Jay.

The next thing I need to do,

cos all the bags are tough and rugged and built to last,

I'm going to put a stud in here just to reinforce the pockets.

Surely that would require a massive, shiny, hole punch?

Ah, you've got one.

That's all well and good having the massive hole punch,

but you would still need the machine that presses the studs.

Oh, of course, you've got one of them too.

Ah, this takes me back.

I had one of those in the '80s.

I used to stud all my leather jackets.

It just made them really heavy.

Now we've got a nice stud.

With the front done,

Neil now joins together the remaining panels into shape,

ready to sew.

I need to peg it all together.

He's using pegs instead of pins,

so as not to leave holes in the leather.

Jay's chair is starting to look like a bag now.

If you say so.

Right, this is the fun bit. Sewing around corners.

Because there's so little of this leather to work with,

Neil's only got one go to get it right, and it's a bit tricky.

It's always fun, stitching around corners.

You don't want to get any creases.

You want to keep it as smooth as you can,

but we are talking fairly thick upholstery leather here,

so it can be tricky.

It's a decent machine, so I can't blame the tools.

Take your time, Neil. We're after two of these, remember.

You'll have to tread carefully.

Or is it THREAD carefully?

And so we travel back to lovely Essex...

..where Guy Trench is about to make a light out of a foot

and he'll call it "The Trench Foot."

One sort of idea I've had for this, anyhow,

is that we mount this on one of my black granite stones

as a table lamp.

And, just to be a bit different, I think we're going to use this,

and this will be a wall light.

So what I'm going to do first is take the rust off,

get it back to a sort of clean metal look

and then we'll polish it.

Guy is attacking the rust with a wire brush attachment on his drill.

He wants to keep it rustic looking,

so he's not using a harsh chemical rust remover.

So now I'm going to give them a quick wire brush now, just to get

into the places I couldn't get in with the electric drill.

I hope they're not too ticklish.

Other common rust removers you might find around the house

include white vinegar, baking soda, and, get this, potatoes.

Seriously, rubbing with a potato removes rust,

something to do with the acids.

Oh, I don't know, look it up.

Right, so, they're ready now for polishing,

-and this is a... It's a...

-HE SNIFFS

..turpentine base and it really brings up the gleam of the metal.

Guy is using a clear beeswax which will seal in the loose rust

and give the cast iron a lovely shine.

Now we're just going to give them a quick buff.

Shoe lasts were traditionally made with iron and hardwoods.

Modern lasts, especially those used in mass production factories,

are made from high-density plastic,

because they can be recycled when they wear out.

So we now have something looking pretty respectable,

ready to turn into a lamp.

Good job, Guy.

-Hi, Steve, good to see you again.

-Morning, Guy.

As these lights will have to comply with all UK safety regulations,

Guy's asked his friend, Steve - a qualified electrician -

to help with the wiring.

So rather than having it...

Flat like that, I think tip it up on the angle

so it looks like he's a runner,

he's running, running away from the cobbler.

THEY LAUGH

For the table lamp,

Steve has come prepared with a custom-made metal tube,

which he's fixing to the side of the foot.

He can then pass the electrical flex through the tube to the other end.

Wait for it.

Any minute now.

Got a bit of a snag here,

because the flex isn't particularly strong to push through

and because of all these bends we have here, it's not going through,

so I'm going to have to feed one wire through first.

That will do it, Steve.

Jam a screwdriver up there.

-I can't grab it.

-Like rodding your drains.

Oh, there you go.

I think we've got the better of it finally.

Success.

Steve attaches the foot to a piece

of salvaged granite already belonging to Guy

and moves on to the electrics.

Steve is soldering the ends of the wires,

as it helps the electric current pass through into the bulb.

I just need to finish wiring it up and put a switch and a plug on it

and it's virtually there, I think, this one.

With Steve's help, Guy is making good progress,

but next is the big, heavy wall light.

Where would you like the light bulb?

Honestly, that thing weighs a tonne.

This could get complicated.

Back in Wolverhampton, it's time to check in on Jay

and see how he's got on with the rusty kitchen chairs.

Oh, not a bit of rust in sight.

After Jay reattaches the seats and backs, he'll be done.

This is so important,

getting this measurement right, because if you don't get it right,

the chair would look a bit off centre.

So getting the first one bang on...

is so important.

Well, let's hope those measurements are correct.

When Jay rescued the chairs,

they were rusty, dusty and headed for the skip.

But now...

..they're sleek and oozing with class.

Jay has expertly covered the chairs in luscious, lemony velvet,

with black leather backs that give them that elegant touch.

Jay painstakingly sanded the rust off by hand

and spray-painted the frames to give a matte black finish.

And, as if that wasn't enough, just wait until you turn them over.

Jay has personalised the bottoms each with their own funky fabric.

Funky.

Now, that is what you call a transformation.

So, as you can see, I can do simple and elegant,

but it has to come with a twist.

Look at this. Underneath, they've all got jazzy bottoms.

-LAUGHING:

-Jazzy bottoms!

Come along, Jay, hold it together.

You got to sell them now.

OK.

Hello, how are we doing? Are you all right?

Not so bad, mate. Not so bad. Good morning, eh?

When Jay met Stan at the tip, he loved the look of his old chairs.

Stan, though, had had enough.

I don't know what they are but, to me, they're scrap.

They're scrap!

Stan was happy for Jay to take them away...

All right, that'll do you.

..and try and make them desirable again.

If they do anybody any good, they can have them, that's all.

Well, Stan, after Jay was let loose with his staple gun,

they became four charming chairs and, yes, with jazzy bottoms.

Stop laughing.

Jay posted pictures of the chairs on social media

and quick as a flash...

Hello?

..he found a buyer.

Vintage and antiques shop Sixth Link in Shropshire

snapped up our lemony lovelies,

and manager River is over the moon.

I think these chairs are absolutely fantastic.

They remind me very much of lemon bonbons and I think my clients

are going to absolutely love these quirky things underneath.

Jay's back in Walsall to meet up with Stan and hand over the profit.

-Hi, there, Stan.

-Nice to see you again.

-Likewise. Have you been keeping well?

-Well, trying.

Trying! Bless you.

Do you remember the chairs that I picked off of you?

-The rubbish, yeah.

-The rubbish, OK.

I had 'em in me greenhouse

and out in the back garden in the summertime,

but in the end I had a clear out, I took them down the tip again,

-so that's it.

-I've transformed them...

-Never!

-..into something really beautiful.

-Look at this.

-Oh, come on.

-Let me show you this.

No, no, no, no.

That's not good? What do you mean, "No, no, no"?

They ain't the same chairs.

-These are the same chairs.

-You're cheating.

No, I'm not cheating.

We've sprayed them, all the legs and the frames, sprayed it all.

I can't believe it.

They've been sold and I'm pleased to tell you that I've got for you...

-No!

-..£80.

-What?!

Yes, £80 profit that we made.

-That's yours, sir.

-For them?

-For these chairs, yeah.

What do you think you're going to do with that?

I'll tell you what I'm going to do with it.

-OK.

-I'll give it to the air ambulance.

You're going to give it to the air ambulance?

Yeah, I believe in the air ambulance.

-Well done, sir. Thank you.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Take care now. All right?

-Bye-bye. Thank you very much, sir.

No problem, sir. All the best. Take care. You too.

Cor, can't believe this.

80 quid for them?!

Phew.

Good on you, Stan.

Jay spent just £40 on materials for the new chairs

and with a total sale of £120 for all four,

Stan has £80 to give to charity.

He was surprised, wasn't he?

With our first item setting the bar in the sales stakes,

Jay is headed back to Marlow to find out

if Neil managed to inject some colour into the cream-coloured sofa.

Well, we've got a couple of bags

completely transformed from what Jay brought me.

A bit of a challenge to get the colour in that he wanted,

but I think he's really going to like them.

I'm here to see Neil,

and I can't wait to see what he's done with that chair.

I'm expecting a brilliant transformation

and, if I know Neil, that's exactly what I'm going to get.

Well, let's see if you're right.

Before Neil got his hands on it,

the dated cream couch was a thing of the past, but now...

..they're a pair of modern, stylish satchels

and they don't just look good, they're functional too.

The bags are big enough to carry laptops and tablets.

The pockets can snugly store smartphones,

and there's even a hook for your keys.

Neil has kept strips of the original cream leather

which compliment the new, rich black.

The material for the lining and straps

has all been sourced from other salvaged materials.

But with a finish that looks brand-new.

All right, Neil?

But what will the big man think?

-Now, look at that.

-Here we go. So what do you think?

Well, I like it a lot.

Now that is super cool.

We've left some of the old cream leather in there.

So you can see the stripes down the side... Cool

-..that was the original colour.

-That's unbelievable.

-Do you like it?

-I think they've come out really nice.

I really like them.

So not the old cream leather chair that you brought me.

No, not at all, cos that, to me...

That just looks like brand-new leather.

-That looks completely different.

-Good.

All right, the next thing is budget.

Did we come in on budget or did we go over or...?

There was nothing that I hadn't already budgeted for

that cropped up, so it's all come in on budget.

I think these are a brilliant transformation,

so thank you for doing that. I'm going to take them off your hands.

-All yours.

-Thank you, sir. You take care now.

Neil, at £170 for the two, you've done it again.

Well, that went well. I think the added splash of Jay's colour

was just what he was after,

so I'm very pleased that he went away happy.

I'm just loving this monochrome Callaway.

With a splash of colour - you know that's definitely me.

What a transformation.

Jay really loves bright colours, doesn't he?

But it's time to find out if anyone else does.

How are we doing, mate? You all right?

When Jay helped Indy get the sofa out of his car,

he was really after a closer look at his leather.

So where's the rest of it then? I'm a bit greedy.

-The rest of it's in here somewhere about two months ago.

-Oh, is it?

Indy and his family had outgrown the old thing...

So we used it for the kids' bedroom for a bit,

but the wife said just get rid of it now.

..but was happy for Jay to take it away.

If he can do something and somebody can use it for something, why not?

Well, Indy, with the help of some industrial strength leather dye,

Neil made your sofa into a pair of smart, practical satchels.

In fact they looked so good,

they were snapped up by online retro and vintage shop

Smithers of Stamford and owner Nick is thrilled to have them.

Neil's bags, they always sell really well on the day,

so guaranteed these are.

Jay's back in Walsall to show Indy the transformation

and hand over the profit.

-Hello.

-How we doing, Indy? Are you all right?

Yeah, not too bad, thank you.

So do you remember the old chair that we took off of you?

I do, yes. What it was, it was just a centrepiece

when you've got the two recliners,

and that was the centrepiece of the recliners.

The wife said just get rid of them.

-LAUGHING:

-All right.

-So what I've got is a couple of pictures to show you.

-Yeah?

-What we... Or what Neil transformed it into.

-OK.

-So that's what he's transformed it into.

-Oh, brilliant.

Oh, so you've actually taken the leather out and made it into bags?

Made it into bags. He stained it all black,

and we've got like an orange stitching on there.

Yeah, I'm amazed.

You're amazed? Well, you'll be amazed at this.

We were able to sell them and get you a bit of a profit.

I've got £65 for that old chair.

-OK.

-Is that OK?

-Fantastic.

Any ideas what you are going to do with the money?

-Probably cancer - Cancer Research.

-Right, brilliant. Nice one.

-Fantastic.

-Good on you, sir, that's a brilliant cause.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-You take care now.

-And you.

-All right.

Neil came in on budget at £170 for the two bags.

And with a great sale of £235 for the pair,

Indy has £65 to donate to a cancer charity.

Brilliant.

That's two of our items now producing a profit.

Jay's back in Woodham Mortimer

to see what Guy has managed to cobble together.

I think he'll like these a lot, these two.

They are different. Nobody's ever done them before

but I think, yeah, it will tick his box, I think.

I'm here to see Guy, see what he's done

with those foot lasts I gave him.

I love his style,

the way that he's able to put random bits together

to come up with something beautiful and useful is just amazing.

Let's go and see what he's done.

I can't wait.

These rusty shoe lasts were moments away from getting the boot.

But now...

..they're a pair of goody two shoes.

Guy's table lamp has hit the ground running

with the addition of a polished, granite base

and vintage electric flex.

The wall light has turned out equally as nice,

mounted on a varnished piece of salvaged wood.

With Steve's help, the electrics comply with all UK safety standards

and I'll tell you, if they gave out awards for quirky lighting,

Guy would be a SHOE-in.

-How are we doing, Guy?

-Ah, Jay, very good to see you again.

-Likewise. Are you good?

-Very well, thank you.

Oh, that's me, isn't it? Wow, so this is us.

That is...

They look really nice.

It's just a bit different.

We found a nice bit of timber that we just screwed it onto,

and Bob's your uncle.

When we had that, it was just a box of old bits and bobs

and then you've just turned it into a work of art. Look at that.

-Oh, thank you.

-No, that is really nice.

I really like that one and I like that one as well, but what is that?

This is granite, so it's got that sort of antique look to it,

but again it's just quirky.

Quirky? That's a work of art.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, shake that.

You've done good, man. I'm impressed with that.

Hold your horses, Jay,

the handshake comes after you've heard if it's come in on budget.

Did we come in on budget?

-Yes, you did.

-Good.

-The shades included?

-No.

-Oh.

-The shades not included.

We charge £45 for both shades.

OK, that's cool. I think the shades work with them.

I can't sell them without the shades, really, so thank you, sir.

No problem at all. I hope you get some good money for them.

-You should do.

-Yeah, so do I.

-Thank you.

£220 for the lights, plus an extra 45,

but you won't have to go shopping for shades.

Jay, I think, was very, very pleased indeed.

He certainly showed it and it's bringing something old

back to life again and in another form.

I'm so chuffed that we was able to save those bits from the skip

and hopefully they're going to be a prize possession in someone's home.

Let's find out.

-So, what have we got here then?

-It's a last.

When Jay met Mike at the tip, he got his first lesson in cobbling.

You put the shoe onto there,

you cut your leather for the sole

and you put brands all the way around.

Its origins were unknown.

It was in the house when we bought it.

So Mike was happy for Jay to take it all away.

If he can make some use of it and it can be recycled,

then I'm all in favour.

Well, Mike, once Guy got his hands on your feet,

he turned them into lovely lighting.

After Jay took them away, he posted pictures of the lamps online

and he sold them to a shoe repair company in Manchester.

Jay is back in Walsall to show Mike the transformation

and to hand over the profit.

Hello, Mike. How are you doing?

-All right, thank you.

-Good on you.

So, do you remember the old box of odds and sods

that you brought down to the recycling centre?

Old scrap iron, yes.

Was it right to say that it was in your garage for quite a long time?

It was, yes. It had been there for years, 30-odd years or more.

Well, I was able to take it to a guy called Guy Trench,

who transformed the shoe lasts,

which is what we liked the most out of the box,

and I'll show you what he made.

Oh!

-Yes, I like that.

-Made a wall lamp.

Yes, it's fantastic.

-And then...

-Oh, I like that.

-You like that?

-Oh, yes.

That fires up my imagination.

If I owned that lamp, I'd call it the Usain Bolt lamp.

-Wow.

-It looks like it's about to take off.

I can see that. I'm pleased to tell you as well,

I was able to sell it and I have some money for you.

-We have £100.

-Ooh.

Mind you, I'm not surprised, they're beautiful lamps.

They are, aren't they?

So, have you got any idea what you might do with the money?

Yes, it will go to the Marie Curie nurses.

Thank you very much indeed.

No, thank you for giving it to such a good cause.

-You take care now.

-OK. Right, bye.

-See you soon. Bye-bye.

Including the shades, the total cost of making the lamps came to £265.

Jay managed a cracking sale of £365,

giving Mike a cool £100 profit to donate to charity.

Jay's time at the tip has really paid off.

Things we hate to throw away have found a new lease of life...

..a new purpose...

..and a new home.

With lots of help from Guy and Neil,

we've taken three tip items and turned them into proper profit.

So that's three items transformed from dump to designer.

That's amazing.