I have composted both clothing and cupcake wrappers. Cupcake wrappers no issues. I have composted cotton tee shirts, underwear and socks. Here's the problem with clothing. In underwear for example, there are rubber bands that are in the waistband and around the legs. The rubber bands will not break down but you can just pick them out. The real problem came from old sweat socks. Apparently in order to get the stretching characteristics of the sock they contain a thread material woven in the cotton that did not break down. I was left with pantyhose like string. When you attempt to pull it out of the compost it keeps coming and coming and coming like an endless ball of yarn buried somewhere in the compost. If you can deal with these annoyances then go for it.

Well I have a rusty old hunk of ice fish house stove pipe that was forgotten in a bucket with water in it. Rusted past use I put it in the pile to see how long it would last. one year three months and counting, but just about gone the last I checked. Also have a bolt I found in the garden a real old rusty thing about a 1/2 inch by 8 inch square head that went into the pile.
mike thanks for the heads up on the socks I put a pair in this spring with a pair of old canvas/leather work gloves. Looks like I will be pulling thread this fall or next spring. I have done the old underwear and know the rubber band thing

Curt

If you browse the "Today" threads, you should find some unusual compost items.

I have composted an entire telephone book... unshredded. I just tossed the thing in the pile, whole.

I also compost the dust that comes out of the dust buster, sweepings from the dust pan, dog hair piles that come off my dog when I brush her, and full vacuum cleaner bags.

I knew of some women who compost their cotton feminine hygiene products. Our house hasn't gotten that bold yet.

"I knew of some women who compost their cotton feminine hygiene products. Our house hasn't gotten that bold yet."

Quick funny story. I am constantly running around the house collecting used tissues out of the trash cans in the house. One day my wife sees me and says, "What are you doing?" I tell her collecting tissues for compost. She pulls me aside and says my tampon is in there. I tell her don't worry, that is compostable too. She says but the plastic applicator is in there too. I said in a year I will find it and toss it. She looked at me in disgust and walked away.

'Cup cake wrappers' ... that's just the beginning. Any household paper products but check they don't have a layer of plastic sandwiched in them. You can check by tearing the paper. Cereal boxes and inners, butter wrappers, meat wrapping paper, flour and sugar bags. It all goes in the compost. I have also got rid of old feather pillows and and the stuffing from an old sofa in the pile.

Someone once posted on this very forum that he/she had tossed a cotton blend garment into the compost & the following spring pulled out an elastic-y "ghost" of the entire garment!

I've composted

my favorite gardening shirt, a sleeveless 100% cotton item that was originally white with red & blue threads.
By the time I gave up & composted it, the background was grayish & there were so many shredded holey places that I couldn't wear it outside the house.

an enamel-black whole turkey that I had incinerated (leak in the pan had caught the oil & fat on fire)

fingernails, hair, blood (previously tame chainsaw turned on me!)

Don't forget about the infamous urine. And beer. I've composted a whole book that wasn't worth saving. Doesn't break down fast because the binding keeps the pages too tightly together. I think the most difficult thing I have in my compost regarding breaking down is oyster shells. I'll probably be working on those for a good long time.

I'm new at this, so I doubt I know of any truly "unusual" items. I think the most unusual thing you can tell them is that once you're a compost freak you begin seeking out feces like they're tradable on the stock market. You envy people with cows and horses. You are especially nice to people with livestock. I gave a friend of mine oodles and oodles of daylilies and irises for her new huge garden. She told me I could come any time and get her llama poo. Funny that when I was being generous it never occurred to me that I might find her llamas useful. How stupid was I?! Now I'm getting weekly llama poo privileges. She's going to be getting a lot more irises, too. Anything to keep her happy!

Many thanks for all the ideas (and giggles) !!!

Now, if I can just figure out how to get away with bringing beer to class. . . . .

That is hilarious mikemark=) Most men won't even buy their ladies feminine products, but you will collect used ones, heat them up, and sift them out. There must be an award for such an act of dedication!

I have a separate compost bin for non-edible landscape purposes where I collect dog poo, dead squirrels and bunnies, obnoxious weeds, and urine soaked towels (puppy training)+ extra kitchen scraps and leaves. This compost will sit for at least 2 years before I will use it.

You'll find some funny/useful tidbits for your class by checking out the thread "You might be a compost wacko if..." You may also want to include some of the Compost Limericks and Haiku, also in this forum ... you may want to wait 'till the end of the class to share the darker fantasy/humor about composting annoying neighbors....

borderbarb: thank you for the reminder on the other theme threads! "You might be a compost wacko if. . ." is one of my favorites and I haven't checked it in a while, so I'll definitely be sure to cruise over during my "research".

I once put down a pair of my husband's khakis on the ground and built a compost pile on top of them. Two years later, there were still some bits of khaki surfacing from time to time, and I had picked out the buttons and the zipper, but most of them were gone. Cotton is a definitely a "brown".

I compost used kitty litter (the sawdust kind), paper towels, used tissues, and the occasional squirrel. I keep a bottle where I pour cold coffee, pasta and veggie cooking water, flat soda, flat beer (blech!) and other interesting liquids and then pour it into the compost at the end of the day. Sometimes I dilute it with an equal amount of water and just use it directly on my garden beds.

It is a little late for the first class & I have way to much sawdust,weeds,coffee waste(Whole bean, ground roasted coffee beans, green coffee beans & chaff), horse manure to have time to try the edgily stuff, I approve,just have no time.
But for the next class: Leaves,sawdust & wood waste,Garden residues,weeds,grass clipping, sewage sludge,Brewery wastes,leather dust,nut shells, peanut shells & hay,Tobacco stems, animal manure, cottonseed mill, soybean mill,Hay, alfalfa,clover & peanut hay. Seaweed,stone dust,green sand, Real salt,Azomite, Biochar.Comfrey is a good green manure, you can grow in a pot or bed.

Tifbee, I have a similar setup. Separate bins and even a separate pitchfork for the cat/dog feces and animal carcass compost pile.