Aluminum Foil Hacks: All the Ways That This Foil Can Change Your Life

Did you know that aluminum is one of the very few metals that comes from the crust of the earth? Aluminum forms about 1.59% of the Earth and about 8.3% of the Earth’s crust. No wonder people started using it by the 5th century, although they didn’t know much about it at the time.

Putting historical facts aside, aluminum has a wide range of uses. You might have grown up thinking aluminum foil could only be used in the kitchen to cover up leftovers, but the truth is that this miracle foil can be used in many, many additional ways.

Now, this isn’t your typical article on basic “hacks” for a product. Rather, this is a full-blown list of all the things you can do with this ultra-handy kitchen staple. So without further ado, be prepare to be impressed and excited, as you learn about the many ways that aluminum foil can make your life easier, all while saving you a boatload of money…

Fresh Bananas Anyone?

Did you know that the banana is the only fruit that never faces an insect attack? But it contains high amounts of reacting agents that make it prone to rapid decaying. Strangely, aluminum foil can slow down its rotting process by breaking the air contact. Putting aluminum around its top stem will slow down the process of decay. The foil will slow the reaction enough for you to enjoy the stash of bananas for days, even a week or more.

Random banana facts: did you know that bananas float in water because they are less dense in comparison? Bananas are also one of the most popular fruits in America. Oh, and bananas may be considered a mood enhancer because they contain amino acid, tryptophan, and Vitamin B6 which help the body produce serotonin.

Natural Light Dispenser for a Dark Corner

If you have a cabinet in which the drawers or shelves are deep, chances are they’re going to have dark corners. They don’t get enough natural light. And you don’t want any places where cockroaches are drawn to. So what you can do is place aluminum foil on your cabinet shelves. It will reflect light to every corner, decreasing the darkness and obviously, the number of insects.

Random aluminum foil fact: did you know that aluminum is present in more than 270 minerals? It is the most abundant mineral on the planet after oxygen and silicon. It is the most abundant metal found naturally on earth as well. And aluminum is globally the most used metal that doesn’t contain iron.

Pocket-Friendly Cookie Molds

Spending a holiday with loved ones and making cookies of different shapes and types is fun. Children, adults and even the elders of the family enjoy cookies. It’s a great way to interact and learn. The fun part about making cookies is that you can make any shape and size of cookies. All you need is a folded strip of aluminum foil that you can bend, mold, and curve to form the shape you desire. So, don’t just make cookies, make memories too.

Random cookie fact: It’s generally believed that the first cookies date back to 7th century AD Persia; a time when sugar became commonly available in the area. The cookie craze spread across Europe and by the 14th century, they were already a popular treat.

Molten Ice-Cream Disaster Management

Children are very messy in almost everything they do, but eating something like ice-cream needs special attention. The soft ice cream can cause stains on clothes and create sticky hands, and no one likes sticky hands. So, the next time you get ice cream for your kids, wrap it with aluminum foil. It will create a barrier between the cone and their hands, collecting all the melting ice cream. You see, the best solution to the ice cream mess was always in front of your eyes.

Random ice cream fact: did you know that the largest worldwide consumption of ice cream is in the United States? That’s right, in America, an average person consumes 48 pints of ice cream per year. That’s a lot of ice cream.

Homemade Radiator Efficiency Booster

After coming in from the cold outdoors, a warm indoors is something you want. However, a standard radiator is sometimes just not enough. You can upgrade it or get another one, but that would mean higher gas and electricity bills. But the solution is some flaps of aluminum foil over cardboard. Place it around the heat source and they will reflect heat to all the corners of the rooms, increasing the rate of heat dispensing. Hence the efficiency of the radiator.

Random radiator fact: The Romans had the first underground heating in the world, known as the hypocaust. They were the first documented use of central heating, and it goes back to around 100BC. Only the wealthiest of Romans could afford this type of heating.

Dirt, Grim or Rust – We Deal with All

Imagine you have an important meeting and are all set for it but then you notice a small wrinkle on your shirt. Sounds simple, right? You remove the shirt and iron it. But, what if that iron has an accumulation of dirt? Now that’s where the situation gets tricky. Fortunately, the solution is right there in your kitchen. Roll a ball of aluminum foil and scrub the iron’s surface. All the dirt on the hot surface will get cleaned. You may end with some scratch, but that’s a small price to pay.

Random ironing fact: According to Old and Interesting, no one really knows exactly when or who started ironing. But the Chinese were using hot metal pans filled with hot coals that they used to move over fabric more than a thousand years ago.

Move Your Furniture Without a Scratch

Big, beautiful, and appealing pieces of furniture can be a disaster when you have to move them around your place. You don’t always have someone to help you carry them every time. So what do you do? You end up dragging it, and that leaves impressions on your floor. Here’s an idea to avoid these unnecessary consequences. He placed a layer of aluminum foil under each leg of the furniture. And voila.

Random furniture fact: The average life-span of a sofa is 2,958 days (which is about 8 years).

Another random furniture fact: After buying a house and a car, upholstery is typically the third most expensive item you will buy during your lifetime. Think about that when you go to Ikea next time.

Wifi Issues?

A lot of fascinating stuff to do with a poor internet connection is probably the worst combination. You reboot your system, restart your router, check cables and still no improvement. Maybe the problem isn’t with the hardware. Maybe it’s the weak signal strength. We have a way to help you. The master plan starts with a card-shaped flap that you will cover with tin foil and place in front of the router. The aluminum layer will strengthen the connection to a greater extent.

Random Wi-Fi fact: There are over 9 billion Wi-Fi devices in the world. Some sources that cause interference with WiFi networks are: smart TVs, microwaves, cellphones, Bluetooth devices and even fish tanks. Barriers can also cause interference. Wood isn’t too bad, but metal is sure to stop your signal.

Glue Gun Hack

The hot molten glue from the glue gun is just incredible. It’s ideal for sealing, sticking and a lot of other exciting stuff. But the glue guns don’t have that improved dispensing system and tends to deposit a layer of adhesive on the tip. The worst part is, this glue is too hard for room temperature and too hot in molten form. Aluminum foil is your best option here. It will help you scrub away all the material in no time.

Random glue fact: the earliest known example of humans using natural glues goes back to about 200,000 years ago. Our ancestors in old Italy used birch-bark-tar to bind stones together. Fast forward to today and people are gluing everything to anything.

Seal a Plastic Bag

Remember the last time you got anxious about your grocery items and ended up buying more than you needed? Those extras were not a big deal, at least until an opened chip bag fell and spilled all the chips on the floor. There are ways to reseal plastic packages, and you don’t need any particular machine for it. A strip of aluminum foil and a hot iron does the job.

Random aluminum fact: The top of the Washington Monument is topped off with an 8.9-inch aluminum pyramid. The aluminum cap served as the apex of the lightning rod, though it had to be supported with copper rods when it became clear that the cap itself wouldn’t prevent damage.

Door Knob Paint Protector

Whether you are painting a room or a full home, there are always some areas you want to leave untouched. Applying some paper with tape is an excellent option for door frames and ceilings, but what about the doorknob? It’s curvy, and a pain to cover. Aluminum foil is efficient for this scenario, too. It takes the shape of the knob and catches all the drips of paint. Once the paint dries, you can dispose of the protector without the worry of any residue marks.

Random doorknob fact: The first-ever doorknob was made in America around the middle of the 19th century. Doorknob designs and materials in America have changed over the years, with the first-ever ones being made out of wood.

Barbeque-Friendly Aluminum Foil

BBQ meals with family and friends are lovely, but the mess it leaves behind isn’t as fun. Cleaning the grill can take hours of hard work – something no one wants to do. And flavored greases fall on the coal, ruining the taste. Just stack some layers of aluminum foil together and place them on the grill to prevent dripping. The same foil mixed with some soapy water will also help you clean the rack within a few minutes.

Random BBQ fact: The word “barbecue” comes from Spain, who adopted the term from Arawak Indians of the Caribbean, to whom the “barbacoa” was a grill of green wood where strips of meat were placed onto it to cook or to dry over a slow fire.

Old Mirrors – From Distraction to Attraction

Mirrors are the latest trend in interior designing. A group of mirrors adds a sense of luxury, light, and design to almost every household. However, with time the reflective layer of mirrors get affected, and that results in unpleasant spots on it. The reflective paint around the mirrors is very similar to the silver surface of aluminum foil. So, you can use the foil to heal your valuable mirror. Take a strip of foil and tape it to the frame of the mirror.

Random mirror fact: Mirrors aren’t just for seeing your reflection. They can actually reflect sound and light. Mirrors that reflect sound waves are “acoustic mirrors,” and were used in Britain in World War II to detect sound waves coming from enemy aircraft. This was before radar was developed.

Insect Protection with Enhanced Plant Growth

If you have a beautiful garden, then you may be familiar with the drastic effect an insect attack can have on it. The mulch can protect your garden from such an attack and adding some aluminum foil will further enhance the results. This metal is an effective remedy for all kinds of bacteria, insects and more. Moreover, arranging some foil will help to spread sunlight and focus it on the plants. And everyone knows, sunshine is good for plant health and growth.

Random plant fact: studies have shown that vibration (including music or the sound of your voice) can affect plant growth. Myth Busters compared a silent greenhouse to one where they used a voice soundtrack, and found that plants that “hear” sound grew more.

Save Your Phone

While this may be controversial and is yet to be verified, some say that aluminum foil can improve your wifi signal. Every cell phone has an internal wifi receptor and the act of adding aluminum foil to the phone can improve the signal. What does this mean? It means your YouTube videos are going to (probably) stream faster.

Random Wi-Fi fact: Previous names for Wi-Fi were WaveLAN, DragonFly, FlankSpeed, WECA and IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence. Those were the names before the more consumer friendly term of Wi-Fi was adopted. Can you imagine the scenario in which you ask your neighbor for their Dragonfly password? Let’s be glad that an uninteresting term like WiFi became popular.

Now, see how aluminum foil can help Santa Claus.

A Helping Hand for Santa

Aluminum can sustain a very high amount of heat, so it’s ideal for high-temperature areas like a hearth. If you have a fireplace, aluminum foil will come in handy to keep it neat and tidy. It’s a fair deal for eliminating the hassle of removing ash, soot and semi-burned fuel that no one likes. Some layers of this foil will help you create a removable platform. You can simply remove the platform and trash it whenever you need to.

Don’t have a fireplace in your home? In most homes, an efficient gas fireplace can be added for $1,500, including installation. It’s all made possible by direct vent gas technology. The fireplace is vented to the outdoors by a single pipe that runs through the side of the house, drawing air needed for the fire and expelling the byproducts.

Patch Your Clothes, Not the Ironing Board

That rip in your jeans can be tackled by sticking a patch on it. The process is quite simple, but it comes with a risk. The spot is prone to heat and tends to stick to the ironing board while ironing it on your clothes. A small piece of aluminum foil can help you deal with this situation.

Slip some bits of foil under the hole, and it will form a layer of heat absorbent material that will prevent any unwanted sticking. After the ironing is complete, you can easily slip out the piece of foil. Random jeans fact: you know that orange thread that Levi Strauss & Co. uses for stitching their jeans? Well, it’s trademarked. It’s used as a distinguishable feature to match the color of copper rivets.

A Sun Bed for Garden Plants

If you have some plants in areas that receive low sunlight, your plant will not survive for very long. Now, you can change the position of the potted plant, but if that’s not possible, a sunbed will come in handy. Take a box with four sides and cut one of them, then cover the rest with aluminum foil. Stick the three-sided reflector next to the pot and adjust it to face the direction of sunlight.

This framework will focus more light on the plant, boosting the photosynthesis process and hence the plant’s health. Sun fact: without the sun, plants can’t get the fuel they need to grow, reproduce and basically survive. Plants are autotrophs, which means they create their own food source. Pretty neat, huh?

Take This And Call Me In The Morning

If you feel a cold or flu coming on, there’s an interesting way to quicken a bit of the recovery time. Wrap your feet in 5 layers of foil and keep it on your feet for an hour. Then take it off and leave your feet unwrapped for two hours. Then do it again for an hour and give your feet another break. In total, you’ll be doing this three times total, and should start feeling better.

Aside for when you’re sick, people have found that wrapping your legs can help ease sciatic pain and muscle pain. It’s also been known to be helpful when it comes to pain from those who suffer from gout. It shouldn’t replace getting medical help and is little off-the-beaten-path, but people may be trying to do anything to alleviate discomfort.

Think Big For Bigger Fishes

If you’ve ever gone on a fishing trip, you’re probably familiar with the fact that fish get attracted toward the bright sun. So did you ever think of using this light as bait rather than using worms? Sounds a little crazy but it’s a proven trick. Just wrap a bit of foil paper around the fish hook, and you will notice how the fish get attracted to the glistening.

Random fish fact: Fish make noises. For a long time, scientists assumed that the fish’s lack of external ears meant they were deaf. But they can hear just fine. Some species can even hear better than we humans can. Fish also growl, bark, click, hum, whistle, and croak!

 A Painter’s Best Friend

Whether you are a professional artist or an amateur painter, some problems will remain common. The worst is losing the cap of a paintbox which results in oxidation of the paint and makes it less than desirable. Aluminum foil is convenient for creating caps. Fold a piece of foil and place it on the jar. The foil will prevent air contact, and the CO2 will eliminate oxidation.

Aluminum foil is also ideal for crafting a temporary paint palette. Random paint fact: Paint colors can affect your mood. Cooler tones help create feelings of calm, peace and happiness. And warmer tones can create feelings of anger or energy. Random paint fact #2: In America, lead-based paint was banned in residential paints in 1978, but a lot of other countries banned it before 1920.

A Portable and Customizable Frying Pan

Everyone loves camping trips with friends. Most of all, we love it for bonfires and cooking. It comes with so much excitement that we often forget to pack essential things like a pan. Well, you can buy a pan while traveling but there’s a better DIY hack. Well, the easy alternative is a roll of aluminum foil. Stack a few bits of the foil together, bend them, and your pan is ready for use.

Random frying pan fact: Early frying pans used to have rounded or flat bottoms because they were once used in hearths. The invention of dedicated cooking stoves with flat cooking surfaces (which were called “dampers”) in the mid-1800s signaled the end of rounded bottom frying pans.

Vinyl Tile Remedy

Vinyl tiles, especially the ones in bathrooms, have a habit of coming loose with time. It is not necessary to replace them or renovate the whole place for this small flaw. Simply, stick the tile back in its place, cover it with aluminum foil and iron it. The heat will warm the adhesive and set the vinyl tile in its position.

Random vinyl flooring fact: Long-lasting vinyl has come a long since its origins in the 1950s. There are three types of vinyl flooring: Sheet Vinyl, solid vinyl, and luxury vinyl tile. Vinyl is becoming one of the most popular flooring options as of late. And a huge plus of vinyl flooring is its water-resisting capabilities. So, no need to worry about spills ruining your floors.

Scan-Proof Credit Cards Cover

The RFID credit card is very useful in terms of convenience and quick payment. They don’t have a pin and you can pay by simply tapping them. However, the lack of pin also makes it vulnerable to unauthorized tappings. So what can you do? You can use some foil. Make a small pouch of aluminum foil and place your card into it. The aluminum will act as a barrier for scanning and reading of the card data.

Random credit card fact: It’s against the merchant agreements of Mastercard, Visa, and American Express for a vendor to have you provide your phone number, home address or other personal information when making a purchase. You also don’t need to present a driver’s license.

Professional Photography Hack

As a beginner photographer, the most annoying issue is the lighting. The thing is we don’t always have access to high-end flashes and have to compromise with underexposed images. Don’t get disheartened; aluminum foil is here to help you. Wrap a few layers of this metal sheet around a piece of cardboard and use it for focusing all the ambient light to a single subject.

Random photography fact: The first color photograph was taken in 1861. The image was the result of layering three separate images of red, green and blue filters which were then projected onto a photosensitive plate. Thomas Sutton suggested this process. He was a photographer and inventor who also created the first SLR camera around the same time as the color image.

Dry Matchstick Containers

The discovery of fire was a revolutionary moment that changed humanity forever. But unlike our ancestors, we don’t have the time to produce fire with stones. We need something like a match stick, or rather a dry match stick. A small ball of aluminum foil is ideal. It can keep the sticks dry for a long time, even in moist environments. So the next time you want to go camping, roll the matchsticks in aluminum ahead of time to prevent them from getting wet.

Random match facts: There are two main kinds of matches: safety kinds, which generally can’t be lit unless stricken upon a specially made material; and those that can be ignited using friction on a dry and rough surface. These are known as ‘strike-anywhere’ matches.

Ready to Use Scissor Filer

Remember the last time when your kitchen scissor got blunt, and you had to spend a long time trying to cut with them? Well, it won’t happen ever again, at least while you have some aluminum foil in your kitchen. Next time, just grab some foil and start cutting it with the scissors. After a small duration of time, you will notice that the cuts start to become smoother.

Random scissors fact: Scissors were invented in 1500 BC in Egypt and then later modified by the Romans in 100 AD. Another random scissors fact: There are actually many superstitions about using scissors. One of those superstitions is that if you drop a pair of scissors, it means a lover is unfaithful.

Soap Bar Hack

Cleaning is a must. While it’s good to wash your hands a lot during the day, overusing your bar of soap comes at a price since the residue builds up and it becomes a soapy mess. Let aluminum foil be an aide in this situation. A small strip of foil under the soap will keep the bar in shape and increase its duration. It will also absorb some harmful chemicals, making it gentler on the skin.

Random soap fact: Soap got its name from Mount Sapo in Rome. The word “sapo” is Latin for soap, which first appeared in Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis. The first-ever soap was made by Babylonians around 2800 B.C. Early references to soap-making were for use in the textile industry and medicinally.

Effective Jewelry Cleaner

Every dress is incomplete without matching jewelry. Obviously, this jewelry needs to be clean and shiny, something which isn’t possible with regular loads of laundry. Now, you can polish your jewelry in a professional way at home. Just place your jewelry into soapy water along with some aluminum foil. The shine of your jewelry will return in no time. Easy-peasy.

Random jewelry fact: Egypt and Mesopotamia were the first ancient civilizations that started organizing the production of jewelry. Their accomplishments in metallurgy and gem collecting was important in the development of jewelry in every civilization that came after those two. And throughout history, jewelry went through lots of changes due to the rise and fall of many civilizations and fashion changes.

Flexible Paint Brush Covers

Painting a whole room or an entire house in a single go is almost impossible. You will need to stop painting at some point of the day and take a break. Obviously, you don’t want to clean the brush every time you take a break. Take a piece of aluminum foil and wrap it around the paintbrush before going for a break. The foil will have antifreeze qualities that help to maintain the consistency of the paint.

Random painting fact: About 10% of all the paint people buy in the United States is eventually thrown out. And the majority of that is paint purchased for residential projects. So if you want to know the numbers; that’s more than 60,000,000 gallons down the drain.

Solar Light Distributor for Gardens

Sun is the ultimate source of energy for all living things, so don’t restrict it to just plants. We know that you can’t sit under the sun all the time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t direct light to other things. Take an attractive lamp or some beautiful hanging light piece and attach some aluminum foil to it. Adjust the foil in a way that it can balance the light and distribute it. You can direct the natural light to your sitting arrangement or any other part of the garden.

Random solar energy fact: Solar energy is a safe alternative that can replace current fossil fuels like coal and gas. The use of solar energy will eliminate unsafe and unclean consequences from using conventional fossil fuels.

Interactive Cake Decors

Have you ever seen the beautifully decorated cakes at the baker’s shop and wondered how they do it? Is there a way to create those decorative flowers and embellishments at home? Honestly, we can’t help with the first question, but we do have something for the second part. Cut, wrap or do whatever you want to get the desired shape from a sheet of foil paper. Coat them with some cream, paints or icing and your cake decoration is ready for use. Just, make sure that your guests don’t try to eat them!

Random cake fact: The link between cakes and birthday parties date back to ancient Roman times. In the 1400s, there were bakeries in Germany that began selling birthday cakes that were made from sweetened dough. In the 17th century, the birthday cake took on its more contemporary form.

Safe and Secure Hair Curlers

A hot curler is great for getting those curvy flanges of hairs, but it comes with its own risk. For instance, it can burn your hair and even your hands or even your forehead. Fortunately, aluminum foil is a good conductor of heat, and a coat of it can help you avoid these destructive results. So, the next time you are styling for a party, use some layers of foil for safer and fast curling.

Random fact about hair rollers: In 1968, there was a feminist Miss America protest where protesters symbolically threw feminine products into a “Freedom Trash Can”. These included hair rollers, which were what they called “instruments of female torture” and accessories of what they said were enforced femininity.

Stylus For Your Phone

Some people love to use a stylus for their touch screen phone. They usually spend a considerable amount on an advanced smartphone pen. If they only knew about the properties of aluminum foil. Stick some foil on the tip of a normal pen or a stick, and you can use it on the smartphone screen. So, the next time you decide to use a touch pen on your phone screen, don’t rush to the market, run to your kitchen instead.

Random fact about touch screen phones: E.A. Johnson invented the first finger-controlled touch screen. His original device featured a “capacitive” touch screen and was only able to process one single touch at a time. The first human-controlled multi-touch device was invented at the University of Toronto in 1982.

Rusty Chrome Cleaning Solutions

Chrome is a typical choice for adding extra shine and weather resistance to metal. However, it’s a metal, so it will lose its shine and become rusty at some stage, anyways. A ball of aluminum foil will scrub away all the rust like a hot knife cuts a block of butter. Moreover, chrome is quite scratch resistant, so there is no risk of a scratched surface due to foil scrubbing.

Random fact about actual chrome (not Google): chrome is one of the most important and also indispensable industrial metals due to its hardness and resistance to corrosion. Chrome is used for more than just the production of stainless steel and nonferrous alloys; it also creates pigments and chemicals used to process leather.

A Cheap Alternative to Teflon Spray

It’s challenging to cook food like eggs or streak on sticky pans, especially if you are trying to avoid oil and butter. Apart from the food wastage, the sticky situation also leads to extra effort in cleaning the thing. But wait what if you wrap the pan with aluminum foil? This way you can cook with zero stickiness and you won’t have to spend time cleaning the pan.

Random Teflon fact: did you know that Teflon has been used to coat bullet cases in order to reduce the amount of wear on the barrel of the gun? In 1982, they believed this coating enabled bullets to pierce through armor. Unlike other guns, the guns using Teflon coated bullets fired brass rounds instead of soft lead.

Keep Your Oven Clean

Protect your oven from inevitable spills by placing a few sections of aluminum foil on the rack, under whatever it is you’re baking. That way if you cook something that might bubble, it will prevent having to clean your oven every time. Just don’t foil the actual floor of the oven, because it could cause a build-up of heat and warp the bottom of your appliance.

Random oven fact: In medieval Europe, it was common to use cauldrons and fireplaces, but it wasn’t until the 1700s when practical and modern ovens became commonplace. As of late, there is a resurgence of wood-fired ovens that are generally situated in outdoor living areas and are used to cook pizzas and other baked goods.

Protect Your Pie Crusts

Taking the time and energy needed to make a good pie is something to be taken seriously. No one wants to back a pie only to have the crusts fall apart or get warped in shape. The solution? Tinfoil, of course. When you finish making your next pie, wrap it around in tin foil. It will help keep the pastry warm and it will also help keep the shape and form of the pie!

Random pie fact #1: Pumpkin pie was introduced to the holiday table at the pilgrim’s second Thanksgiving way back in 1623. Random pie fact #2: Pie has two days: both December 1st and January 23rd are National Pie Day. Random pie fact #3: Ancient Egyptians around 2,500BC were known to have eaten pies made with oats or wheat that were wrapped around a filling of honey or figs.

Cake Pan Alternative

This is perfect for all those kid’s birthday parties where each one wants their own custom-made cake in the shape of a bunny rabbit or Dora the Explorer. All you need is some tin foil and some creativity. Use some aluminum foil inside another baking pan and shape the outline of whatever cake you want to make. You might want to look at the picture of the desired shape while you’re doing it.

Random cake fact: In Roman times, the ingredients of eggs and butter were commonly added to basic bread to give it a consistency that we would recognize as cake-like. Honey was used as a sweetener. Back then, the distinction between Roman concepts of cake and bread were quite blurred.

Freeze Those Leftovers

When it comes to freezing food like bread, meat, or fish, aluminum great for keeping all the smells and tastes for a long time. The foil traps all the particles inside, leaving the taste to last for weeks. So, next time you put something in the freezer after cooking too much, don’t forget to wrap it in lots of aluminum foil. You’ll be thankful when you have leftovers to take out, and all you have to do is reheat them.

Random leftovers fact: The bacteria that cause food poisoning can grow quickly at room temperature. To make sure your food is safe, put food in the fridge or the freezer within 2 hours of being cooked or taken off a heat source.

Steel Wool Preserver

Steel wool is one of those things that once you use it, you can never go back. It’s a great tool to use when you clean your sink or dishes. It’s just annoying when it becomes all rusty after its first couple of uses. When you see rust appear, don’t throw it out just yet. Try wrapping it in foil and putting it in the freezer. It can really increase the life of the steel wool and save you time and money in the future.

Random fact about steel wool: Steel wool is made by a number of manufacturers in the United States, but a large amount is made overseas and in Mexico. Steel wool got its name from the fact that the fuzzy mass of metal strings looks like wool.

Keep Your Sleeping Bag Dry

You’re camping with your family, and you want to go to sleep after a long day. As it turns out, tight sleeping bags can cause extra sweating during the night. But you wouldn’t want that extra moisture to attract wildlife, like bears. So the simple solution is to lay a long piece of tin foil under yourself when you go to bed in the tent. It will act as an insulator against any additional moisture. This way, you’ll get a good night’s sleep and wake up dry!

Random sleeping bag fact: Women’s sleeping bags tend to have more insulation than men’s or even unisex sleeping bags. Why? Men produce more body heat than women. A warmer bag helps women stay more comfortable on cold camping nights. The extra insulation is usually found around the feet and the torso of her sleeping bag.

Roller Pan Liners

Cleaning paint rollers can be a pain, which is the reason why most of us buy disposable plastic liners or pans. But that’s expensive and bad for the environment. If you just make a metal roller pan with some aluminum foil, it can work just as well! All you need to do is use a little foil as a pan next time you have to paint a room and throw it away after. You’ll save money in the long run now that you don’t have to buy a new one every time.

Random fact about painting front doors: In Feng Shui, a red door signifies a “welcoming energy”, or literally to “welcome”. In Biblical times, a home with a red door was a protection from the “Angel of Death.”

Prevent Skinning Paint

Those who like to do DIY projects around the house might be a little familiar with skinning paint. It’s what happens when builders leave cans of paint a bit open for a few days. The paint will solidify, causing a mess and sabotaging your next paint job. If you’re faced with this, just cut some foil and put it in the can. Blow some air into it while you close the lid of the paint can – the carbon dioxide from your lungs will prevent oxidation!

Random painting fact: When the White House was first painted, they used a lime-based whitewash that was meant to weather over time. It limited the white look to only cracks and crevices. The whitewash wasn’t meant to weather, however as it was periodically re-painted.

Create a Platter

Maybe you just got a creative burst of energy and felt like baking something fun. But the problem is that you don’t have a big enough platter. With aluminum foil, you can simply wrap some around cardboard. It’s as easy as that! And you’ll see how you can now present it the next time you make a bunch of stuff. And if your baked goods are fresh out of the oven, the foil will keep them warm!

Where did finger food come from? It is believed that people have eaten with their fingers basically since the beginning of time. Finger food has always existed, but there are events that shaped the way we see finger food today. Finger food became popular during the Prohibition Era in America.

Improve Outdoor Lighting

Not only do plants need lighting, but humans do, too. We all need some extra light and especially if your front or back porch is too dark. If you think your outdoor space could use a little ramping up, put some foil outside. You can make a fancy decoration, and play around with it in a way that balances the light in a nice way. Stick it down with tape and see how lovely your garden just lightened up!

Random LED lighting fact: LED lights are very energy-efficient and consume less power than incandescent bulbs and halogen lamps. Nearly 90% of the energy used is converted into visible light. LED lights today have the lowest power consumption and longest life span for lighting solutions.

Untangle Your Plant Cuttings

Once you’ve used the hack to successfully place foil around your seeds and your plant is growing, you’re going to need another hack to deal with the cuttings! This means you’re one step closer to being a proud owner of a beautiful plant. Part of being a plant owner is dealing with your plant when it grows strong. Place the plants in a container covered with foil and poke some holes in it. It will keep the water in its place for longer and reduce the need to water it so much.

Random plant fact: water, light and nutrients are essential to plant growth, but plants also need other things to live. Air is an essential part of plant growth and survival, providing plants with carbon dioxide. Plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

Protecting Tree Trunks

Having trees in your garden can be a blessing and a curse. Rabbits, mice, and even foxes can use the bark of trees as food and shelter during the winter, which causes problems in the tree’s development. When it’s that time of year when you look outside and think, ‘Winter Is Coming,’ you might want to wrap some tin foil around the base of the tree trunk. You can remove it once Spring comes back.

Random tree fact: Trees reduce stormwater by capturing and storing the rainfall in the canopy and then releasing water into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration. Another random tree fact: In one day, a large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and release it into the air.

Pressure Cooker Lifter

If you have a pressure cooker, you might know that placing and lifting bowls in and out of it can be dangerous. Aluminum foil is perfect for lifting things safely without scalding your hands and arms. What you need is a piece of foil the size of your bowl with an extra eight or so inches. You’ll be making a sort of sling to lift out the bowl with your makeshift aluminum handles. Fold the handles down when cooking.

While a slow cooker cooks food slowly, usually taking around 8 hours for most foods, a pressure cooker cooks food very quickly, taking only a few minutes. But it still gives you the same flavorful cooking taste as a slow cooker.

If You Ever Need to Scare Birds

As it turns out, some birds are scared of shiny things. If you have a fruit tree that you need to protect, you can dangle some aluminum foil from the tree. It will be a deterrent for those birds that just want to feast on those fruits. All the light-sensitive pests will want to steer clear of your shiny tree.

Random fact about birds: The chicken is the most common species of bird in the world. Kiwis are endangered and flightless birds that live in New Zealand. They lay the largest eggs of any bird in the world. Oh, and the Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world; it’s length is just 5 cm (or 2 inches).

Fight Static

Word on the street is that using dryer sheets can leave a chemical layer on the things you use them with. And when it comes to towels, it compromises absorbency. You can switch from dryer sheets to balled up pieces of aluminum foil instead. You just toss the foil ball into the dryer and let the magic of foil do its thing. You can also use a tennis ball to speed the drying time, too, by the way.

Random dryer fact: The environmental impact of clothes dryers is severe in the US and Canada, with over 80% of all homes using a clothes dryer. If all residential clothes dryers were energy-efficient, “the utility cost savings would grow to more than $1.5 billion each year and more than 22 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented.”

Wi-Fi Signal Booster

Is your internet connection slower than you would like it to be? Here’s what you do: fold some tin foil into a parabolic dish if you want to boost your wi-fi signal from your router. Sure, it can look strange, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do in order to see cats on YouTube at high speed.

Random wi-fi fact: contrary to popular belief, WiFi is not a health problem. There is a common thought that WiFi signals are dangerous. But in fact, WiFi signals are a lot safer than mobile phones are. There have been no reports about any illnesses related to WiFi signals. So maybe that can calm your nerves maybe a little bit.

Easy and Effective Wet Bed Prevention System

Your child is finally potty-trained but they’re wetting the bed. It’s a common part of any young child’s life, but it can get frustrating. The trick of using a layer of foil paper between the bedsheet and mattress sounds weird, but it’s very effective. This trick is particularly useful for homes with young kids who still wet the bed. You can also use it to avoid mattress damages due to spilled liquids.

A layer of aluminum will act as waterproofing for the mattress and locks all the wetness away from it. If you think that crispy sound and study layer will cause uncomfortable sleep, use a soft towel to cover the foil. The absorbent fiber will get ruined with time, but it’s better than running the whole mattress.

Wrinkly Clothes? Not a Problem

A crisp collar and smooth surface of the shirt is enough to make an impression at any event. And there are many people that can’t leave the house with any sort of wrinkle anywhere on their clothes. Unfortunately, that crisp collar doesn’t last so long. With regular usage and ironing, the clothing soon develops some wrinkles that are very difficult to remove, especially if the ironing base is not that smooth. Well, the perfect solution for it is right there on your shelf.

Grab some aluminum foil, Grab some aluminum foil, wrap it under your cloth and there you go. The metal will absorb heat from the boiling hot iron, giving you a crisp surface in no time. This way, you can feel good about your collar’s crispness.

Prevent Aliens From Reading Your Mind

This is for the more paranoid among us. Do you know all those movies that show how aliens can come to Earth and read our minds? There are a number of conspiracy theorists who wear foil to protect themselves from such dangers. Considering how much you loved these aluminum foil hacks, we thought we could move on to another super handy household staple that has tons of hidden uses. Saran wrap, ladies and gentlemen!

If you got to this point, then it’s safe to say that “you love you some hacks.” Next, we’re going to show you all the hacks you never thought of for plastic wrap. Word of caution – don’t let your kiddos get a hold of the plastic wrap!

Poached Eggs

You can make poached eggs in little pouches made out of plastic wrap. What you do is drop the pouches in boiling water and cut them open to serve. Line a tiny cup with plastic wrap and coat it in oil. Crack an egg inside, gather up the sides, and twist it into a pouch, then tie it up. Drop the pouches into boiling water to cook and when they’re ready just cut the wrap with scissors and serve.

What’s a poached egg? It’s an egg that’s been cooked, outside the shell, by poaching it (as opposed to simmering or cooking it in boiling liquid). This method is favored for eggs because it can yield more delicately cooked eggs than using higher temperatures as with boiling water.

A Tablet Protector

Like many of us these days, using a tablet is the new cookbook. It’s so much easier to watch a tutorial on how to cook something online than to read a cookbook. But that means your tablet might get all messy. All you have to do is wrap your device with saran wrap, and it will be the protective layer you need. Oh, and the best part is that your touchscreen will still work!

Random plastic wrap fact: it was discovered in 1933. The chemical in plastic wrap was first used as a spray in wars to protect fighter planes and other military gear from water. In 1949, the company Dow Chemical created the commercial plastic wrap that buy today.

Keep Paint From Drying Out

When it comes time to paint, keep a roll of plastic wrap handy. Add several layers around the handle to improve your grip and prevent blisters too. You can also wrap the paint roller tightly in plastic wrap which will help prevent the roller from drying out. All these tricks and you can call yourself a pro!

Random plastic wrap fact: Plastic wrap was originally made with the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. PVC is known for being hard to recycle and its toxicity has been questionable over the years. Yet, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is becoming a lot more common these days, and manufacturers have been continually working on improving their products to create totally non-toxic food wraps. That’s a step in the right direction.

Removing Adhesive

If you’re anything like us, we love saving glass jars instead of throwing them out. The only issue is those pesky stickers that just don’t come off no matter how much we scrub! But you can easily remove the sticker by completely soaking it with warm water and dish soap. Wrap the wet container with saran wrap after and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Remove the wrap and then wipe it clean. Voila!

Random fact about plastic wrap: Plastic wrap is also known as ”Glad ,” ”cling film,” “saran wrap,” “cling wrap” and ”food wrap.” It wasn’t developed as a food wrap until 1949, when it was used in the food industry for the first time. By 1953, it was available for home use.

Rolling Out Dough

You can neatly roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap so you won’t have to wash your cutting board afterward. And any way to clean up less is a winner in our books. Some people like using parchment paper, but the rigidness of the paper can sometimes make it more difficult compared to the plastic wrap. Once you do it one time, you’ll find yourself using the hack every time.

Random fact: An industry research group found that in the past six months, 80 million Americans used at least one roll of plastic wrap. More than 5 million Americans went through more than 10 million boxes. Supermarkets and shipping account for the additional three million tons of plastic wrap that companies made this year.

Save Ice Cream From Freezer Burn

Freezer burn is one of those annoying things that happen to the best of our foods that find themselves in the freezer. And it would be a shame if you didn’t eat your favorite ice cream after it got “burnt” by the freezer a bit. All you do is place some saran wrap directly on top of the ice cream itself as well as around the inside of the carton. This will seal the ice out and prevent it from forming on the ice cream.

Random fact about ice cream: The most popular flavor is vanilla. After that comes chocolate, strawberry, cookies n’ cream, and then all the others. Ice cream cones were invented in 1904 for the World’s Fair in St. Louis. The large demand forced ice cream vendors to find help from waffle vendors. Together they made history.

Keep Bananas From Going Brown

It really sucks when you buy bananas, then two days later, they’re brown, and you have to go out and buy some more. And buying fewer bananas, means you run out of them too quickly. What a dilemma! So, if you want the solution to this problem, you just found one. To keep your bananas fresher and longer, put some plastic wrap around the stems. It slows down the browning process so you can enjoy them longer.

Random banana fact: The type of banana you see and buy in the supermarket is called the Cavendish banana. This banana that was originally the preferred variety was the Gros Michel, but it became extinct by 1960, thanks to a fungus called Panama disease.

DIY Kids Cups

Any parent with a young child knows that giving them a grown-up cup is a disaster waiting to happen. And not everywhere you go do people have kids cups! Enter: saran wrap. It’s a perfect hack for toddlers. Take a regular cup, put some plastic wrap tightly over the top of the cup and poke a straw through it. It will create a strong seal that keeps the liquid from spilling. You’re welcome!

Random sippy cup fact: If you are using disposable sippy cups with your kids, you shouldn’t reuse them because they’re not made for repeated use. You should avoid sippy cups with plastic straws. Straws are hard to clean and they are a common breeding ground for bacteria. So you should replace the straw after each use.

Organize Jewelry

When moving, packing can be a real headache. And if you have jewelry, it’s an added nightmare. You can’t just throw it all in a box because it will take you years to untangle it. Next time you move, lay out some plastic wrap. Lay your jewelry on top of it, and press another sheet of on top of the jewelry and on the bottom of it. This is going to keep your jewelry in place and not slide around.

Radom jewelry fact: the tradition of engagement rings wasn’t around until romantic Maximilian of Austria gave his lover, Mary of Burgundy a ring as a promise of their impending nuptials in 1477. This tradition caught on and now engagement rings are a multi-billion dollar industry.

Keep Refrigerator Shelves Clean

Cleaning the refrigerator is tedious and no fun whatsoever. But this hack will change your life! All you have to do is take plastic wrap and line the shelves of the fridge with it. It actually sticks perfectly to the shelves, so it’s not going to move around and drive you crazy. So if something spills, just tear the wrap, throw it away, and reapply!

Random refrigerator fact: Albert Einstein is the co-inventor of the refrigerator. Einstein and his former student, Leo Szilard, received a patent for it in 1930. Coolants used at the time were toxic, so Einstein had the idea for a simple, single-pressure refrigerator when he read about how a sleeping family was killed by leaking refrigerator coolant.

Protect Clothes From Liquids

It happens sometimes when you travel somewhere where you gain elevation, in which anything liquid will explode from the pressure and pretty much get all over your clothes and whatever you’re around. There’s a great solution for this rare, yet serious, occasion. Take the lids off the bottles of the substance, then place a piece of saran wrap over the top and screw the lid back on. It’ll prevent the liquid from spilling out.

Random fact about suitcases: Despite all the ideas for wheeling luggage around in the early 1900s, it wasn’t until Bernard Sadow came alone that rolling luggage became an option. He attached four rollers to the base of a suitcase and patented the idea in 1970. Ever since, the world embraced the idea of a wheeled version of luggage.

DIY Fruit Fly Trap

How annoying are fruit flies!? Doesn’t matter how fresh the fruit is, they just keep buzzing around. So this is what you do if you have a fruit fly problem. Cut up some fruit and put it in a bowl. A few pieces will do. Then put some plastic wrap and cover the lid of the bowl, then poke a small hole in the top. The flies will get trapped inside the cup, which means you won’t have them flying around you anymore.

Random fruit fly fact: They get their name from their strong attraction to ripening or rotting fruit. The fruit serves as both a food source as well as a place to lay their eggs. Fruit flies typically reach 3-4 mm in length and live for 40 to 50 days.

Marbled Nail Polish

If you want to get a cool nail polish style without going to the salon, you should try this hack. Start by painting your nails a base color. Then, once your nails are completely dry, paint over them with a new color. While the topcoat is still wet, crumble up some saran wrap and place it on top of your nails. When you remove it, you’ll see the marbled effect. Not too bad!

Random nail polish fact: Painting nails goes back to 3000 BCE. There is archaeological evidence that the Ancient Babylonians painted their nails before they went into battle with a solid gold manicure set. And in Ancient China, in the Ming Dynasty, people used formulas made from beeswax, egg whites, gelatin and vegetable dyes.

Ice Cubes in the Dryer

You can forget the iron or steamer by using ice cubes in the dryer instead if you want to get wrinkles out of your clothes. Put two or three ice cubes in the dryer with one or two pieces of clothing and then place it on the hottest setting. The ice melts and turns into steam, which gets the wrinkles out. This trick isn’t so effective with heavier clothing, but it works wonders on lighter fabrics. The best part is that you only need to set the dryer for about 10 minutes or so.

Random ice fact: sea ice alone comes in all kinds of varieties, and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice have their own vocabularies. Brash, frazil, nilas, and pancake ice are some of the varieties found in both. If you’re near the poles, you should be able to distinguish an iceberg from an icefoot, bummock from a hummock, and a floe from a floeberg.

Vinegar’s Many Uses

The kitchen staple can be a wonderful tool on cleaning day. If you have a collection of cloudy drinking glasses, don’t bother scrubbing with traditional soap. A little white vinegar will get those water stains out. For glasses, soak them in diluted white vinegar or just dunk a rag in the vinegar and clean as usual. This trick also does wonders for your coffee carafe and even dirty faucets. Vinegar also cleans dirty blinds!

Fun Fact: did you know that the name vinegar comes from the French words, “vin aigre?” They literally mean sour wine. Around 5,000 BC, the Babylonians used vinegar as a condiment and a preservative. The Babylonians are also credited with adding herbs and spices to flavor it.

Bread Isn’t Just for Eating

It happens to the best of us – we drop glasses sometimes. But picking up all those pieces is not easy, not to mention dangerous. The hack? Use bread! Yes, bread. Just put a bit of water on a piece of bread to make it damp and press it on the floor where the fragments of glass are. It’s a lot easier than trying to sweep up every last piece with a broom.

Random bread fact: Bread is often tied to religious expression and communion. For example, hot cross buns commemorate Lent and Good Friday; Greek Easter bread is set with eggs dyed red to denote the blood of Christ, and then there are Jewish families who celebrate the coming of the Sabbath on Friday evening with challah.

Shaving Cream to Clean a Mirror

Did you know that shaving cream works as a glass cleaner too? If you apply regular shaving cream to your mirror and wipe it down with some paper towel or a rag, you can rid the mirror of smudges and streaks. But that’s not all – it will also keep the mirror from fogging up during a shower for a few weeks! This trick will also be of use when cleaning your glasses and car windows.

Random shaving cream fact: an early form of shaving cream was used in Sumer around 3000 BC. The substance combined wood alkali and animal fat that was applied to a beard as a shaving preparation. By the early 20th century, bars or sticks of hard shaving soap were used.

Lemons are Natural Cleaners

Microwaves – they get their share of dirt inside of them! But instead of scrubbing and scraping, you can get a better clean by using a lemon. Squeeze the juice from a lemon into half a cup of water and drop the remaining lemon in. Put the lemon water mixture into the microwave for three minutes (long enough to come to a boil). The mixture, steamed, will now fill your microwave. Let it sit for five minutes, open the microwave, remove the bowl, and wipe the inside. Voila!

Random facts about lemons: Lemons are native to Asia and are a hybrid between a sour orange and a citron. Lemons trees can produce up to 600 pounds of lemons every year. Lemon trees also produce fruit all year round.

How to Rinse Your Blender

Instead of having to disassemble your blender and clean all those sharp blades by hand, there’s a much simpler hack that’ll save you time, effort, and a real headache. What you do is fill your blender halfway with hot water, pour in some dish soap, close the lid, and turn it on. It’s basically like a mini version of a dishwasher!

Random blender fact: the blender was patented in 1922 by Stephen Poplawski who was the first one who put a spinning blade at the bottom of a container. His beverage mixer was developed for the Arnold Electric Company. It is recognized as what is called a blender in the United States. But it is called a liquidizer in Britain.

Grapefruit is Another Natural Cleaner

Grapefruit is another citrus fruit that does wonders on cleaning day. And it can be perfect for when you need to clean the bathtub. First, turn the water on and get your tub fully wet. Cut a grapefruit in half, put a lot of salt on the fruit, and begin scrubbing! The citrus and the salt removes soap stains and other messes while also leaving a pleasant smell. You can do the same on sinks, faucets, and fixtures.

Grapefruit may help reduce body fat in some people when it is mixed with other compounds such as caffeine, grapefruit polyphenols, and other antioxidants that are found in the berry family of fruits. And yes, grapefruits are technically considered to be part of the berry family.

Soap to the Rescue

You know when that sock drawer gets stuck, and every time you open the drawer, it becomes a chore? Well, you can use something as simple as a bar of soap to fix it. Simply slide the bar along the drawer glides. It will essentially act as a lubricant, letting the opening of the drawer become easy again and not something that will annoy you every morning.

Random facts about socks: The oldest known pair of socks is about 1,600 years old. They weres excavated at the end of the 19th century from the cemetery of ancient Oxyrhynchus, a Greek colony on the Nile in Egypt. The socks were made from red wool and have split toes so they could be worn with sandals.

DIY Sprinkler

If you’re someone who is looking to be more “green” and you actually care about the environment, then you should try this hack. It’s yet another thing that can be done with an empty water bottle. Take that bottle of soda and put it to some good use! If your sprinkler broke, or maybe you haven’t yet gone out to buy one, you can use this soda bottle instead, and it works well.

But it’s more of a temporary solution. Create a sprinkler from an empty soda bottle by piercing it with holes. Attach the neck of the bottle to your garden hose and there you go. Your very own DIY sprinkler. It’ll last up until you go and get a real one.

Rubber Bands for That Pesky Screw

Do you have a bunch of rubber bands hanging around in your drawer and you have no idea what to do with them? Well, this hack is something that many people find useful. And it’s something that happens all the time when it comes to screws.

The screw is stripped, and it makes screwing it in or out almost impossible. The next time this happens to you, don’t lose your mind just yet. Try placing a rubber band on it first. Put the rubber band flat against the screw head and fit the tip of the screwdriver over the rubber band and into the grooves. It will fill in the gaps in the screw, giving you the traction needed to turn the screw.