20 Genius Duct Tape Tricks You Need to Know About
1 Fix Slippery Shoes
Picture this: you just bought a brand new pair of shoes that you’re totally in love with. You slip them on your feet and head out of the house, only to find that there’s almost no grip to the sole of your new kicks. Are you supposed to risk a broken ankle or other injuries just to flaunt your new shoes? Of course not!
Instead, you can fix your slippery shoes with duct tape. Rip off a few pieces of the duct tape and stick it to the bottom of your shoe. Then, run a pair of scissors or a knife lightly over the duct tape to score it. Once that’s done, your shoes will have the grip you need to keep your ankles safe.
2 Open Jars
No matter how strong you might be, everyone has run into a particularly stubborn jar that just refuses to pop open. You put all your strength into it and even rub your hands raw with gripping the lid, but it’s no use–that top isn’t coming off. In those desperate moments, duct tape provides a solution.
If you’re dealing with a particularly stubborn jar, rip off a piece of duct tape and stick it on the lid, leaving enough of a tail for you to pull. Then, yank the extra length of duct tape in the direction that the jar should open. This trick seems so simple, but it really does work!
3 Use Duct Tape for Sweeping
While sweeping your floors, you eventually have to move the accumulated dirt into the dustpan. Of course, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. No matter how many times you sweep, you always end up with a little line of dirt that doesn’t make it over the lip of the dustpan. Instead of becoming frustrated, turn to duct tape.
Place a strip of duct tape on the lip of your dustpan and stick the other half to the floor. The duct tape will provide a smooth surface that allows all the dirt to make it into the pan. Sweeping is so much easier with this trick!
4 Produce Garden Labels
If you’ve created your own herb garden, you can add some character to your greenery with duct tape labels. Simply wrap a piece of duct tape around a popsicle stick and write the corresponding herb onto the shiny surface. Then place each popsicle stick in your herb garden, easily differentiating your plants.
If you want to get even fancier, you can etch your herbs into the duct tape using a ballpoint pen to create a raised label that looks beautifully classy. It’s a cheap way to label your garden, and it allows you to switch out your herbs frequently since you can create new labels so easily.
5 Construct Safe Steps
Steps are a normal addition to many houses, but they also present a safety concern. If you or your children are wandering the house at night, you could easily miss the next step and crash to the floor. Instead of turning on all your lights and waking yourself up, use a little glow in the dark duct tape to solve your problem.
Place a strip of glow in the dark duct tape on the end of each of your stairs. The tape will allow you to see the next step in the dark, but it will also eliminate the need to turn on the lights in the middle of the night.
6 Save Your Floors
Wood floors look gorgeous in any house. Unfortunately, they are also damaged quite easily. If you want to move your furniture around or if you simply have chairs that are constantly sliding on your floors, you’ll notice growing scrapes that ruin your beautiful wood.
To remedy the problem, put a bit of duct tape on the bottom of your furniture. Cut a piece of duct tape the exact size of the legs of your furniture. Stick it underneath the leg, where it’s completely hidden from view. The duct tape will keep your furniture from scraping sensitive floors, but it won’t be obvious enough to ruin the look of your home.
7 Use In Place of Chip Clips
Chip clips keep your snacks nice and fresh by blocking out any excess air. Unfortunately, they’re yet another expense that you have to keep track of in your house. Instead of wasting your money on chip clips, use duct tape.
Take a small strip of duct tape and place it over your folded bag of chips. It keeps the air out just as nicely as a chip clip, but it’s much more cost effective.
8 Make a DIY Belt
While duct tape can certainly repair your broken glasses, it might also be the fashion statement you’ve been looking for. Using two metal rings and a strip of duct tape, you can craft your own fashion-forward belt.
Fold a strip of duct tape in half, attaching two metal rings to one end. Then loop the duct tape through your belt loops, weaving the other end through the two metal rings. Although this look isn’t the height of fashion, it will help to keep your pants up in a pinch.
9 Prevent Blisters
If you’re a hiking and outdoor enthusiast, you’ve certainly had bad blisters after a few hours of walking, or even only after a few minutes! There’s nothing more unpleasant than that, but fortunately, a little duct tape can solve this problem easily.
On your next hike, don’t forget to bring a roll of duct tape with you in case a blister forms during your trip. In fact, even before you leave home, if your shoes are new or you know they have a tendency to injure you, apply a piece of duct tape to the back of your foot. This will reduce friction enough to prevent blisters!
10 Repair a Leaky Hose
If your hose has a puncture or tends to leak around the nozzle, you can fix the issue with a little duct tape. Simply wrap a strip of duct tape around the problem area and allow the adhesive to work its magic.
Before you put the duct tape on your hose, however, make sure that the hose is dry. A wet hose will interfere in the duct tape’s adhesive, and you’ll find yourself reapplying new strips every few days. Also, be sure to press hard onto the duct tape and seal out any bubbles or excess air. Using that process, you’ll find that your hose works almost as good as new.
11 Make Grippy Handles
Using your tools for hours on end takes its toll on your hands. This is particularly true if your tools have slippery handles, forcing you to grip them incredibly tight just to get a little work done. Instead of settling for those painful handles, make your own grippy handles with duct tape.
Using any color or pattern, wrap duct tape around the handles of your tools. The texture of duct tape increases the grip, allowing you to hold on to tools much easier. Plus, fun colors and patterns can really spice up your normally boring toolbox.
12 Create a Luggage Tag
If you’re an avid traveler, then you know that finding your suitcase in a packed airport presents some challenges. Chances are, someone on your flight just so happens to have the same suitcase as you or even a bag that looks eerily similar. You can certainly write your name on your luggage tag, but if you want your bag to stand out from the crowd, use duct tape.
Grab a brightly colored piece of duct tape and attach it to your luggage handle. That way, when the bags come around the luggage carousel, you’ll know exactly which suitcase is yours.
13 Repair Ripped Camping Gear
If camping is your go-to getaway, you’ve definitely run into your fair share of issues. A rip in a tent or an air mattress can ruin the entire experience, forcing you to head home much earlier than you intended.
Next time you head out on a camping trip, be sure to bring some duct tape. As a particularly strong adhesive, duct tape can temporarily repair rips in your camping gear so you don’t have to cancel the whole trip. Put duct tape over a hole in a tent, a rip in a sleeping bag, or an unfortunate puncture in an air mattress. It won’t be a permanent fix, but it’ll be good enough to get you through your trip.
14 Create a Lint Roller
Lint rollers are so handy for picking up pet hair and other dust. Unfortunately, you might not always have one on hand when you need it. Create your own extra-strong lint roller using a bit of duct tape and an old paint roller.
Wrap the duct tape sticky side out on the paint roller. It’s really as simple as that. Once that’s done, you can run the paint roller over your furniture, picking up any stray hairs and dust along the way.
15 Remove Warts
Warts are a nasty affair, but they don’t always require a trip to the doctor. Instead, you can try to take care of warts at home using a little duct tape.
Cover your wart with duct tape every day for six full days. When the sixth day is over, soak the wart in warm water. Then, gently rub a pumice stone or other exfoliator over the wart. If the wart isn’t completely gone after the first cycle, continue to follow the same routine until your warts entirely disappear.
16 Trap Bugs
If you have bugs buzzing around your house, taking out each individual critter with a fly swatter is time-consuming. Not only that, but it’s also nearly impossible to catch every single bug while still trying to go about your normal day. Instead of chasing down the critters in your house, allow duct tape to fix your problem.
Hang a few strips of duct tape from the ceiling in the room where you get the most bugs. While buzzing around, the bugs will eventually run into the duct tape, where they’ll become trapped. Then, you just have to detach the duct tape from the ceiling and throw the long strips away. Goodbye forever, bugs!
17 Temporarily Fix a Tire
Popped tires are a common issue. Unfortunately, the solution is often complicated. If you don’t have a spare on hand, you’ll need to get your car to the mechanic to fix that hole. However, driving on a popped tire causes it to become even flatter, potentially damaging your wheels in the process.
If you need a temporary fix for a popped tire, turn to duct tape. Wrap a length of duct tape around your tire, covering the hole to the best of your ability. The duct tape will hold long enough for you to get to a mechanic and find a permanent solution to your tire problem.
18 Make a Cup Holder
Although some outdoor chairs have built-in cup holders, others just aren’t fancy enough for that kind of luxury. If you have simple outdoor chairs, you can create your own cup holders using a bit of duct tape.
Start with an empty room of duct tape. Use the cardboard of the roll and cover the bottom in a piece of duct tape. Using a few extra strips, attach the roll to the arm of your favorite outdoor chair. The result is a simple cup holder that works well enough to hold your drinks. It might not be the prettiest contraption, but it sure beats buying new chairs.
19 Repair Broken Glasses
Duct tape can fix nearly any problem, at least temporarily. While more daring duct tape enthusiasts might use the adhesive to fix their tires, normal people can use duct tape for little household inconveniences, like a broken pair of glasses.
If your glasses snap apart, you can put them back together with a little strip of duct tape. The repair might look slightly messy, but it will keep your eyewear together until you’re ready to buy another pair. If you get a cute strip of duct tape, you might not even have to find a replacement pair of spectacles.
20 Make Outdoor Pillows
While duct tape is waterproof enough to keep your feet dry on rainy days, it’s also the perfect way to protect your outdoor decorations. If you want to create a cozy outdoor space, decorative pillows add that touch of softness and color that really brings your patio together. There’s just one problem: fabric pillows will quickly become disgusting if they happen to come in contact with water.
To create outdoor pillows that can withstand any weather conditions, use duct tape. Buy the adhesive in many colors and wrap it around your pillows in interesting patterns. The duct tape will repel any water while simultaneously adding a necessary touch of color that will make your patio feel like home.
21 Create Waterproof Shoes
If you have to quickly run outside, you want to keep your feet protected. But if it’s wet and rainy in the outdoors, your shoe options are limited. Slippers will get gross in the rain and flip-flops don’t protect your feet from water. Instead of reaching for shoes that will only result in wet feet, make a pair of emergency shoes from duct tape and a piece of cardboard.
Duct tape is entirely waterproof, so your feet will stay protected from the elements. While you can’t wear these shoes everywhere, they’re perfect for a short trip to the mailbox or a jaunt to take out the trash on a rainy day.
