It turns out that plastic wrap has many more uses aside from just wrapping food! The simple plastic material can also be used to help you move out of your house, keep your kitchen clean and even get rid of annoying insects.
Smalljoys has put plastic wrap to the test in the most interesting ways and has decided to tell you about all the things you can really do with it. By the end of the article, we’ll show you the hacks we didn’t like but still tried out.
1. Turn your glass into a no-spill cup.
If your glass doesn’t have a lid and you want to protect yourself against unexpected spills, cover the cup with plastic wrap and poke a straw through the middle. To make the wrap last longer you can use it with duct tape around the sides.
2. Poaching an egg
Traditionally, poached eggs are cooked by adding a little vinegar to boiling water, creating a whirlpool in the saucepan and pouring the egg in there. However, even if all instructions are strictly observed, there is no guarantee that the egg will come out just as you want it to.
It is much easier to prepare this dish with plastic wrap: simply pour the egg into the wrap, tie it up to make a bag, and place it into the boiling water.
3. Opening a can
If a lid to a jar or bottle just refuses to come loose, wrap it with plastic wrap. This will stop your hands from sliding, and opening the jar will be much easier.
4. Protecting your kitchen from splashes
If you’ve ever had to mix food with a mixer in an open cup, then you probably know how messy the whole kitchen gets afterward. But if you pre-wrap the cup with plastic, this giant mess can be avoided.
5. Preventing your paint from drying
If you take a break from working with paint, wrap the brush and jar with plastic wrap. This way, the paint’s surface won’t dry and the brush won’t become hardened.
6. Making a fly trap
To get rid of annoying flies, you can use this simple trap. To do this, put sliced-up fruit in a glass, cover the glass with plastic wrap and make small holes in it.
Attracted to the sweet fruity smell, flies will climb through the holes in the glass, but they won’t be able to get out so easily.
7. Tenderizing meat without making a mess
Before tenderizing meat, cover it with some plastic wrap. This way, the separated fibers will not fly off in every possible direction, and the table will remain clean.
8. Transporting things easily
Moving will be a much more enjoyable experience with the help of some plastic wrap. First of all, you won’t have to pull out everything from your drawers only to put them back again. To avoid this, you can simply wrap the containers with plastic wrap, making it so that your things will always remain in place during a move.
9. Protecting your make-up bag
If you are planning to take any liquid cosmetic products on a trip with you, but are worried that their packages will leak, cover the openings of the containers with plastic wrap before closing the lid. This will help protect the creams and oils from leaking.
10. Unclogging your toilet
With the help of plastic wrap, you can eliminate the clogging of your toilet. To do this, wrap the surface of the bowl with plastic wrap and seal the edges with adhesive tape. Then flush down the water (the plastic should swell).
After that, you’ll need to push the film several times. The accumulated air underneath it will push the blockage into the sewer.
Bonus: Hacks we didn’t like
Some of the tips from fellow Internet users seemed a bit strange to us, but we still tested them anyway. As a result, they turned out either too ridiculous to employ or not as effective as anticipated.
Below is a list of plastic wrap hacks that we would not recommend.
1. Making a smartphone case
For people who are not used to parting with their smartphones even in the bathroom, we suggest protecting it from moisture by wrapping it in plastic wrap.
We personally do not want to expose our gadgets to danger just to use it for a couple of extra minutes in the shower. In addition, if the phone is really hermetically sealed, then you would not be able to listen to music or watch a movie since the sound will be much weaker.
2. Losing weight faster
On the Internet, you’ll often find testimonials that claim if the skin is wrapped in plastic before a workout or after applying an anti-cellulitic cream, you can lose weight more quickly.
But such weight loss is due only to the fact that the film will help you to sweat more, causing you to lose more liquids. We strongly doubt the long-term effect of this hack because the lost water will still have to be compensated for.
3. Coming inside without taking your shoes off
Some people advise always keeping a roll of plastic wrap in the hallway in case you need to return to the room with your shoes on. This way, the plastic will keep you from leaving dirty footsteps.
Despite the fact that the advice does work, it’s both uncomfortable and absurd: isn’t it easier to just take off your shoes instead of wrapping them in plastic?
4. Never having to wash your dishes again
This hack is suitable only for those who have reached a new level of laziness. You can wrap your plates with plastic, and after meals, remove the polyethylene along with the leftover food. This way the dishes will remain clean.
Perhaps this is convenient, but it looks too strange. And you can’t really serve a romantic dinner on plastic-wrapped dishes.
Do you have your own secret way of using plastic wrap? Or maybe you’ve already had time to try a hack from this article? We’d like to hear about your experience with these hacks in the comments.