Ingenious Aluminum Foil Hacks That Will Make You Want To Stock Up!
Aluminum foil is a ubiquitous kitchen essential that, for many, serves primarily as a tool for cooking or wrapping food items. It's an item routinely picked up at the grocery store, but more often than not, it remains tucked away in the pantry or kitchen drawer, with its full potential overlooked. However, the truth is that aluminum foil is a versatile household asset that offers a wealth of applications that extend well beyond its typical culinary uses, and it's high time we uncovered its hidden potential.
While it's undeniable that aluminum foil is a valuable tool for cooking and preserving the freshness of your meals, it's essential to recognize that its utility goes far beyond the kitchen. So, go ahead and grab that roll of aluminum foil that's been idly waiting in your pantry, and let's explore the numerous alternative applications it offers.
Less Mess, Better Egg Shape
Adding a layer of aluminum foil to your frying pan before cooking eggs can reduce time spent cleaning. Just mold the foil to the pan and add some cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Home cooks have also shared that creating indentations in the foil can help you create an egg with a perfect shape. This is also a good hack if you're aiming to make an egg scramble that you can wrap up for later.
Keep Those Scissors Sharp
Like any other cutting edge, scissors get dull with age. Even if you keep good care of them, eventually, they're going to be less effective than the first time you use them. Not only is a dull pair of scissors annoying, but they can also be dangerous to use if you're not extremely careful.
A simple trick to keep scissors sharp or eliminate any rust from the blade is to cut a piece of aluminum foil around seven to ten times.
Block Cell Phone Signal
If you want to block your cell phone from receiving any signals, simply use aluminum foil. Radio waves and fields that give your cell phone service can be blocked out by aluminum foil.
For this hack, wrap the foil around your cell phone. You should not be able to make any calls or receive any signals once this is done, as a cell phone surrounded on all sides by foil shouldn't receive any radio waves.
Stop Thieves From Breaking Into Your Car
The majority of drivers today use a key fob to access to unlock and start their car. Key fobs emit a short-range, wireless radio signal from the key to the vehicle. Drivers should be aware that criminals may be able to amplify and intercept this transmission if your fob is within close access to the car, around 300 feet or less, according to Sevan Locks And Doors.
To help protect against criminals, keep your key fob more than 300 feet away from your car. In an interview with Detroit Free Press, Holly Hubert, a cybersecurity expert said that wrapping the fob in tinfoil can reduce the wireless radio signal.
No Panini Press, No Problem!
If you're someone who doesn't like to settle for a typical cold sandwich, using some aluminum foil can elevate any old sandwich to panini greatness! Take the sandwich you have just prepared and put it on a cooking sheet or on a griddle.
Next, wrap any standard brick you may have lying around outside and wrap it in aluminum foil. Put the brick on the top of the sandwich while it's in the oven or cooking on the griddle and enjoy!
Clean Off Stuck-On Food
If you've ever baked lasagna or some type of casserole, you know that the clean up is going to be rough. That dish is going to need to soak in the sink for a while if you ever hope to scrub off all the stuck-on food.
Thanks to aluminum foil, you can significantly cut down the time of the cleaning process by using the foil to scrape off the food that feels practically glued on. You can even reuse the foil you used to cover the dish!
Boost Your WiFi Signal
Believe it or not, if your WI-FI signal is feeling a little slow, aluminum foil can help with that. Tear off a sheet of fol and fold it into a rectangle so it's about 4 inches by six inches, depending on the size of your router.
Then, bend it into a curve with the shinier side facing toward your WI-FI router. Incredibly, this helps to boost the signal of your WIFI, so you don't have to wait ten minutes for one video to load.
Make Your Silverware Shine Like New
Nobody wants to own or have to use silverware that looks old and dirty, even if it's fresh out of the dishwasher. People will go to extreme lengths to get their silverware or other silver products spotless, whether it's scrubbing them for hours on end or spending money on expensive cleaning products.
However, none of that is necessary as long you have some aluminum foil lying around. All you have to do is put some foil at the bottom of a container, add baking soda, salt, and boiling water. Then, place your silverware in and let it sit for around an hour. They'll come out looking good as new.
Heal Minor Burns Quickly
We've all somehow managed to give ourselves a minor burn on our fingertips, whether it's touching a pan that's too hot, an iron, or anything hot enough to damage the skin.
While most people's first instinct might be to put their finger in their mouth or run it under hot water, what you should do is reach for the aluminum foil. Wrap the injured part in the foil and leave it on for at least 15 to 20 minutes. The pain should be gone by then!
Create A Non-Stick Pan
Without using oils, butter, or spending your money on a non-stick pan, to keep your food from sticking, cut out a piece of aluminum foil to fit the bottom of the cookware that you are using.
It works quite well, and it also means that you don't have to cook with oil which is extremely beneficial for your health. Also, aluminum foil is much cheaper than most cooking oils you'll find at the store so you could end up saving money!
Don't Let Your Bananas Go To Waste
While bananas are an extremely popular fruit around the world, one of people's biggest issues with them is that they go from unripe to ripe, to overly ripe in what feels like the blink of an eye.
What happens is that the bananas release gas which reacts with oxygen, resulting in the speeding up of the process, which usually happens at the stem. So, if you wrap the stem with aluminum foil, either individually or as a bunch, they'll last for days longer.
Say Goodbye To Clumpy Brown Sugar
Unless you blow through brown sugar at a superhuman rate, for most people, when a recipe finally calls for the ingredient, they usually are encountered with a hard and clumpy bag of the stuff. have no fear, there's a simple solution to this all too common situation.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees, wrap the hard parts in foil, and put it in the oven for around five minutes. When you take it out, it will be like a fresh bag bought from the store.
Slide Furniture On The Floor With Ease
Moving large pieces of furniture isn't always the easiest task. If it's really heavy and you're trying to drag it the legs can create friction, not only making the job harder but can end up damaging the floor.
To make the furniture slide across the floor with ease, place pieces of aluminum foil underneath each leg, and be amazed. With minimal effort, the furniture your moving will glide easily across the floor like skates on ice.
Train Your Pets To Stay Off Furniture
For some reason, most common household pets hate the feeling of aluminum foil on their paws, most likely because of the noise and lack of grip. So, if you're trying to train your furry friend to stay off of the furniture, aluminum foil might be the key to your success.
Lay sheets of foil on top of the surfaces that you are trying to prevent them from climbing. Of course, you can remove it if you need to use the surface, but after a few weeks, they'll stay far away.
Make Your Own Cookie Cutters
Cookie cutters are great, but the only problem with them is that there are only so many options that are available. If you want to be creative and make ones that are especially unique, that's where aluminum foil can come in handy.
Using enough foil so that it's sturdy, mold the foil to create any kind of shapes that you want. Not only is it simple and cheap, but adds an extra element to the cookie-baking process that makes it even more fun!
Keep Ants From Climbing
Anyone with an ant problem will be happy to learn this aluminum foil hack. Since ants are skilled climbers, they can easily scale the legs of a kitchen table to get to your food. Create a road block for ants using aluminum foil.
Since the foil is slippery, ants won't be able to scale it like they can with a door or regular wall. Place a section of foil where you want to block the ants, or wrap the table legs in the foil to prevent them from climbing. You can apply Vicks VapoRub to it to make it even more difficult for the ants.
Eliminate The Static From Your Clothes In The Dryer
Peeling apart clothes while putting them away or even shocking yourself makes doing laundry all that much worse. Although there are tons of products on the market that claim to help remove the static from your clothes while in the dryer, all you really need is aluminum foil.
Create balls using about three or four feet of aluminum foil, compressing them as tightly as you can so they can't snag on any clothing. Using around three balls, depending on the size of the load, throw them in the dryer with your clothes and no more static!
Speed Up Your Ironing Process
If you think that ironing is a laborious process that takes way too long, this is the perfect tip for you! When ironing, a lot of the heat from the iron gets lost on the board itself, meaning you have to go over a wrinkle multiple times to flatten it out.
However, if you put a piece of foil beneath the fabric that you're ironing, it will act as a conductor that reflects the heat through the clothing, getting the wrinkle out faster.
Get The Most Out Of Your Batteries
If you notice that one of your battery-powered appliances is on its way out, and you don't have any more batteries on hand, aluminum foil can come to the rescue. Simply bundle small pieces of aluminum foil on the positive end of the battery, making sure that it's touching both the battery and the wall of the battery holder.
This will help improve contact with the terminals, giving it a longer life. It won't last forever, but can help in a pinch.
Keep Your Door Knobs Paint-Free
When painting anything, one of the main goals is to not get paint on anything except for what you intend to finish. If you don't want to go through the process of taking a doorknob off when painting a door, not getting paint on it can be tricky.
Yet, using aluminum foil, you can wrap the knob tightly, running a utility knife around the base of the knob so you can paint as close as possible. You can also do this to any knobs that you may end up touching with paint on your hands.
Prevent Ice Cream Messes
Especially if you're in the hot sun, it can be hard to eat a Popsicle or an ice cream cone fast enough to prevent it from dripping all over your hands. While there are products on the market to help stop this, a piece of aluminum foil can be just as effective.
All you have to do is wrap a piece of aluminum in a cone shape to create a barrier between your hand and the ice cream to catch the drips. This is a great trick for children who tend to have this problem.
Clean Your Iron In A Breeze
Fabric starch, softeners, and even dryer sheets leave behind chemicals on your clothes that can end up leaving residue on your iron. In turn, the build-up on the bottom of your iron can end up getting on your clothes, which is counter-intuitive.
To avoid this, place a length of aluminum foil on your ironing boards and sprinkle half a teaspoon on salt on it. Turn your iron on and run it across the salty surface multiple times. As you go over the salt, the debris will be rubbed off.
Preserve Your Steel Wool
Although steel wool can be a convenient product to have around, more often than not, after a few uses, it turns into a rusty mess before you can get your money's worth. There are few things to prevent this unless you actually want to take the time to look after it.
With aluminum foil, preserving your steel wool is a breeze. All you have to do is wrap it in the foil and throw it in the freezer. It'll be ready to use the next time you need it!
Don't Be Caught With A Wet Match
Even though we have ever so handy lighters, a lot of people still use matches either at home or when they go on an outdoor outing. Yet, the last thing anyone wants is to try and get a fire going only to learn that their matches are wet from something either leaking or being exposed to moist air.
As it turns out, if you wrap the tip of your matches in a bit of aluminum foil, it will keep them nice and dry in almost all circumstances.
Make Sure Your Glue Gun Is Ready For Use Every Time
If you've ever used one, you know how great hot glue guns can be. They're effective, easy to use, and you don't have to get glue all over your hands.
Unfortunately, after most uses, there can be an adhesive layer on top, which can make it difficult to use the next time if it isn't properly cleaned. To avoid a future issue, grab a piece of aluminum foil and give the tip a quick scrub to get rid of any leftover glue.
Re-Seal Bags Like A Pro
When it comes to large bags of food such as chips or snacks, they don't always end up getting finished. This results in people typically just rolling up the bags or using a clip to try and prevent the contents from getting stale or infested with insects.
Unfortunately, this rarely works and the food can go to waste. A trick with aluminum foil is to cut out a strip of aluminum foil and use it to pinch the bag closed. Then, go over it with a hot iron and the seal will be good as new.
Re-Settling Vinyl Tile Without Turning It Into A Massive Project
Vinyl tile, which is often found in bathrooms, has the tendency to come loose over time due to all the moisture and heat it comes into contact with. However, if this happening to you, there's no need to stress about having to re-tile a whole area because of a few loose tiles.
To fix this issue, all you need is a sheet of aluminum foil and a clothing iron. Place the foil over the loose tiles and gently go over it with the iron. The heat will help warm up the adhesive, settling the tiles back into place.
Making Sure Your Houseplants Get As Much Sunlight As Possible
In recent years, owning houseplants has become increasingly popular, especially among young adults. Unfortunately, many people spend money and time caring for their plants, only for them to die. Even if you water it regularly, if the plant isn't getting enough sunlight, it's most likely going to die.
To help prevent this, you can build an open-sided box out of aluminum foil that will reflect sunlight from three different sides, as well as the bottom. Give your houseplants the chance they deserve!
You Can Use It To Catch Dinner
If you've ever been fishing or know the basics, you're aware that a lot of fish are attracted to shiny objects. A lot of manufactured lures even have reflectors attached to them to help increase the chances of attracting a fish.
Yet, there's no point in spending a bunch of money on fishing lures that are most likely going to get lost anyway when a piece of aluminum foil has proven to do the trick. or, you can even wrap a store-bought lure in the foil and see what happens!
Get The Pearly Whites You've Always Wanted
Something that people have no problem burning a hole in their wallets on is their teeth. Of course, nobody wants to have "bad teeth," but that doesn't mean you have to an arm and a leg to get a nice seat of pearly whites.
The truth is, you can self-whiten your teeth with some household items, including aluminum foil. Create a mixture of baking soda and toothpaste, spreading it on a strip of foil. Then, wrap it around your teeth, leaving it there for an hour. Do it a few times and the results are noticeable!
Protect Your Paint!
When painting for any reason, losing lids of paint jars or the caps of tubes can sometimes become an issue. Exposing paint to oxygen for an extended period of time makes it susceptible to oxidation which will dry up the paint, and there's no coming back from that.
If you find yourself in that predicament, aluminum foil can save you from a sticky situation, literally. By putting the foil over the exposed paint, it will help prevent oxidation for an extended period of time. Long enough to find or get a new lid.
Use It As Cheap Paint Tray Liner
If you're painting something large like a house or even just a wall, the chances are that you'll be using a paint tray and most likely a plastic liner to dip your roller in paint. Paint trays can be a pain to clean, which is why most people also use a plastic liner.
However, you don't necessarily have to use the ones provided at the store. Using aluminum foil is just as effective and will save you money as well as help you decrease your plastic consumption.
It Can Be Used To Repel Insects And Birds
If your garden is continuously being attacked by pesky insects or birds, a few strips of aluminum foil should be able to solve that and save your garden. The reflection that it gives off and the heat that it conducts will drive those unwanted critters away.
This is a particularly effective hack during the winter months when birds, squirrels, and insects might seek refuge in your plants as a way to escape from the elements.
Create A Funnel In Seconds
Let's be honest, unless you use one regularly, a funnel isn't something that's always easy to find lying around the house. Plus, chances are, if you do have one, it's been stored somewhere and it's become dirty beyond repair or you completely forgot where you stored it.
So, if you're in desperate need of a funnel, grab some foil and shape it into a funnel. Just make sure that all the seams are closed together tight so nothing spills out because that would defeat the purpose!
