Aluminum foil is something most houses have in the kitchen cabinet. Learn how to use this household staple in unique ways with our tips and life hacks.
Aluminum foil is an amazingly useful tool to have in your home. Sure, it is great for covering baked goods and for delivering those delicious casseroles out of the oven. But did you know it can be used in nearly every room of your home?
Are you like me and feel bad throwing out used foil and want more ways to use it at least one more time? Learn how to use aluminum foil in ways you may never have thought of before!
Here are 10 ways to use aluminum foil
1. Polish silverware
If you have dull looking silverware, try using a piece of aluminum and rubbing it on your pieces. It works because ions in the metal help to create a nice shine.
2. Scrub pans
Got a nasty glass casserole dish and don’t have time to let it soak? Use the foil from the meal (or a new piece) as a scrubbie cleaner. It is abrasive enough to loosen stuck on food. Don’t use this technique on any non-stick surfaces, however.
3. Oven drip catcher
Shorten the time you spend cleaning your oven by placing a sheet of it under any dishes that may drip. When your oven is cool, just take off the sheet. Easy clean up!
4. Sharpen scissors
Did you know that using scissors to cut through pieces of aluminum foil will actually sharpen them? This is a great way to keep them in top shape.
5. Protect glasses
If you like to dye your hair at home and wear glasses, cover the ear piece with aluminum to keep the dye off them.
6. Make ironing faster
To help speed up time spent ironing, place some under your pad on your ironing board to help lock in some of the heat and speed things up. Additionally, you can clean gunk off your iron’s plate by running it hot over a piece of foil.
7. Stop paint drips
When you are painting a door, you can cover the handles with a layer of aluminum foil and simply remove to prevent drips.
8. Create a make-shift funnel
If you need a funnel in a pinch, make one with a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil.
9. Keep pets off furniture
Place a sheet on the couch seat and all it will take is a couple jumps up on it to quickly figure out it isn’t a quiet place to sleep.
10. Clean jewelry
Using the same ion exchange as you did for your silverware (see above), you can clean your jewelry in a simple way as well. Just line a bowl with foil and add a couple of teaspoons of powdered (bleach-free!) laundry soap. Allow your pieces to soak briefly and then air dry.
