by Tenebris

Created on: May 24, 2009

Adhesive tape is one of those familiar household items whose uses go far beyond simply patching holes and binding boxes.

Those who have pets know that pet hair gets into everything. To get rid of pet hair on clothing and furniture, loop a piece of adhesive tape a few times around a handle so that the sticky side is outward, then run it over the fabric. A similar technique can be used to get rid of all that dust and grit that likes to collect in corner crevices and in the cracks of baseboards.

When the temperature is about to plunge below freezing, a piece of adhesive tape over the locks will keep them from icing over. Be sure to do this before going through a car wash in winter.

Has glass shattered on your rug? Use adhesive tape to get the tiny pieces of glass the vacuum leaves behind. If a window breaks, crisscross the broken glass with adhesive tape before tapping the inside edges lightly with a hammer to remove it. Along the shores of New England and Canada's Maritime provinces, homeowners usually use adhesive tape on their windows to keep them from shattering, rather than boarding them up.

Any time you want to quickly clean up the last bits of a dry spill, such as flour, sugar, salt, or rice, the sticky side of adhesive tape will lift every grain cleanly away.

If you are doing a job that requires quick access to a large number of tacks or nails, stick them to a piece of adhesive tape and hang it beside where you are working.

Brightly coloured adhesive tape can be used to mark off playing areas on a court or driveway, whether for hopscotch or for a little one-on-one basketball.

Running a stripe of reflective adhesive tape down the centre of the back garage wall will help you park in the centre of the space at night. If you are walking, running, or biking at night, a stripe of reflective adhesive tape around your pant legs will help drivers to see you.

Wrap insulating or duct tape around the handle of a tennis racket or any other item where you want a better grip.

Containers can easily be labelled by writing the contents on a piece of blank paper, then sticking a piece of transparent adhesive tape overtop. If you use masking tape, you can write right on top of the tape. Either way, you can later relabel containers as often as needed.

If you still have any adhesive tape left, you could always stick two pieces on either side of an inflated balloon and poke a pin all the way through the balloon without popping it. The trick is for the pin to enter and exit the balloon at the adhesive tape, so that the tape automatically seals the puncture. Try it!

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