Duct tape. It’s become America’s cure-all. Slap a few strips of that on anything and you’re good to go. NASA’s space shuttles, cell phones, leaky pipes, your vehicle of choice, the fabric of the hearts and minds of the American people — the possibilities are endless.
I have a few suggestions on things you can fix with duct tape that I’ve found work great, but first off, I have a disclaimer: Through trial and error I’ve discovered that duct tape doesn’t mesh well with anything fire-based. It may sound like a bonzer idea to fix the broken leg on your barbecue or grill with a healthy slathering of duct tape. The end result is either hot coals on your patio or that healthy slathering of duct tape adding a certain sticky flavor to your dinner.
Next up is tools. This should go without saying, but some of us learn the hard way. What do you do when the head of your hammer comes off, your saw handle falls off, or a drill bit won’t sit quite right in your electric drill? Duct tape the crap out of it? Wrong. The end result is a new hole in your wall, a bloody hand, or in the case of the drill, it’s ruined as the duct tape gets sucked up into it.
Aside from these two scenarios, most other duct tape fixes won’t end in an epic fail. Here are some of my favorites:
Around the house, duct tape works as a great door and window sealant, to keep those cold drafts out, or in the summer, the cool drafts in. Temperature transfer under doors can be noticeable. Duct tape will keep most things in your kitchen operating, whether it’s a refrigerator door that won’t stay shut or a cabinet hinge that won’t stay on. In your bathroom, you can try your luck with leaky things or stick it on that shower curtain that won’t stay up.
Duct tape is great for electronics with large wires, broken cases, or broken lids or covers. My personal computer cooling solution in the summer months is to duct tape a box fan to the exposed side of my computer case and let ‘er rip, dust be damned. Canned air is cheap, water cooling is not.
While fixing up your new (or old) place, you may realize you need multiple tools. Combining things is another great advantage to using duct tape. Many useful items can become infinitely more useful when combined with other common household items. Have to dig in the dark? Duct tape a flashlight to your shovel: instant “flavel.” Have to use both a screwdriver and a wrench? Combined they become “screwrench.” This principle can be liberally applied (like duct tape in general) to anything. In lieu of an actual tool belt, I’ve resorted to duct taping things to my thigh before.
Duct tape can be used to combine just about anything; for instance, I duct taped my alarm clock to my coffee pot and put it on top of the fridge. Touching the alarm clock to turn it off means I’ve already touched my coffee pot. At that point, I might as well make coffee and go to class. Alternatively, duct tape can also be used to repair breaks and cracks in ducts, or so I’ve been told.
It’s important to have a vehicle to help you move that’s in good repair, or at the very least, street legal. Headlight falling out of its socket? Reflector lens flapping in the wind? Hole in your car’s roof? Hole in your truck’s floor? Shifter knob won’t stay on straight? Window won’t stay up? Duct tape liberally, so long as you don’t impair your own visibility. It’s a college town, no one’s going to judge you. Personally, I managed to use duct tape to keep a master cylinder shifting my rig for another three months.
If you’re moving and out of rope to tie things down into a pickup or car, a roll of duct-tape will do the job, as long as the stuff’s not too heavy.
On a grand scale, duct tape is the economical savior of all things house, apartment, dorm and vehicle-related. Why pay the exorbitant prices of a repair person when you can do it yourself for the cost of a couple $2 rolls of duct tape? I’ve covered but a few of the many fixes duct tape can provide to improve your quality of life. Experiment liberally, just don’t hurt yourself or anyone else. Oh, and the sticky residue left over comes off. Eventually.
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