More Random Chatter from the counter at the Duct Tape Diner

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Clean Tomatoes My wife and I love home-grown tomatoes. However, I found that birds with loose bowels loved to perch on top of my tomato stakes. It was disgusting to go to the garden to pick some juicy tomatoes for dinner and find them covered with starling excreta. Duct tape to the rescue! I fastened 16d nails (pointed end up!) with duct tape to the top of each of my tomatoes stakes. Now my tomatoes stay clean and the birds get the point that they are not welcome in my garden. - Joe Swelnis

My Dad was an old school sheet metal mechanic from way back, and Duct tape has been a staple to our existence ever since I can remember. We he passed on, I inherited his pickup truck and had it registered as shown to sort of pay my respects to him. He always had a great sense of humor, especially when it came to Duct tape and was the first to get me one of your calendars a few years ago. Just thought you'd like to see the plate.  
Take care and keep up the good work! - Jim S.

Bible cover I bought a Bible, and the cover was just some basic thin paper cardstock and I hated that. So I covered my Bible cover with Duct-tape and it looks cool. I love it. - Matt

From the UK: Hi guys, just found your site and, now that I have; A) Stopped laughing, and; B) Realized that I am not alone in my affection for the silver miracle, thought I would let you know about a weekend when duct tape saved the day, not once but three times.
Back in March 2002 six plucky members of our bike club, (Broke'N'English) set off from deepest Sussex to spend a weekend partying in Dorset with a couple of hundred like minded weirdos at the Chocolate Starfish 'No Pants' rally. (Honestly there is no homo-erotic or exhibitionist reason for the name as far as I know, you'll have to ask the guys from the club.) On the way we stopped for a comfort break, as I belive you say in the good old USA, or a quick piss as we say in England,as my good lady, Paula, clambered (in)elegantly over the barbed wire fence to find the privacy of a convenient hedge, she managed to snag her waterproof nylon over trousers in the vicinity of her butt. "Shame we aint got any Duct tape" Quoth our leader, Stuart. However, unbeknown to him, packed along with tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear etc. I had absent mindedly stashed a roll of  the wonder stuff itself. One quick application of Duct tape later and my wife's derriere was water tight once more.
We had planned to arrive at the site around 6 PM. and sure enough we got there smack on 10 PM. We erected our tents to the accompaniment of a guy not five yards away calling for Hughie and Ralph, using the five fingered sieve, honking like a stuck goose, you get my drift, pleasant......not. Anyway, after a shorter than expected but none the less damn good evening we awoke on the Saturday morn to find that our digestively challenged neighbour had stumbled in his drunken stupor in to his own tent and ripped assunder the porch of his dwelling. Once more Captain Duct Tape to the rescue. We managed to repair the tent to, almost, as new condition. Now it just happened that the other occupant of this tent was a young lady by the name of Hedgehog, a not untalented journalist who mentioned the heroic deed in her write up in the Summer 2002 edition of, the sadly now demised, AWOL custom bike magazine. My 15 minutes of fame probably, but I have the article in pride of place in my workshop.
The ride home on Sunday was cold, damn cold, and one of our party by the name of Serena busted the zip on her glove allowing super chilled air to blast straight up her right arm. Before hypothermia set in we wrapped her wrist and lower arm with Duct tape, et voila, instant wind proofing. My wife still wears the same waterproof trousers two years on and they still don't leak. The tent made it to a couple more rallys, and most importantly everyone in the club now carries a roll of Duct tape whilst out and about!
Since then I have used Duct tape to repair various motorbikes, make soccer balls, repair the curtains on a 40 foot lorry trailer and a hundred and one other things. At first people think I am slightly eccentric for allways carrying the stuff with me, but they pretty soon come round to my (our) way of thinking when it gets them out of the crap once or twice. Sorry for prattling on so long, take care and keep spreading the word. - Paul Kinsella

Duck Brand Executives Rolling In Money
Three executives get down and dirty to earn money for charities at Henkel Consumer Adhesives’ 14th annual Duck Challenge Day (March 2004)

While the company was rolling in success stories from the past year at its annual Duck Challenge Day, the three executives were rolling in play money, trying to earn dollars for charities.

The executive who “adhered” to the largest amount of dollars won the most for his designated charity. Based on these executives’ results, three charities will receive donations from Henkel Consumer Adhesives. Brogan’s winning collection earned $2,500 for the Boys and Girls Club of Peel, a Canadian branch of the charity. John Kahl earned $1,500 for the Avon, Ohio, school system. Bill Kahl earned $1,000 for the Cleveland-based Esperanza Inc.

Mattress Patch A few months ago, we were having a lot of company at our place, so we had to pull out the old reliable Coleman air mattress (queen size). I pumped it up and found I had a couple of leaks. I used the patch kit that came with the mattress, and they wouldn't hold......tried three times. So, I broke out the good stuff.....duct tape. One small strip on each hole, and voila! it's still holding. We've used the mattress several times since, and no problem. - Dave R.

A strap to watch! Yes, I realise that there is already a duct tape watch out there, somewhere, on the internet.  My duct tape watch is special becasue not only are my photos grainy, blurry, & all around crappy, but the watch was originally mae with expensive leather and gold. Well, the leather got wet and stretched out so instead of buying a new $100 watch (I bought it on e-bay for $8) I simple constructed new watch bands out of our favorite silver material. - Dominique C., Morenci, Michigan

Fiberglas Mold Last winter as I was driving i hit some ice and crashed into a snow bank. I broke the casing of one of my fog lights. Wanting to fix them rather than toss them. I needed a way to make a mold around what was left of my light. So I loosely taped around the opening where the parts had broken off. It made a perfect form and with some vaseline on the sticky side (so the fibreglass resin doesn't stick to it). I covered the inside with fibreglass resin and cloth. After it dried I peeled off the tape with no problem and I had my lights back, as good as ever. I will now use duct tape for all forms and molds - Mark N., Hampton, Ontario, Canada

To see more duct tape sightings like this one, click to our duct tape sightings pages.

Scooter Lights It was just the other day when i was riding my scooter and it was dark out well i decided to get some duct tape and tape little flashlights to the side and i went around my neighborhood because the street lights werent working.. It worked out very well especially the duct tape helped BIG TIME!!! - Angeltilly

Cheap Crap Fix I had one of those lapses of judgment and bought one of those items you get flyers for along with your credit card bills.
Needless to say, it didn't assemble as advertised and the paper towel rack parts included a metal hollow rod and 2 plastic end caps that would not stay on the rod.
I was about to throw the whole thing out when I thought I'd try a little duct tape. I cut 2 1/4" strips and then cut those in half. I put two small strips over each end so that half was down the inside of the tube and half on the outside. Then I put the plastic end caps back on and now they stay on. I also had to make an "adjustment" to a 24" towel rack so it would fit in an 18" space on the wall. I cut the tubes. My girlfriend complained that the outer rod kept falling out and that I needed to cut it "longer." Since I could not find my magic saw, I used the same duct tape fix I used on the paper towel holder. The tube doesn't spin and does not fall out any more. - Steve H., Winston-Salem, NC

Showerhead Fix I thought I had a problem after my shower head fell for the, heck, who knows how many times. Well, water started spraying out the back of the body right at the wall where the shower arm goes through the tile. I needed to take a shower, but didn't want all the water going behind the wall, so I Duct taped it!!!!! It stopped the leak perfectly.

It's been about four months now and my wife is still complaining about me not getting a new shower head. - Paul B.

Wedding Band Protector When I married my wife, Tracey, I promised her I would always wear my wedding ring. Problem is that working with my hands, I find my ring has gotten very scratched and knicked. The solution? Every morning before work, I wrap my ring with duct tape! Not only does this protect my ring, but it allows me to proclaim my love for both my wife and for duct tape all day long! - Steve S


Sled Dogger helper March 16, 2004... Galena, Alaska "Arrived this early morning with 14 dogs. I dropped Forrest back at Cripple due to fatigue. Sport and Diamond have been the primary leads. The Grateful sled is still moving up the trail in it's busted condition. The sled's brush bow consists of two strips of plastic sled runners latched together with nylon cord and duct tape. The stanchions are missing or busted. One of the side support railing is gone, the other one missing. Have frostbitten feet. The journey is challenging and rewarding. Life is good." - An entry from the journal of Iditarod sled dog racer, G.B. Jones - check out his site for more up-to-the minute information: www.alaskanmusher.com

Epilog: The Iditarod started with 87 teams. Only 77 finished. GB Jones placed 76 out of the 77 finishers.
His dogs, his perseverance and his duct tape got them through!
16 Huskie dogs, $8000
1 dog sled, $1500
1 roll of duct tape - Priceless!
- Update provided by Chuck O'Connell

Resourceful, but not recommended When my cousin couldn't figure out how to strap her grandchild into the car seat while babysitting a few years ago, she finally gave up and in frustration ran back into the house for her duct tape. With her prescious granddaughter safely wrapped into the car seat and with a pair of scissors packed for extraction, she set off to return the baby to her not so amused daughter. - annon

Homemade NASA My daughter needed a project for school. She was limited to things in the state of Alabama. We decided to build a scale model of the Rocket Park at the Huntsville Alabama Space Center. We could not have done it without the help of duct tape and varios size bottles and tubes. Left to right: Saturn 1B, Jupiter, Juno II, Mercury Redstone, Jupiter C - Cory L., Moline, Illinois

Casting Call I broke my arm and was put in a cast, but for a college class, I'm taking swimming and my grade depends completely on participation in class. So what did I do? I duct taped over the cast to create a water-proof seal, thus keeping my cast dry! - Katie, Mesa, Az

Hair Affair My boyfriend wanted his hair streaked, but I didn't have one of those bleaching caps (with the small holes to pull the hair through). A plastic Target bag secured with duct tape and a toothpick to punch the holes and pull his hair through did the job quite nicely.Jana N., St. Paul, MN

Poison Ivy Spread Preventative A friend of mine got poison ivy on a canoe trip...it was all over his body....he got married the next weekend and used duct tape to tape sanitary pads to several spots on his torso to cover up the eruptions so he and his bride could "complete their honeymoon", without infecting her. - Larry F., Conyers, GA

DVD Shelving Unit When I bought my DVD player, I used a small basket that my mom gave me full of muffins to house my small DVD collection. When I started to buy more DVDs, the basket filled up, and eventually started to overflow! I just couldn't stack the DVDs in any way to make them fit, so long story short, I now have a beautiful mini-bookcase made of cardboard and duct tape to hold my DVDs. - Seth D.

A Few Good Ideas Spark Other Ideas Seeing the vacuum cleaner extension bag application on the March 23rd page of the 2004 Duct Tape Page-A-Day calendar sparked the idea of sticking several foot long strips of duct tape onto the bottom back of the vacuum cleaner, and dragging them along as you vacuum. This would pick up anything that the cleaner misses. The same principle would work for lawn mowers, picking up leaves and other debris.

Getting back to the clean rug idea, you could make a mat out of duct tape and tape the sticky side up at the inside entrance-ways of the front and back doors of your house. When folks come in, the tape will pull all the dirt off their shoes. Industry uses similar mats at the entrance of their "Clean Rooms".

Use extra sticky duct tape, and it may even stop your spouse from walking out on you. - Ron K

Cast Decor Carolee didn't pass up the chance to show her patriotism during an election year - she grabbed some white and red duct tape at the Orchard Supply Hardware How-To Fair Duck® brand booth and decorated her blue cast.

Hockey Fashion Statement My hockey team uses duct tape to hold up our ice hockey socks instead of clear tape the clear tape is so darn expensive so one day we just said lets use duct tape and we decided to use it and it ended up working even better than the clear tape. Plus it also adds a little "Bling-Bling" to our uniforms. - Billy W.

Duct Tape Goodnights When my son was younger he always wet to bed. We went on a camping trip and forgot to bring his goodnights (diapers for bigger kids). I got a wonderful idea...we first took a bath towel and wrapped it around him like a cloth diaper, then we took a large black trashbag to "secure" it...Finally we used DUCT TAPE to hold it all together .....We laughed and he cried..... - Lori Marr

Duct Tape Rope Here is picture is of a piece of rope that I made out of duct tape. I was working at a Boy Scout summer camp. One of the things we teach the scouts how to do is make rope. One day it occured to me to make rope out of duct tape. This 1' long piece of rope used 3' of tape to make. - Greg, Ridgecrest, CA

Duct Wars I am an amateur filmmaker and my friends and I have created 4 movies titled "Duct Wars". The main plot originally is Duct Tape versus Masking tape (showing that Duct Tape dominates). Thus we got Ductorian people verses the Masked people. The 4 movies show the Ductorians fighting against the Masked people that are trying to destroy them. The fourth movie we just finished and are extremely proud of, We called it Duct Wars IV, Midnight Shadows. It is 1.5 hours long and took roughly 2 years to produce.

My friends and I love Duct Tape and together have made Duct Tape vests, trench coats, wallets, Duct Sabers, and use duct tape in most props within the movie. The duct tape keeps the props together. We also use different colored Duct Tape to make crazy custom designs on things such as posters and ice skates.

If you are interested in learning more about Duct Wars you can visit our site at http://www.ductwars.com - Chris Thombs, DCJ Productions

QuikCrete Pattern Maker Demonstrating QuikCrete colored concrete at the San Mateo Orchard Supply Hardware How-To-Fair in San Mateo, California, QuikCrete concrete artist/craftsmen rely on duct tape to mask out the pattern. when the concrete color skim coat sets up, the tape is ripped off to reveal the underlying color.

Beer Carrier on a Roll I had a 24-pack of Bud that I drank a few out of. Now I had 20 cans in a case that was open at 1 end and needed an easy way to carry it over to my buddy's place. So, I pulled out my duct tape and made myself a convienient handle. I'm sure it's not the funniest use you guys have been emailed, but who can't relate to this?! - Jarod

Change Collector I have a small double-decker washer/dryer unit. The wash basket is narrow and frequently, loose change ends up in the bottom, just barely visable... poking out from under the agitator skirt. I can not get my fingers under there to retrieve the change...and only succeed at pushing the coins back and forth. I thought to get a piece of duct tape and slide the end of it under the agitator...and I am then able to pick up the coins. - Torre

Silly Putty and Duct Tape Cool the Feet Where I work is 16 air conditioners on the black tar roof. The roof surface can be 130° F and gets very uncomfortable for the feets. I made the silly putty molded to my shoes then froze it. when I go to the roof I duct tape the frozen molds to the top of my shoes. Feets Coolers! They last only 30 minutes in that heat, but that's 30 miinutes before my shoes are filled and sweat and my feets get soft boiled. - Larry A.

Golf Travel Bag Strap Holder When Jim travels with his golf clubs he doesn't trust his babies to the strength of ratchet straps! No sir! It's duct tape on top of the strap latches to provide an extra ounce of protection from the baggage handlers' abuse.

Ski Binding Repair A man who I'll call my husband of nearly 20 years, was cross country skiing with me yesterday in Lake Louise, Alberta. We had come to the end of the road, Moraine Lake Road which is closed for cross country sking in the winter. This was the half way point of our journey with another 8 km back to the trailhead. It was a warm (-1C) day with big sunshine. At the turnaround point there were some other skiers picnicking. They were trying to get pictures of the Whiskey Jack's taking food from their outstretched hands and were succeeding miserablely! Digital cameras are too slow it turns out to capture scavenger birds eating from your hand at 7,000 feet above sea level!

We had something to eat and turned around. About 1 km into the return journey I heard something go pop and then I noticed that my kick plate from the binding had fallen off. I got out of the track, twisted my foot and sheered off the toe binding. I was looking at a long walk back to the trailhead when the unlucky bird photographers came upon us. I asked if they had any glue so perhaps we could glue the binding back on but they, Jack was his name, had duck tape, along with a cadre of other useful items. Now normally my husband is the prepared one - he had a cell phone, power bars, digital camera and water but no duck tape. We often scoff at the skiers who carry large back packs filled with whatever but no more!

Jack, along with my husband's help, got my kick plate taped on as well as my toe binding with my boot. I was going to have to ski with one leg pretty much but it was better than the 7.5 km walk I was facing. I was actually able to go down hills pretty well on one leg and if I got going too quickly I gently put down my duck taped left ski and new brakes were applied! Unfortunately, the kick plate began to come off and because I am so proficient as a one legged skier we actually caught up with Jack and his party. Actually, the truth is Jack's wife had to stop to take a cell phone call from one of their three teenagers daughters who were home alone! So I was able to get recapped which is what you see with the attached photo.

Incredibly we were able to finish within a few minutes of Jack and his party. After using the digital camera to take the enclosed photo, my husband rushed over to our car to take out the duck tape he had there to give to Jack as I used the rest of his roll but before he could get to our car Jack et al were gone in their dark green minivan - Ford or Chrysler I believe. We think that they had an Alberta license plate and may reside in the Calgary area.

Is there a duck tape relocation service so we could return the half a roll we used? How can we achieve duck tape karma? - Jane Depraitere

Tradeshow How to (Not) At the Denver Home and Patio Show Dave Anderson of Universal Shell shows how to NOT keep your water main and sprinkler system plumbing protected from the cold weather (plastic sheeting, insulation and duct tape). To see how he suggests is a better protection shell, click to his web site: theuniversalshell.com

Bungie Substitute Recently I had to carry a two drawer file cabinet home in the trunk of my 98 Camry. Needless to say the darn thing wouldn't fit in the trunk, so I had to leave it sticking up out of the trunk. My only problem, I didn't have any rope to tie the trunk lid down, but I did have my trusty roll o' duct tape in the trunk. A couple of strips of the marvelous stuff from the trunk lid to the back bumper and I was on my way home. When I got there the file cabinet was safe and sound and the duct tape was holding as tight as ever. - Joel A. Vess


Duct Tape Saves Time AND Money
When my When my watch band broke, I thought, why waste money on a new one? - Hamilton W., Millersville PA

Bug Wacker When cleaning bugs from windows and/or Outdoor lights, just put duct tape sticky side out on your duster. I observed our Janitor do this on an extended duster. Works Great! - Ron


Make your toys last forever! Jay F. (with sister, Rebecca) shows us his plan to make toy last forever: Cover it with duct tape. A toy golf cart gets a nice new silvery finish thanks to Jay's taping techniques.

Horse Warts and Ringworm I have used duct tape on my horses for equine warts and also my horses ringworm: Two years ago I had a mare that got a really bad case of ringworm on her chest. In case you do not know ringworm is super contagious and horses can give it to humans etc. I had booked an expensive breeding with a stud for this mare and had tried every medication available. My mare was due to be taken to a stud to be bred and the owner of the stud did not want her there because it could spread so we compromised and we taped her chest with duct tape so the stud would not be exposed. The ringworm had been on her chest for over two months. I picked her up ten days later and took of the tape and the ringworm was gone! - Montana Momma

Keep Your Hands Available I visited the USS Lexington, a retired aircraft carrier presently located in Corpus Christi, Texas.  They have a program called LIVEABOARD where Boy Scouts can come and stay on board overnight. The scouts are instructed to not walk around with their hands in their pocket, for if they fall, they can not catch themselves.  If they are caught walking around with their hands in their pocket, their pockets are duct taped close for their protection.  It works! - Robert C., Troop 434


Duct Tape Wallet Saves Bill's Butt Bill from Kansas showed us how his Ducti® wallet saved his skin when he backed into a grinder. Another butt saved with duct tape!

Anchors Aweigh! I lost my anchor when I was out fishing in my boat, I found a nice size rock on shore put a couple of loops of rope around it then 3 or 4 times around with my handy dandy Duct tape. It's the best anchor I ever had. No need to buy a new one. - Dave B., Southborough Mass.

Duct tape games Linda G. of Livermore, California makes games for school kids out of brightly colored Duck® brand duct tape, rope and other stuff found around the house. These props no doubt make her quite popular while effectively dealing with ever-tightening budgets in her volunteer job as gym teacher at a local school. Linda's son, Luke (right) shows that an affection for duct tape runs in the family. Here Luke shows off his money saving money strip (made of duct tape and dimes).

Duct Tape helps the mail go though Roger, a custodian at the DeKalb Il Post Office, was asked to figure out how to retrieve an Express Mail piece from under a set of stairs in front of a house. The carrier had dropped the piece and it had slid between the stairs into a space that was surrounded by wood.
Roger thought and thought and came up with a wonderful idea. He added a piece of Duct Tape to the end of an opened coat hanger. The hanger was extended between the stairs and reached all the way to the Express Mail piece. He was able to stick the Duct Tape to the piece of mail and pulled it back to where he could retrieve it easily. The Express Mail was delivered on time thanks to Roger!!! Great idea and Great Tape! - Bonnie, Postmaster

Hold Your Pants On! There I was, just minutes before the museum opened. I couldn't wait to get inside... But there was one problem...My pants kept falling down. I had two choices, either hold my pants the whole time, or make a belt. I decided to make a belt. Of course, being a Duct Tape Pro, I reached for my roll and made a one time use, easy rip-off belt. YAY! - Tapemaster Nick L., North Carolina

Cell Phone Antenna Helper Phil got sick of his cell phone antenna breaking and battery falling off. A little duct tape not only did the trick for the fix, but also gives his cell phone a unique look that many a duct tape lover would envy.

Service above and beyond I was at one of my clients working on their computer system and noticed they were tryin to hang up some Christmas decorations. They were havin a hard time keepin it hung up with that clear tape crap. I ran out to the car and grabbed my duct tape. One of the girls didn't like the looks of my stainless steel color traditional silver duct tape, but the other lady thought it kinda sexxy so she sed sure, and asked if I, the master of duct tape would attach the Christmas decorations for her. I did, and they had a hard time removin them after new years. She told me to invoice her for the duct tape; I told her duct tape should be free. - Robb P.

Roll-On Suitcase Handle Repair When a passenger on a flight to Kansas City produced her broken-handled roll-on bag, out came Tim's flat pack of duct tape for a quick repair. The makeshift handle worked great, retracted correctly, and drew applause from surrounding passengers as well.

Hold Your Pants On! There I was, just minutes before the museum opened. I couldn't wait to get inside... But there was one problem...My pants kept falling down. I had two choices, either hold my pants the whole time, or make a belt. I decided to make a belt. Of course, being a Duct Tape Pro, I reached for my roll and made a one time use, easy rip-off belt. YAY! - Tapemaster Nick L., North Carolina