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Radiator Repair
I was on my way to Wilmington, NC (200 miles from home) with my friend when the car I was driving overheated. I managed to make it to a gas station at an exit and saw that a radiator hose had busted. I dried the hose off and went into the store there and bought some duct tape and tightly wrapped up the hose. I put water in the radiator and finished my drive to Wilmington and I made it home from Wilmington. It lasted for several more days, if not weeks. --- Aaron Y., Welcome, NC

Dead Mice De-Stinker
We had a terrible smell in our house -- a dead mouse kind of smell. We sniffed and searched for days before we figured out that the location of the dead critter was in a bathroom wall. My husband removed the toilet tissue dispenser (the kind that is set in a square hole in the wall) and was almost knocked out by the stench. Working with a mirror, a little flashlight and a wire coat hanger, he couldn't quite get the unfortunate mousie up and out of the hole without it falling back to the bottom. Then he made a sticky-side-out wrap of duct tape to put on the end of the coat hanger, and voila! One mouse corpse retrieved! He's thinking of just duct taping the toilet paper holder directly to the wallpaper now, since he had to take out the 2X4 stub that the thing is normally screwed to. --- JoAnn C.
Good idea! Here's another one: Maybe you could encase the mice in duct tape prior to letting them run about your house. That way, when they die, their rotting stench will be contained in the duct tape shroud. --- The Duct Tape Guys

Getting the right fit...
As National Park Ranger, I used to wear a Smokey Bear hat on duty. Occasionally, I would need a new hat which I sould buy from a catalog without the opportunity to try it on first. I got a couple that didn't fit right. They were the right width, but a little too long. Fold out the sweat band and add narrow strips of duct tape until the hat fits. --- Bill

Whoopee Repair
My wife found an excellent use for duct tape! My three year old son recently aquired a "Whoopee Cushion" as a gift. As you can imagine he found this to be quite entertaining and our house was constantly filled with the lovely sounds of mock intestinal gas. After much use the whoopee cushion split at the seam therefore silencing the sounds. My three year old was distraught so mom came to the rescue with duct tape in hand. She skillfully sealed up the torn seam and we were once again graced with the happy sounds of the whoopee cushion and my three year old son's gleeful laughter. No ordinary tape could have handled this job! --- Terry A., Snohomish, WA

Duct Tape Fashion
This is a picture of me in a duct tape dress and skirt (the skirt is 100% duct tape, the top has a cloth base). I will be wearing this to winter ball. You can also see my matching duct tape purse and duct tape. See our other duct tape fashions here. --- Sarah Van H., Poway, Ca
Notice Sarah's use of the vintage Duck® brand duct tape logo.

Favorite Page Saver
I wanted to save the sheets from the Days that have passed so I used Duct Tape to tape the calendar to the box the calendar came in. Now I just put the used sheets in the box to save them. --- Richard Get your duct tape calendar at the Duct Tape Pro Shop, today!

Save Your Sole
My favorite use of ducttape is to re-sole my rock climbing shoes. As rock climbers know, re-soling with high-quality rubber from a professional costs up to $60. Well, I could get a pair of shoes for that much...it just ain't worth it. Instead, to cover up the hole at the end of my climbing shoe where my toes are poppin' out, i put on 3 layers of duct tape. It lasts about one week (pretty impressive). And since i got all the duct tape colors, I make them pretty.
My second most favorite way to use this stuff is to wrap my sandals in them. I got some ugly Adidas sandals, and i immediatly wrapped them in colored duct tape. I change it about once a month. --- Erik, The Mr. Color-Duct Tape Climber Dude

Pocket Protector and Uh-Huh Cap
I used to have a problem with my mechanical pencil poking me through my shorts, so i just made a Duct Tape pocket protector. Then the other things in my pocket didn't look as cool, so I covered my calculator and M&M minis quarter holder in Duct Tape. Now I can pull my pocket protector and calculator out proudly. I also made this Duct Tape hat for a prop in a school project, but then I added more dreadlocks and it became so much more. There was a big blank spot on the front, so I wrote on my most frequently used saying there "Uh-Huh." I even wore this on the last day of school last year, along with a shirt I made that said "Not Strange - Unique" --- Kevin, California Click here to see the Uh-Huh cap.

Basket Weaver
My son made duct tape baskets for his ski poles while in college. Many ski areas will not allow poles without baskets. --- John Schoenrock

Dome Dimmer
On New Year's Eve, I was driving around in the country. After a couple of turns, I ended up on a private drive. Then, I decided to just back out in reverse. However, I backed straight into a ditch. I opened the door, looked around, and got back in. Unfortunately, I forgot to close the car door while I was backing out of the ditch. The car door nearly flew off. When I checked the damage, I noticed that the door would not close. I wasn't worried because I knew that I could use duct tape the door shut. Immidiately after this, I discovered two new dillemas; The dome light would not turn off; and the door ajar chime would not stop. After several split seconds of contemplation, I used the duct tape to cover up the dome light, and tape the door ajar button down. Needless to say, I never travel without a couple of rolls of duct tape. --- Cody W., Hays Kansas

She hates duct tape! (Or does she?)
I'm divorced 7 years. It took me 5 years after he left to get rid of all of the duct tape in my house. The pipes under my kitchen sink were duct taped. Here a piece of duct tape, there a piece of duct tape everywhere a piece of duct tape. I hate duct tape!
I thought I had banished it from my life forever. When my 15 year old son was about 12 or 13 he asked me to buy him a roll of duct tape. I immediately went into a tirade. After about 15 minutes he calmed me down enough to explain that he was starting a wallet making business. Business actually boomed for a while, he had more orders than he had wallets. After that phase passed I was relieved that the duct tape was once again gone from my house. Now that he is a little older he tries to help me with projects around the house. Usually the first words out of his mouth are duct tape. I'm not sure if duct tape is hereditary or genetic but I definitely thought it was a guy thing. Until recently!
My 17 year old daughter and my 15 year old son and their friends were shaping designs out of Christmas lights on the Asbestos siding on our house to surprise me (stars, trees). They tried using packaging tape but it wouldn't do the job, so one of their friends went to his house down the street and brought back a roll of... you guessed it, duct tape. The lights really look great so I could hardly bi_ _ _ about the duct tape. When I was cleaning up the porch after they decorated I brought the duct tape in the house to keep it out of the weather until the boy remembered to take it home. Before he took it home his Mother stopped in to return a casserole dish and commented on how nice the lights looked and indicated that she was getting ready to put hers up but couldn't find "her"duct tape. I gladly solved her missing duct tape problem and gave her roll back to her. Finally, I thought, the duct tape is out of the house once again. I was out shopping the other day and picked up a few extra extension cords. Right next to the extension cord display was a rack of duct tape. I honestly can't explain why I did it... it was almost as if I was possessed ....but I purchased a roll of duct tape. I haven't told anyone yet. You are the first to know. I just had to confess to someone! --- Nancy, Central PA

Remember, Nancy, duct tape isn't inherently bad... the misuse of duct tape in the hands of a hack (like your ex) is what's bad. Tape on!

Ikea, Eat Your Heart Out!
(left) It was Black Duct Tape that saved our chair when we camped out for Lord of the Ring tickets! --- Filip, Sweden

The Mail Must Go Through
I'm a rural letter carrier in Graceville, Fl. One day about one third of the way into my route, I had a flat tire. I had a tire pump with me but the air was coming out of the hole in the tire as fast as I put it in. I was about 8 miles from the nearest service station and knew I couldn't drive on that flat all the way there. Then I remembered I had a roll of duct tape in the car. ( I keep it in there to repair mail boxes ). I put four layers of duct tape over the hole in the tire. Would you believe that tire held up all the way to the service station! When I pulled into the station, all of the guys working there had to come out and check out my tire. I'll never go anywhere without my roll of duct tape! --- Sharon R.

Duct Tape as a Cold Remedy
My son has always been very creative. When he was eight he had a very bad head cold. When I came in to check on him in the morning I had quite a surprise. He had duct taped his head to the headboard to keep upright and be able to sleep as every time he went to sleep he would slip to one side or another. It was a little eerie as his face was pulled kind of funny because of being asleep and the pull of the tape. --- Kristin, Northfield, MN

Target Helper
A friend and I go out shooting, but the targets never seem to last as long as the bullets. So I came up with the idea to use a piece of cardboard covered in many layers of duct tape. I cut the cardboard in the appropriate shape then covered it with duct tape. After shooting and scoring patch the holes with another layer of duct tape. This not only covers the holes, but makes the target stronger. --- Rob B, Dallas TX

Another Duct Tape Man?!
It was approaching Halloween and I needed a costume. I have the 365 Days of Duct Tape calendar and was using it to find ideas but none of them sounded like me. I wanted to do something original. I decided to use my love for duct tape as a costume idea. That's when the idea for the superhero Duct Tape Man was born. I went out and bought a cape, a mask, and a pair of gloves. I
covered them all in duct tape. I also had two whole rolls of duct tape attached to my belt, kind of like Batman's utility belt. To finish off the costume, I put a big "DT" on my chest. I went to the wild Halloween bash on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC. As I walked around, I left duct tape on things as I passed: the street, buildings, people, etc. -- sort of like Zorro's "Z". The whole thing was a great success. I still have the costume just in case I need to do some crime fighting in the future. --- Riley See a photo of Riley and other Duct Tape Superheroes at our Duct Tape Superheros page

Rolling Repair Kit
I'm a wheelchair user and like to travel light. I don't want to carry a roll of duct tape, so I cut four 12 inch strips of tape, and put them on various parts of my wheelchair. They take up virtually no space or weight and are always handy. You can use the same method of transporting duct tape, on a tool box, tackle box, back pack, etc.. --- Gene

German Rat Fix
I attend the University of Mainz, Germany. We are living with four guys in an apartment that is run down and recently we noticed that someone was eating our food supplies. We started to bring out mouse/rat traps and one day when I stepped into our bathroom, a big fat rat was staring at me! It turned around and disappeared through a hole in our bath tub. I grabbed my duct tape and taped it (see photo on right). Since then there have been no more problems of this kind! Cheers --- Andreas from Germany

Radio Shack now featuring Duct Tape Products! I made a cell phone holder for a customer at radio shack the other night. Made with the one and only DUCT TAPE. We did not have the holder he needed so I came through. The customer was happy and we all had a great laugh. --- DA BEAR

Beer Saver
I noticed you left out a significant use of duct tape... a beer saver. If you have an opened bottle or can of beer and for some reason don't finish it, just put a piece of duct tape over the top and throw it back in the fridge. This prevents the abuse of alcohol by dumping it down the sink when it gets warm or flat. I actually used it for this purpose last night is why I thought of writing and informing you of this use. In addition to being used for a beer (or pop) saver, I think it should be included in the "periodic table of the elements" due to it's essential nature. I'm pretty sure some of the newer elements on there were man made, so why not duct tape. Symbol: Du, Group: (either 1 or 8 to be consistent with it's strong bonding nature), and I'm not sure about the atomic info, I'm not that into chemistry. You should start a petition with chemists to have duct tape declared one of the basic elements though. --- Scott
Scott: An unfinished bottle of beer? Sorry, we don't understand the concept. --- Jim and Tim

Duct Tape Canoe
(left) Kyle M. of Huntsville, AL, made this nifty canoe out of a wood framework covered with duct tape (apparently the birch bark of the new millennium). He added the pop bottle outriggers to avoid tipping. Good work, Kyle!

Collie Ear Training
Diane W. of Krum, TX, sent us these photos of her collies, Kelli and Star. They are getting ready to be shown and their ears must tip over at the top. Duct tape to the rescue!

Biohazard Prevention/Control
We have found that duct taping over your entire body (including every breathing orifice), will successfully curtail the introduction of anthrax spores into your system. (A hint used by the Biohazard workers by the way... check out: http://www.ducttapeguys.com/dtnews/biohaz.html)
--- Jim and Tim, The Duct Tape Guys

Duct Tape: The Perfect Anniversary Gift
As a senior in high school my boyfriend Luke, was required to pick up an extra class to graduate. Although Luke hates typing, that's the class he ended up enrolled in. Halfway into the semester, after being a pain in the butt, his typing teacher kicked him out of class and told him not to return until he learned how to shut up or bring in a big ol' roll of tape. I showed up to class with him two days later, with.....A roll of duct tape, the teacher ended up making me duct tape my boyfriend's mouth before every class - because she wasn't allowed to! We both graduated together and are celebrating our four year anniversary tomorrow- I've gone through A LOT of duct tape over these past four years. --- Kandi

A Softer Soft Shoe Mandi Gould (Bees Knees Dance Study swing dance instructor and performer) and partner in performance at the Canadian National Exhibition, summer 2001, proudly displaying their duct-taped soles. Visit our web site: http://www.beeskneesdance.com --- Suzanne N.

Flat Fixer A while back a friend & I needed to remove a tire to fix a problem on my car. I found the jack, but no blocks to keep the car from coming off the jack. However, I had two full rolls of duct tape. A roll of duct tape laid flat on the ground works better than a two by four to block a wheel. We got the problem fixed in no time & were driving again. --- Ben

Caulk Sealer This may not be new but it really works for me. I have tried all kinds of things to seal the ends of opened tubes like caulking, glue etc. and nothing really worked. I tried taking a short piece of duct tape and wrapping the end of the nozzle tightly with about 3 wraps. Then I squeeze out all the air and stick the duct tape together to seal. A month or more later it is easy to peel off the tape and begin using the caulking without it having hardened in the tube nozzle. --- Swifts

Computer Customizer I saw that one computer that was taped up and I was inspired. So out of pure boredom and some duck tape I came up with this (right). As a WCU student, you cant do without the stuff. here are just a few of the other uses: Clothing repair, seatbelt repair, hold the rugby goal post together, fixed shoes, fixed wallet, hold the dishwasher closed, sign postings...I can go on and on but its 12:30 am and I have a class in the morning. --- Sandie K., Cullowhee, NC

Mirror Repair (it probably could have saved the owl, too!)
One day as I was traveling a local highway near where I live, I came upon an overpass. I noticed a large bird like animal perched on the rail. As I approached I just new it was going to take off just as I was getting to it and I would hit it. Well that is exactly what happened and I wound up killing an owl with my truck. It hit my passenger window and mirror. I cracked my window so bad that it had to be replaced but it cracked my mirror housing and the whole unit was barely hanging on. As I pulled off to the side of the road I remembered that I had a roll of Duct Tape in the glove compartment. I quickly did some major reconstructive surgery and I have yet to "fix" the mirror housing. This happened about a year ago and have had to replace the duct tape solution only once. --- Jay C.

Bored on a Road Trip?
Actually this photo was taken before starting Hood to Coast Relay. Hood To Coast Relay is the largest relay race in North America, its stretches 195 miles from the top of Oregon's Mt. Hood, down to the Pacific Ocean, in Seaside, Oregon, over 12,000 runners show up to experience this annual event, now in it's 21th year. What you see is our first runner after duct taping his toes to prevent blisters. All new to me. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. So I photo'd it. And it worked too. I didn't use duct tape and I got blisters. :^( So, lesson learned, need to prevent chafing of nips or pits, or blisters on the feet, I guess you just have to duct tape it. Pretty kewl huh! :^) --- Kevin

SCA Drunk Control
There is a member of our SCA group who gets exceedingly drunk and beligerent. So, since we had all seen the Mummy the week before, and he was daring us to do something to him. Duct tape to the rescue! We stripped the guy naked and duct taped the entire dude (everything...) to look like the Mummy... And left him that way for a while. We had plenty o tape! It was coming out of armor bags all over, to add to the cause. We were greatly entertained! However, the victim doesn't remember much. --- Cheri

Goat Gets Horn Aid
The Soeder family fixed their billy goat's broken horn with duct tape. "It was loose and kept flopping down into his eye. We used duct tape to pull it up and to hold it to his other horn." We can only imagine that this billy goat is the talk of the nannys! Nice going Soeders!

Duct Tape Cannon Amp
This is rather mundane, perhaps, but more material for your next book: Duct Tape as a Cannon Amplifier! I am a University Cannoneer for UC Berkeley. At all our home games we have a bona fide cannon that we fire from a hill above the stadium every time we score. Since that State of California doesn't think giving college boys powerful explosives is a great idea, we are always looking for ways to make the measly amounts of black powder that we get as loud as possible. The best way we've have found is to wrap the whole charge is duct tape, load it into the cannon, and then cover the opening with duct tape. The whole charge burns almost simultaneously and is much, much louder. --- Aaron G., University Cannoneer

Punishment Avoided with Duct Tape
When I was about 12 or 13 yrs of age I had a motorcycle, I used to come thrue the door to the garage by bumping the door lightly with the front tire and riding through it without putting my foot down, well, this worked for quite a long period of time untill one day the door was shut all the way, and latched, I came along on my motorcycle and I hit it particularly hard that day! The door exploded into a million peices! Knowing that I was in a huge amount of trouble, I duct taped the door back together AND IT WORKED! The door swung and closed perfectly! My Dad got home that night and instead of being mad at me he was shocked that the thing actually worked, we was so impressed with my ingenuity that I didn't get in trouble! Ever since then, my dad has called me the duct tape king. --- Jim B., Auburn W.A.

Cricket Control
Crickets in my basement were driving me nuts. For unknown reasons some appear to like high places with some adventurous ones found migrating two floors up into my bedroom and bath. I've even found them sitting on my basin when I turned the light on. Enough is enough, so I fought back by laying down an 8 or 10 inch piece of duct tape with the sticky side up on the basement floor before I go to bed. Crickets are "night people" and by the next morning I had 8 inches of crickets to dispose of in a plastic baggie. It works!!! Simple and cheap and effective.It make take more than one use of the duct tape, but no more crickets - anywhere in my house. I don't understand the "charm" that duct tape has in influencing crickets to hop aboard; smell or something else, or maybe just he consequence of their random hopping about. --- John M.

Duct Tape Disarmament
Here's a duct tape model of a cannon I did for a class (see below). --- Marc C. T., GA

Great Idea for Poster Lovers
You know how your posters always rip out at the pinned corners? Check this hint out: "When I hang a poster with push-pins, I always put a square of duct tape on the back of the poster where the pin goes through. That way the paper won't tear over time." --- Brett J.

Floyd Retriever. My son has a pet snake, Floyd, which I am not very fond of. One evening, I heard him yell "Dad, come quick, I need you". Floyd had gotten out of his cage. His cage had a screen on top, that was duct taped down. Floyd managed to push up the top of the screen and tried to get out. However, in his attempt to get out, he got caught in the duct tape. Floyd was found, alive and well, in a ball of duct tape on the floor. He wasn't able to escape any further because the duct tape was holding him captive. My son removed the duct tape, returned Floyd to his cage and then told me what happened. I told him we should have gotten a picture to send in, but it was too late. Since then, he has purchased a new cage for Floyd and we use duct tape for other things than escaped snakes. --- Janet B.

Wild Boar Hunting Companion
When I mentioned to friends in North Carolina that I would like to hunt wild boar with a handgun, they described a small group of dedicated sportsmen who use dogs to locate the boar, then use duct tape to secure the legs and to wrap the mouth and tusks. I didn't invite myself to participate, but I'm waiting to see if North Carolina adds a "Wild boar duct tape season" to their schedule. I might just carry a roll of duct tape as a backup to the 44 Magnum. --- Bill A.

Shower Saver
Kerry, L. of St. Helen, Michigan, saved big money and her shower head with this simple application of duct tape.

Dance Step Helper
Irish dancers use duct tape for the bottom of the shoes to prevent them from slipping... sometimes if we're taping our shoes in public we'll get some weird questions/looks about our duct tape! --- lauren v., charlotte, NC We're thinking that if you tape your hands to your sides, it might help with your Riverdance-style steps, too! --- The Duct Tape Guys

Waterfowl Repair
Duct Tape really does work on waterfowl- we used it to tape a broken goose together! Several years ago a friend of the family called to say that one of the geese in her flock had broken a leg and she didn't know what to do. She was told to bring it over to our farm and we would do what we could. The broken goose arrived and out came the trusty Duct Tape. Using dowel rods and Duct Tape, my grandfather constructed an ingenious (water proof) splint that repaired the goose in no time at all! --- Tessa D.

Hovercraft Helper
This past summer a friend and I built a hovercraft and ended up using 35 lbs of duct tape for the air cushion. --- Jonathan

Duct Tape Money Clip. I went to the fair with my friends. I always bring a flat pack wherever I go, just in case. I was going to bring my purse ( which was also made of duck tape) only I realized it would be a pain on the rides, so I stuffed my money and tickets in the little cavity in the center of the flat pack, and taped it to my belt. Ta da! Even on the gravitron, it stayed in place. and I didnt lose my money! --- Rachel

Duct Tape Love Shack. (right) At camp one day, we were given a pile of cardboard and two rolls of duct tape. What my friends and I did was built the Love Shack, a roofed building with a door that held six people, by duct taping cardboard to cardboard. Eventually we had "Love Shack" written in thirteen different languages on it, including Mandarin Chineese, Hebrew, and 'Giberish'. Unfortunately, because we had only two rolls of duct tape, we couldn't go crazy with it and the wind eventually blew the Love Shack down. Everyone present grabbed a piece of it and ran away. --- Dan L.

From the mouths of babes… My 3 year old recently burnt the bottom of her foot and had to wear a bandage. To our horror, we had enough gauze, but ran out of surgical tape to hold it in place. Her Grandma suggested that we use a little Duct tape. My daughter thought it was pretty cool to have that silver tape on her bandage. (Later that day I purchased more surgical tape) The next evening when I was changing her bandage, she was on the tired side and fighting sleep. When it came time to tape it up, she saw the surgical tape and started crying out loud, over and over, "Wahhhh....I want Duct tape!!" --- Susan B.

Calendar Fix. I used to have a problem with my duct tape calendar at work. It kept falling over when I bumped it and the rear support folded shut. Then I wadded up a ball of duct tape and placed it in there and no more problem! --- Randy S., Manheim, PA To see other calendar fixes click here.

Even Brits Use Duct Tape!
I am a docker from Falmouth, Cornwall in England and I often use SS tape (like Duct but black) to remove chilli sauce from items of clothing. I have even used it to successfully remove dried contact adhesive from a pair of jeans. --- JmlLaur...