14 Genius Uses For Tin Foil You've Never Even Thought Of

Posted by Brent Furdyk on June 12, 2017

Most of us grab a roll of aluminum foil when we need to keep a fresh-from-the-oven dish warm, or cover banana bread to prevent it from burning. If that's all you're doing with foil, you're only scratching the surface of this super versatile kitchen staple. From preventing bananas from ripening too fast, to ensuring clothing is static-free, check out these brilliant uses for tin foil.

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Pot Scrubber

Why buy metal pot scrubbers when a balled-up piece of aluminum foil can be just as effective on cleaning gunk from pots, pans and even glass baking dishes? Besides, it's a great way to recycle a piece of used aluminum foil you would have otherwise thrown away, an idea that's both thrifty and environmentally friendly.
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Keep Pie Crust Edges From Burning

Savvy bakers already know this trick, but if you're constantly frustrated by pies that have burned edges or have become over-browned, simply cover the edge of the pie with aluminum foil, which will prevent that from happening.
Eugene Kim/Flickr Creative Commons

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Shine Tarnished Silverware

If you're looking to shine up some tarnished silverware, then check out <a href="http://www.rd.com/home/cleaning-organizing/how-to-clean-silver/" target="_blank">this "recipe"</a> utilizing foil. Combine one cup of water, a tablespoon of baking soda in a pot, add a sheet of aluminum foil and bring to a boil. Drop tarnished silverware into the pot and wait 10 seconds before removing with tongs. Prepare to be dazzled by the suddenly shiny silver!
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Static-Removing Dryer Balls

Who likes static cling? Nobody, which is why there are numerous products — dryer sheets, balls, etc. — on the market specifically designed to prevent clothing from getting static-y when it's removed from the dryer. But adding a few balled-up pieces of foil will also work, with the aluminum serving to discharge any static buildup that occurred during the drying cycle.
Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr Creative Commons

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Speed Up Ironing

Hands up if you'd like to cut your ironing time in half! If that's you, then try this: line your ironing board with aluminum foil, beneath the pad. The reflected heat of the foil on the ironing board will actually iron both sides of clothing at once, meaning there's no need to flip over and iron the other side. Brilliant, right?
Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr Creative Commons

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Sharpen Scissors

Dull scissors will never be a problem if you have a roll of aluminum foil handy. Simply stack seven or eight sheets of foil on top of each other and then cut through the thick stack with your dull scissors. Slice a few times and voila! Sharpened scissors.
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Polish Chrome

When faced with rusty chrome, crumple up a sheet of aluminum foil into a ball and dip it in water. Since the aluminum is softer than steel, it won't scratch chrome. Not only will the abrasion safely remove rust, a chemical reaction between H2O and the compounds in the aluminum will make chrome shiny and new-looking. This is also just as effective when it comes to removing rust from metal railings and the like.
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Crisp Up Soggy Pizza

Leftover pizza is never as good as fresh; reheating it in a microwave results in a soggy abomination, while using the oven tends to dry it out. The solution: aluminum foil! Put the pizza on a baking sheet wrapped in foil, and place on the bottom rack of a cold oven. Set temperature to 275°F and heat for 25 minutes, and that pizza will taste as fresh as the moment it came out of the oven the first time.
Wilson Hui/Flickr Creative Commons

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Seal Plastic Bags

To seal food in a plastic bag so that it's airtight, all you need is a resealable plastic bag, a strip of aluminum foil and an iron. Simply wrap the edge of the bag in foil and press down with the hot iron. The foil will heat the plastic and cause the bag to fuse together, with the foil ensuring the iron doesn't come into contact with the plastic and make a big mess.
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Bacon Rack

If you love bacon but don't love cleaning up the splattered mess made in a frying pan, or all that fat, then try <a href="https://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/form-makeshift-roasting-rack-out-foil-for-crispier-healthier-oven-cooked-bacon-0148403/" target="_blank">this foil-based solution</a>. Create a makeshift "rack" by crimping the foil to create ridges, about an inch off the baking sheet, and lay the bacon on top of this rack. The ridges will capture the grease, leaving you with leaner, crispier bacon with a mess that's as easy to clean as crumpling up a piece of foil.
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Slow Down Banana Ripening

If you find your bananas become black and mushy before you've had a chance to enjoy them, here's a foil hack to keep bananas fresher for longer: separate the bananas and wrap the stems tightly in foil. The foil will trap the ethylene gas that bananas release naturally while ripening, which will actually trap the gas and slow the ripening process.
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Soften Brown Sugar

Sometimes brown sugar can harden into a sweet, solid brick. Before reaching for a hammer, try this method to soften it up by placing the sugar in an oven-safe bowl and covering with a strip of aluminum foil. Bake in the over at 300°F for 5 minutes, and that sugar will be back to its original softness.
not gingerbread/Flickr Creative Commons

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Custom Cookie Cutter

No cookie cutter? No problem, if you have a roll of aluminum foil, which <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cookie-Cutters-from-Regular-Aluminum-Foil" target="_blank">can be fashioned</a> into any shape you desire in order to create customized cookies.
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Impromptu Funnel

When you're in the midst of a job that requires a funnel and there's no funnel around, aluminum foil can come to the rescue. Possibly the easiest of all foil-based kitchen hacks, simply roll a sheet of foil into a funnel shape, and it becomes an impromptu funnel that can be thrown away when it's completed its purpose. Brent Furdyk is a freelance writer in Vancouver.
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