5 Things To Do with Rubber Bands

From: Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things, Reader's Digest CanadaUpdated: Mar. 20, 2019

Do you have an ever-growing rubber band ball in your desk drawer? If you’re ready to dismantle your collection, here are some surprisingly practical uses for all those elastics.

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Did You Know?

The first rubber band was patented in 1845 by Stephen Perry, who owned a manufacturing company in London.

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Cushion Your Remote Control

To protect your fine furniture from scratches and nicks, wrap a wide rubber band around both ends of the television remote control. You’ll be protecting that remote, too – it will be less likely to slide off the table and be damaged.

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Extend a Button

Having trouble breathing? Maybe that shirt top is too tight. Stick a small rubber band through the buttonhole, then hoop then ends over the button. Put on your tie, relax and enjoy your ability to breathe easily.

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Wipe Your Paintbrush

Every time you dip your paintbrush, you wipe the excess against the side of the can. Before you know it, paint is dripping off the side of the can and the little groove around the rim is so full of paint that it splatters everywhere when you go to hammer the lid back on. Avoiding all this mess is easy. Just wrap a rubber band around the can from top to bottom, going across the middle of the can opening. Now, when you fill your brush, you can just tap it against the rubber band and the excess paint will fall back into the can.

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Get a Grip on Twist-Off Tops

Ouch! The tops on most beer bottles these days are supposed to be twist-off, but for some reason they still have those sharp little crimps on the crown seal from the bottle-opener days. And those little crimps can really dig into your hand. Wrap the top in a rubber band to save the pain. The same trick works well for smooth, tough-to-grip soft-drink bottle tops, too.

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Reshape Your Broom

No need to toss out that broom because the bristles have become splayed with use. Wrap a rubber band around the broom a few centimetres from the bottom. Leave it for a day or so to get the bristles back in line.

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Originally Published: January 21, 2011