15 Ways to Fix Everything With Duct Tape

Don’t discard a good pair of old shoes or work boots because they’re letting in a little water. Instead, wrap them with a waterproof duct tape. Start at the bottom and overlap the tape as you move upward to seal the edges. This also works for waterproofing jeans. It won’t win you any points in the fashion department, but if we’re talking about boots you wear around the garage, then who cares?

You could head down to the home center and buy felt pads to prevent your furniture from scratching up the hardwood floor. Or you could apply a strip of duct tape to the bottom of chair and couch legs for the same result. This technique also works well for covering the sharp edges of ladders so they don’t scrape the surface they’re leaning against.

Forget expensive pet-hair-removal rollers, strips, and vacuums. Duct tape does the job. Press the sticky side against the upholstery on your sofas, chairs, or car seats; when you pull it off, you’ll pull the pet hair with it. To make the job faster, wrap the tape on a paint roller, sticky side out, and roll the tape over the upholstery.

Don’t hide the extra front-door key under the mat. You’re not fooling anyone. Instead, use duct tape to hide a key somewhere odd or inconspicuous, such as under a patio chair or on the underside of a downspout.

If you’ve ever seen giant X shapes taped over windows before or during a major storm or tornado, you might have wondered what they were for. In this case, X isn’t there to mark the spot. The tape prevents the glass from shattering if the windows break. The glass can still break due to the storm, but it will stay in place or fall in large chunks rather than shattering into dozens or hundreds of pieces.

Hang strips of duct tape from the ceiling in your garage or the soffits over your patio to catch flies and other insects. The winged pests will land and stick.

Any avid camper has probably had to put duct tape to use at some point during a trip; it’s useful for patching a hole in a tent, for instance. Here’s another benefit: If the zipper on your tent door is broken or jammed, tape the door shut to stop it from flapping in the wind and to keep out insects.

Before ripping a sheet of plywood, apply a strip of duct tape where you’ll be cutting. The tape will minimize the splinters from the saw blade and peels off when you’re done. This works well for woodworking projects for which you need a smooth edge.

Use transparent duct tape to protect paperwork or items that you would otherwise laminate, like a gym pass, recipes, a fishing license, or your kids’ school IDs. Cover both sides of the document, then trim the tape to size.

If you’ve ever attended a trade show or other major exhibition, then you’ve probably noticed the extensive use of duct tape over the many power cords in the aisleways to keep you from tripping over them. You can do the same thing around the house, deck, or patio, especially on occasions like Halloween or game day, when you’ve got lots of cords running around your property.

When the feathers (or other insulation) start to poke through a hole in your sleeping bag, solve the problem with a strip of tape.

Duct tape offers an inexpensive fix for the worn-out seats of your outdoor furniture. Run the tape from front to back, then double back to the front so the tape sticks to itself and offers more support. Use colored tape to add some character.

Instead of dealing with patch kits when your favorite beach ball or air mattress pops a leak, cover it with duct tape. It should seal the hole so the inflatable will hold air. We’ve even heard stories of duct tape sealing vehicle tires in a pinch until the driver can get to a repair shop.

It won’t be long now until the snow starts flying. If you discover a tear in your snowmobile suit, ski jacket, or snow pants when you take them out of storage, patch the hole with duct tape. You may even be able to find the tape in a color that matches your attire.

Lastly, one for the dedicated duct-tape lovers. Stick together several long pieces of duct tape. Attach one end to a tree or another solid support, then twist the strip of tape multiple times and fasten the other end in place. Viola! Duct-tape clothesline. It may not hold a lot of heavy items, like wet pants and coveralls, but it will support a lot of shirts and whites.