27 Resourceful Uses for Aluminum Foil

Have you ever covered a pan of brownies with aluminum foil only to throw it away later?  It's still fairly clean and still very much useable (not for food) yet it usually gets thrown out.  Here are several strange uses for aluminum foil besides covering food.

Uses for Aluminum Foil:  Used (but Clean)

• Cover your oven cooking rack with foil before backing a pie or any other messy dish to avoid messy splatters.
• Try sharpening your cheap household scissors by cutting through folding up foil a few times and cutting through it.
• That method also works for specialty corner and paper cutters used in scrapbooking and card making.
• While you are at it, you can also use foil to make special shaped confetti and table scatters.
• Fix loose springs in battery operated toys.  Put the battery in place, if the spring is loose, tuck tiny pieces of foil under the spring to keep it stable.
• Line the bottom of a paint roller pan with aluminum foil to make it easy to clean up later.
• Wrap doorknobs in foil to protect them while the door is being painted.
• Not finished with your paint job?  Keep the brush from drying up by wrapping it in foil.  Then you can use it the next day.
• Use water and a ball of aluminum foil to wipe the rust off chrome.
• Line the bottom of your grill with foil to keep the soot from building up.
• Cover the bottom grill of your fireplace with foil to keep the ashes and soot in place for easy clean-up.
• Mixing tiny bits of foil into your mulch will help keep bugs and rodents away from your vegetable garden.
• Keep rodents away from saplings by covering the base of the tree with foil.
• Keep birds out of fruit trees by tying balls of foil onto branches.  The sound and light can help do the trick.  Grab some more gardening tips with our forum members' ABCs of Frugal Gardening.
• Wrap a piece of aluminum foil around a fish hook for a really cheap lure.

Uses for Aluminum Foil:  New

• Wrap a popsicle or ice cream cone in foil to avoid drips.
• Use as a pastry bag for decorating cakes and cookies.
• If you need a funnel, form a cone with a couple layers of foil and cut a whole at the bottom.
• Create a really easy party platter by covering a sturdy piece of cardboard with foil.
• Keep steel wool pads from rusting by wrapping it in foil and putting it into the freezer until it's next use.
• Store freshly polished silver in foil to help keep them from getting tarnished.
• No curlers?  Wrap chunks of your wet hair in foil, coil it and blow dry it.
• Placing foil over your ironing board will reflect the heat so that both sides get ironed at one time.
• Train your pets to stay off furniture by spreading foil over couches and lining the legs of chairs and tables with foil.  It will keep pets from chewing and scratching.  After a couple days, remove it and your pet should have gotten the idea.
• Create a Sun Box for unhealthy plants.  Line a cardboard box with foil and place the plant inside and set it in the sun.  The foil with reflect the sun making sure the plant gets sun from all angles.
• Cover cardboard with aluminum foil to make a cheap light reflector for outdoor photos.
• Keep matches dry while camping by wrapping them in foil.  Here are some other frugal camping tips.

Do you use foil other ways in your home?  Do you reuse foil?  Please let us know HERE.