But anyway, we’ll be “upgrading” to more cool tools the next list that we write up (things that are cool and if you’re a more ambitious DIY-er, you’ll definitely want to check it out!).

Love your site!
Tell’er All About It

I found this web site after listening to your duct tape contest. There are some good ideas and uses for duct tape.
http://www.garycrocker.com/duct-tape-tips.html

I believe duct tape is still good for organization. When I put away things for the winter, I tend to keep them safe in big garbage bags. Well, one bag looks the same as the next. So I take a strip of duct tape, tape it to the bag, and use a black marker to write on it what it is (tent, sleeping bag, etc). It also works great on shoe boxes that store Christmas ornaments, etc.

I think there are three “tools” that every garge or workshop needs. They are in the order of value:
1.) Duct Tape
2.) Windex
3.) Bounty Paper Towels

My first tool is Duct Tape because it has been used to keep the fenders (rear qtr panels) of my 93 Blazer connected to the rear tailgate and parts of the Frame and “paintable” so that I could pass the vehicle inspection of the state I lived in before.

The second tool is Windex for its ever presence in my garage for the spills and such.

The Third is “Bounty” brand paper towels for their strength when used as a fuel filter for my emergency generator/ lawn mower and chainsaw.

These are my favorite tools that every shop should have!

Thanks,
eric

1. Duct tape makes an excellent *temporary* barrier. Have you ever tried to pour concrete or (in my case) floor levelling compound, and used 2×4’s to frame your area, just to find the mixture leaking under the 2×4’s? Duct tape to the rescue! Knowing it’s for a temporary purpose, Duct tape is an excellent flexible liquid resistant tool that can be used to form a temporary membrane between the floor and the hard barrier (the 2×4). Since it’s only there to hold the mix until it hardens, the degredation over time of the tape isn’t an issue.

2. Duct tape makes an excellent flexible cone. Have you ever been in a situation (car engines do this to a lot of people) where you can’t quite get your funnel in there, and paper is too flimsy? Backing duct tape onto itself to make a cone that will bend and flex but not break is an easy solution. It works in the opposite too. You can make a cone that you put on the end of a vacuum to provide gentle suction on a surface that isn’t round. This is my little trick on fixing dents in speaker cones! You don’t want a tight fit, but if you make a cone with duct tape that is larger than the speaker cone with the dent (or at least the dent), you can flex the sides of the duct tape cone with your hand at the speaker cone to get enough suction to pop that dent out without damaging the rest of the speaker.

3. This is the funny one. A friend of mine was in a situation once where he was underdressed for the occasion. He had a button down shirt with him and a sweater, but no tie (and the tie was what he was missing). Thinking quickly, he fashioned together what amounted to a duct tape clip on tie! It would have been pretty obvious if he took the sweater off, but if all you saw was the knot, it looked pretty good, like a silver tie. (I WISH I had a picture)

By the way I believe that the name is a corruption of its other name Duck tape – it is made from a cotton material called duck cotton.

Now if you are the Rambo type who has a “bug out” bag then it might be something useful to pack. But, if you aren’t in the middle of the woods after the apocalypse and you have access to a normal set of tape/tools, there is never a reason to reach for duct tape.

What I am trying to say is that I use duct tape to hold something in place for a short amount of until until I am done screwing it in or whatever I am doing. Think of it as like a temporary nail.

Thanks a lot!

I put the air filter on the backside of the fan so that as air was being pulled through the fan it would capture dust and then reduced the amount of dust that was circulating in the room, and getting upstairs. The air filter was held on the fan with duct tape, of course.

Also, to help keep the amount of dust getting into HVAC room down, I stapled and duct taped an 8-mil poly around the “room” which also helped.

Mark

Me? I reserve my use of duct tape for packaging items for storage, to reinforce trash bags stressed by debris, and as an extra level of comfort grip on wooden-handled tools. Oh, one of my favorite uses is to wrap it around things that can be rolled for disposal like old carpeting and padding, foam, etc.