Duct Tape: A Mother’s Helper

Duct tape. That gray, sticky, loyal friend has been a favorite product of many since its invention during World War II. Created as an easy, waterproof way of sealing ammunition boxes, it quickly gained popularity after the war as a new product that could fix anything. There are countless stories of how this amazing tape has helped over the years, from duct work repair to saving the astronauts on the problem-ridden Apollo 13 flight.

A full roll of tape in the home and another in the car, can take care of most times when you need it. What about when you are out and away from that supply? No one wants to carry a heavy roll around with them in their purse, pocket, or diaper bag. Here is a solution I discovered when researching travel hacks for my daughter. She was getting ready for a long hiking trip, needed to pack the lightest bag possible, and duct tape was a must on her list. Take a pencil sharpened to half or smaller. Stick one end of the tape to the middle of the pencil. Wrap the tape only around itself many, many times. When you rip it off the roll, fold over the last little bit on to itself to make it easy to remove. Voila! Instant mini supply of the gray champion.

How has duct tape helped us? The following is from our experience with duct tape over the past twenty-five years.

Duct tape will keep a diaper on a toddler who takes everything off all day long. One strip across both tabs of the diaper will slow them down. This will stop some children. For those little bundles of energy who are determined to be Harry Houdini or David Blaine, the tape will give the parent extra time to intervene. For safety’s sake, please only do this during awake times. A non-duct tape tip for the stripper situation: cut the feet off zip-up sleepers and put it on the child backward. They can’t get to the zipper easily during naps and bedtime. If you have twins, when they are awake, they will discover how to help each other out of their backward clothing. This happened with both sets of my twins. Hilarious and maddening at the same time. After the zip-up sleepers fail, you go to one-piece outfits with snaps on backward. Eventually, they will leave their clothes on. And, strangely, you will miss this bizarre phase of life trying to outsmart your child or children.

While walking down a sidewalk, ever have a child drag the toes of their shoes across the pavement? Or perhaps after several rainy days of puddle jumping, the glue from an inexpensive pair of sneakers goes on strike. Either way, the sole yields, and it leaves you with a shoe that resembles a Muppet. Duct tape to the rescue! Wrap the sole and the toe together. A few times around will be sufficient to hold it in place. Do it while the child’s foot is in the shoe to get the correct fit. On vacation, ever have a pair of adult shoes or sandals come apart? DT can work there, too. It isn’t the most fashionable look, but it will do to keep the rest of the sole from coming apart until you can get home or back to your hotel.

You can get out a splinter with a piece of duct tape. It can extract those hard to grasp small slivers. This is helpful for a child who screams when they see tweezers. Really? Tweezers. Not a chainsaw. To a little one, it might as well be the same thing.

You can fix a bag that rips. Diaper bag, a backpack on a hike when you are miles from civilization, overloaded school book bags, a reusable cloth bag filled with heavy items, all can keep going with a little help from duct tape. Duct tape can also work to repair straps.

When we were accompanying our oldest son up to college for the first time, I was driving behind his very used vehicle. At one point, a screw flew off from a rusted section of the car. The screw had kept a part of the wheel well panel in place. I watched the panel flap in the breeze for miles and wondered when it was going to come off. The next time we pulled into a rest stop, we duct taped the panel in place. Problem solved.

Ever been on a long car ride and your child keeps dropping their pencil? This could be on purpose, or the child really cannot hold on to the writing instrument. Tether a pencil to a child’s pad of paper with a small rope of duct tape. You don’t have to pull over yet again or endure whining of, “My pencil fell on the floooooor againnnnnnnn.” This is a splendid solution when there isn’t an older sibling or adult sitting in the backseat to reach the discarded writing utensil.

You can keep an appliance closed. My twin boys at age two couldn’t open the refrigerator on their own. They quickly figured out if they teamed up, the four little hands could yank open the heavy door. Two long strips of duct tape provided enough time for others to stop the “Dynamic Duo” before they got into the cream cheese again. The distinct ripping sound of the tape is an excellent alarm.

You can repair clothing. It isn’t a long-term solution, but when someone rips the seat of their pants, and you’re not going home for some time, it can help ease the child’s embarrassment. A piece on the outside and on the inside of the tear or hole will adhere better to itself and won’t stick to skin.

Use DT to make an emergency belt. When a preschooler pulls out the elastic on adjustable jeans and he has no hips or butt to keep up the pants, a duct tape belt works. Make the tape into a rope by twisting, pull it through the loops on the pants, and secure the ends with a flap of flat tape in the front.

You can find hundreds of other uses for duct tape in everyday life in a quick Google search.

There are also plenty of times we have used the gray hero for homeschooling.

Make a spider web in a doorway with all the sticky side facing one direction. Have your children throw cotton balls at the “web” so they can see how a spiderweb works. A plastic spider added to the center is a nice touch, but not required.

You can make foam swords. Take black foam pipe insulation (6-foot length, ½” thickness) and cut in half across the width. Wrap each one in gray duct tape for most of it and black duct tape for the “handle” to create two swords.  The tape stiffens the insulation enough to have it work as a sword, but still soft enough for playing around. They can use these types of swords in “battle” for any era in history that used that weapon. Sword battle could also be used as “gym class” to burn off some pent-up energy from sitting too long. It is best to have battles outside, if possible. If you have one child, a tree, pole, or other object could stand in for an opponent. If you cover the black foam in blue or red duct tape, you have a Star Wars light-saber.

To go with the sword, a pizza box flipped inside out, painted, and the top and bottom duct taped together, can make an excellent shield. Add a duct tape handle to the back of the box. Sheet pizza boxes are the perfect shape for Ancient Roman shields. For that kind of shield, glue a paper bowl to the center on the front. Paint the bowl silver, the rest of the pizza box red, and add designs over the red paint in silver.

Duct tape and cardboard make a great team for science or social studies projects. There are hundreds of craft projects with duct tape to enhance your homeschooling units or add to your art classes. Costume pieces, prom gowns, hats, and other clothing can be created. Flowers, wallets, organizing helpers, and game instructions are also available.

If you are looking for an interesting gift for the middle-schooler, tween or young teenager in your life, there are several duct tape craft books available from major bookstores. The book (or books) paired with several rolls of tape (a color or two would be a nice touch) would occupy someone for a long time.

The original MythBusters television show has three episodes devoted to the magical properties of duct tape. (“Duct Tape Hour” season 7, episode 13, “Duct Tape Hour 2” season 8, episode 8, and “Duct Tape Island” season 10, episode 1.) They do some incredible experiments and creations which can spark your imagination for other uses of duct tape.

I would love to hear about the craziest thing you’ve used duct tape for. Feel free to email me with any additional tips or just share a story of the weirdest reason you’ve reached for the duct tape. Thanks for reading!