Cling film life hacks

Cling film life hacks

There are some things in life that we could always do with more of. Money – usually. Time – always.

You might think something that could save you a little of both would come at a high price, but that’s not always true. For the price of a high-quality roll of cling film, you can both save precious minutes on your daily routine and cut your regular bills at the same time!

Cling film is more than just a way to wrap up and preserve your leftovers. It’s a versatile material that you can use to make your life a little easier in a variety of ways. Here are just a few of the surprising life hacks you can employ when you have a roll of cling film in the drawer.

Boost your heating efficiency

Energy bills – and particularly heating costs – are a huge concern for millions of us at the minute. Naturally, the better your home is insulated, the more efficiently your heating system can warm your home, and the lower your heating bills will be. The problem is that most forms of insulation are expensive to buy and can involve heavy-duty intrusive construction work to install. At a time when budgets are squeezed, that just isn’t viable for a lot of people.

This is where cling film can make a difference – albeit a small, temporary one. By sticking a layer of cling film over the inside of your windows, you can effectively add a thin extra layer of glazing. While it isn’t as effective as a third pane of glass, it should net you some savings on your energy bills for a fraction of the cost of other insulation methods. It will make the most difference in rooms with single-glazed windows, or rooms with a lot of windows like conservatories and orangeries.

Collect oil and fats

After cooking something oily or greasy, you’ll be left with a pan full of congealing fat. Most people know you’re not supposed to tip this down the sink because it can clog up pipes and can contribute to the formation of fatbergs in the sewage system. These congealed masses of non-biodegradable materials can be costly to remove, and in a worst-case scenario, can block up a sewer entirely, backing up water and rupturing pipes.

Despite that knowledge, how many of us do it anyway? According to research, nearly half of us. That’s probably because mopping up all that oil with wads of paper towels is messy, inefficient, and too time-consuming for the breakneck pace of modern life.

A sheet of cling film on the base of the sink and over the plughole means you can pour that oil into your sink without it going down the plug. You can then peel that film up by the corners and tie it into a bag with minimal mess ready for disposal in a bin.

Salvage corked wine

After a stressful day, unwinding with a glass of wine can be just what the doctor ordered. But if that wine turns out to be corked, that will likely only add to your stress!

‘Corked’ wine is a wine that’s been bottled with a contaminated cork. The contaminant in question is called TCA, a chemical compound that forms when the naturally-occurring fungi in the cork meet the chlorinated products used to clean wine casks. It gives wine an unmistakable musty aroma and a bitter, mouldy cardboard taste, and while it’s not harmful, it is also not drinkable.

Modern screw caps and different bottling techniques mean this problem isn’t as widespread as it once was, but as it can only be detected after wine has been bottled, aged, and opened, it still affects around 2-3% of wine bottles. If you drink wine even semi-regularly, you’ll encounter quite a few corked bottles in your lifetime.

Thanks to cling film, though, if your next bottle of wine is corked, you don’t have to pour it straight down the sink. Provided the film contains polyethylene, you can wad it up (use around a square foot) and place it into a pitcher. Pour the wine into the pitcher and swirl it around. Polyethylene absorbs the TCA, restoring your wine’s original flavour. In particularly bad cases, you may need to replace the wadded film once or twice, but eventually, you should be able to decant the wine and dispose of the film before taking your first well-earned sip.

Fridge cleaning

Some cleaning jobs can be quite relaxing and strangely satisfying. Cleaning the fridge is absolutely not one of them! Quite often, we don’t take care of it as often as we should – which is every three to four months – because it can be so time-consuming and unpleasant.

It often involves reaching right to the back of the fridge to clean up spills and long-forgotten scraps of food. Depending on the size of your fridge, this can be quite awkward. With a few sheets of cling film, though, you can take care of this frustrating task in record time.

The next time you clean your fridge, place some cling film over the shelves – preferably using high-quality film with strong clinging properties, such as our Prowrap all purpose film – and then refill the fridge as normal. Now, when the time comes to clean out your fridge, you can easily just peel off the film and quickly wipe down the sides and shelves to finish.

While its primary purpose is to protect and preserve food, cling film has many other clever uses, meaning it’s always a great idea to keep a roll or two in your kitchen. To learn more about the amazing properties of professional-grade cling film, just get in touch with us today!