It’s shiny, metallic, paper thin and has been used to wrap brownies and other food items since time immemorial, or at least since whenever it was invented. We’re talking about aluminum foil, that wonderful substance that has more uses than you can imagine. Yes that’s right; aluminum foil can be used for all manners of things, and to save you time and energy, we went and after a lot of research (and by research I mean googling) here we present you with some seriously innovative uses for this substance.

Fused

You know those tiny little fuses that go into everything from stabilisers to extension cords? When they burn out and you don’t have a replacement, you can just wrap the fused fuse with aluminum foil and it’ll work well enough to last you until you get a replacement.

Size isn’t everything

Ever needed a AA battery but all you have is a AAA? Well what you can do is roll up aluminum foil into a wad and insert it between the spring and the battery to make up the difference! It’s not a perfect solution but as with the previous one, it will last you until you get down to a shop and buy the right batteries. You can also use this technique in case the springs have become loose.

Rust removal

Wad up a piece of aluminum foil and put a little water on it. You can now use this to rub off rust from the chrome parts of your car. This should technically work on any rusted metal. Try it and see. There’s another way to do this as well: line a bowl with aluminum foil and place your rusty metals in it. Then add a little salt and let them soak for about five minutes. Take the metals out and rinse. You’ll see that they’re a lot shinier now.

Swifter scissors

Are your scissors getting dull? Cut through a few sheets of aluminum foil with them and get that edge back in shape.

Ironing plus

This is actually a productive use of physics: if you place a sheet of aluminum foil under the cloth on your ironing board, it’ll save you loads of time. This is because the foil retains heat and while you’re ironing one side of a shirt (for example), the heat from the foil is, in effect, ironing the other side as well!

Stop this interference

Here’s some more practical physics for you: do you have your DVD player and TV or satellite receiver box stacked on top of one another? If you do, you may find that reception gets a bit fuzzy since the various electromagnetic fields are interfering with one another. Counter this by putting a sheet of foil between the various devices.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 9th, 2014