Did You Know This?



I received this in email this week.

Some useful information, in case you didn't already know.
If you did, then you are way smarter than me!

(Don't you even try and act like you already knew this, either.)

I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Whoever looks at the end of your aluminum foil box? You know when you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I would like to share this with you.

Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. Written on the end it said, Press here to lock end. Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up.

I'm sharing this with my friends. I hope I'm not the only person that didn't know about this.

Comments

Anonymous said…
this is important life altering information and I, an old but not wise user... thank you!!
mil
Anonymous said…
WOW! Good to know!
LaDue & Crew said…
lol... this is better than any recipe- well, for this minute anyway. I never knew!! Great public service announcement!
kat said…
I've never ever noticed that!
Anonymous said…
For some weird reason I did know this :) I don't know how. But dontcha think they could have a machine that pushes the tabs in before shipping so we don't have to thik about it???
Anonymous said…
wow. amazing how such an invention can make things so much easier... how is this not known the world over?? or maybe it is and im the one other person who didn't know this!
Peter M said…
DOH! (Sammy the F-bunny says, Hi)
Anonymous said…
I actually did know this . . . BUT only because a distant relative used to work for Reynolds (he's since been job eliminated) and I used to get Reynolds Wrap for free (since they used to give it out to employees) and he enlightened me. I was seriously bummed when he lost his job (and I lost my freebie). Notwithstanding this "trick," I still manage to f-up the roll.

Your #1 Fan -- EllenB
SarahB said…
I LOVE that tip!!!! I can't wait to get home to try it!
Pam said…
I had no idea. Great tip - thanks for sharing! I am off to push in the tab on my tin foil box.
Giff said…
raises hand - I never ever noticed that!
Karen said…
Oh, man! Right after I post this comment I'm going downstairs to look at my box of foil... I can't believe I never knew this! LOL
Foodiewife said…
ROTFL!!! I can SO relate, since I've done that multiple times...this is from someone who opens up the wrong side of milk cartons and has to use scissors to open most packages. I'm all thumbs! Thanks for the tip!
PS: Love your blog, and I read it faithfully.,
It's not that I didn't know it was there. I just always forget about it until it's too late. Thanks for the reminder!
Anonymous said…
Not so lucky over here on this side of the Atlantic - no 'press to lock' tabs to be found on any of the boxes in my kitchen. Just makes it worse now that I know I'm missing something! :)
Aggie said…
are you kidding me??? all this time...I hate saran wrap for this reason!!
Esi said…
I can honestly say, you changed my life today. Haha, thanks!
Dewi said…
OMG, LOL, I didn't know about that! All of these year?
I am impress! Thanks.
Maverick said…
After all this time! Thank you for the very useful info!
Pearl said…
omgosh! wow! *runs downstairs to check on aluminum foil + saran wrap boxes*
Anonymous said…
I never knew and I am heading to the drawer RIGHT now to do this...thank you because it always happens to me too!
Anonymous said…
tyou need to pitch this info to the makers of saran wrap and reynolds wrap. do you think they think we all know????

this could be their new ad campaign!
Merryann said…
For crying out loud!!! How many times have I thrown the )*(^^^&%$^roll across the kitchen because I couldn't keep it in the box to tear it?????? Won't happen again!
Anonymous said…
haha great tip! i'm checking mine right now!
Anonymous said…
I totally didn't know about the ends of the foil box. I had to go see it for myself.
Hornsfan said…
this is pretty amazing to me - as someone who has many a time re-rolled the foil (which of course is a total wreck after i've re-rolled it)!
OMG - who knew this? I surely didn't.
Jen said…
Oh my god!! Thank you so much for the tip!! I feel like an idiot for not knowing this. I guess we learn something new every day!
Connie said…
Stacey,
I wanted to thank you for posting this "Public Service Announcement".
I shared it with my 92 yr old friend last night as we were making candy in her kitchen. I wish you could have seen her expression! And she ran her own cafe for 25 years...and this was something she had never known! So, thanks from both of us!!!
Connie
Anonymous said…
That is brilliant! Honestly, you're right. I never knew that!
Anonymous said…
I didn't know that either. Thank you so much. Sometimes we don't know even about the top of our nose.
Ela said…
i didn't know that!
tomorrow im off to the supermarket to check all the foils available.
thanks for the info.
Anita Lau said…
NOW that's way cool! after reading your post i immediately went to the kitchen to look at my foil and wrap and lo and behold, they were there. even my husband was impressed!
tracy said…
OMG I had to run right away and look ALCAN foil doesn't have a tab, nor does my 1000ft roll of plastic wrap, but my waxed paper and my cheap foil wrap does have tabs. The wax paper the tabs are on both ends. Way to funny I did not know this.
Unknown said…
how is it possible not to know this?
Anonymous said…
I just found that out recently. Vanna explained it at the end of Wheel of Fortune, now I tell everyone I know.
virgo1234 said…
this is information I need.....
Anonymous said…
I had no idea either and I have a house full of kids! thank you thank you

I found a link to your site on sybermoms.... they thank you too!
Anonymous said…
LOL how did you not notice that? I can't imagine the pain and suffering you must've experienced, years of not knowing about the tab thingies. It would've driven me mad.
I just got my first roll of Freezer Paper yesterday and I had no idea, if the little triangles at the end of the pack were made for some use.

Thank you so much! It works for FreezerPaper as well.

Greetings from Germany,
Tanja
:-)
Anonymous said…
weird.. i just noticed this myself a couple weeks ago
Anonymous said…
"July 2"--me, too...a couple of weeks ago.
krysta said…
i never knew this either...cool
Anonymous said…
Didn't know either, but why the **** couldn't they have just done it for us all these years!
Caleb said…
The reason most people don't know about this is because most people aren't dumb enough to realize that squeezing the box stops it from rolling....

rolls eyes...

pardon the pun...

Seriously, the tab isn't anything special, it's for the dumb average person that can't just squeeze the box itself...
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
Wow!!!alot of dumb people
Anonymous said…
hey! i never knew this and i checked and even aussie foil boxes have it (generic brand and all!!)
thanks for the hot tip!!
dentists said…
wonder, never thought something so simple would make me feel smart.
Anonymous said…
One of the wonders of life.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager? You think being a banquet manager is glamorous? You try dealing with cranky chefs and bitchy waiters all day - and that's without the nasty customers. Visit my blog and see what it's REALLY like in this crazy profession.
Anonymous said…
Haha... it's true! I'd never noticed this, so at first I thought it was an "only-American" thing - but it's just the same here in Germany! Thanks a lot :))
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said…
I had to go look too. My foil has it, but my parchment paper doesn't. Who knew?!
Anonymous said…
The Tabs weren't added to the boxes to keep the foil from popping out, although that's an added benefit. The tabs were designed into the boxes so they could be hung up.
Anonymous said…
Americans in modern times are not handy in the kitchen, or even resourceful in a more general sense. The number of people who were surprised by this revelation discourages me.
Anonymous said…
interesting trick, but how about not using aluminum foil or saran wrap at all and finding alternatives, such as reusable glass containers and cloth wraps. Even wax paper is used with environmentally damaging chemicals which leach into your food and life. :(
Really people should be more aware of issues like this, however, it's little tricks like this that make us believe we've discovered something 'smart' :(
Anonymous said…
I got my degree in food service and have been in the business for forty years besides all those years of home cooking and I NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THIS TRICK...This goes to prove, no matter how old the dog is, she CAN learn new tricks.
Anonymous said…
i cant believe none of you knew that!!
Soma said…
I always complain at my boyfriend because his aluminum foil never has that tab pressed in, so when I cook in his kitchen the roll comes rolling out! I can't believe people never noticed this! Of course, I am the kind of person who looks over all the text on the box or can :)
Here I am - I teach people to cook and I write a food blog - and I never knew that! Thanks!
whow! that changed the way i do that from now on.
Unknown said…
I'm shocked that so many people did NOT know this... I mean... REALLY? Is this a joke?

REALLY!?
Travel Belly said…
Thanks for sharing. A clever find!
Carlos said…
I noticed this last week when I bought a new roll of foil. I can't believe I missed it after all these years!
Zorana said…
Useful tip. Thanks!
Anonymous said…
The moment I read about this post I ran to my kitchen and picked up the aluminum foil box. I cannot describe the disappointment I felt when I realized that Alcan does not have this feature. Looks like I'll be buying a different brand from now on...
Anonymous said…
It made me incredibly excited to find out that I knew something that a lot of people had never used before. I am 18 years old and I have known about this little trick for about 10 years.
JoAnna said…
i totally had no idea for the longest time and then i found out and told everyone i knew and my mother was like DUH of course. i had no idea. she certainly never showed me!
Jennifer... said…
I noticed that the waxed paper & parchment paper rolls don't have this though...not fair!
Cookhacker.ocm said…
Now if someone in the Aluminum foil department at Reynolds would just take a minute and walk over to the Parchment Paper department and tell them about this innovation, life would be good!
Kelly said…
I KNEW THIS. I actually don't know much but I knew this!! :o)
Anonymous said…
It's 2011 and I just now noticed that, made me literally LOL!
I can't believe after so many years I never looked at the end of the box!
Anonymous said…
OMG - I've been cooking too may years not to have noticed this little trick. Thanks again for enlightening so many of us! Cheers
Unknown said…
Haha!! Thank you for this post! I didn't know either!! LMAO

OMGoodness I have had times with seran wrap....
terry said…
Holy crap, who would have thunk it?!?! Lol ;)
At first I thought I knew what u were gonna say.....then you surprised me!! I had just finished a roll of foil this morning and ran to get it out of the trash, yup the tab was there.....checked in pantry for plastic wrap, yup its there.....wow, this is gonna be life changing!! ;)
Anonymous said…
I'm in aww right now. Those dang things never seem to stay in the box; TY
mark E roberts said…
I jumped right up and ran to the refrigerator and looked at my plastic wrap (I keep it in there because it doesn't stick--I love stuff like this--yet gets sticky again when it warms up!). Unbelievable! I never knew tis!
Anonymous said…
Just ran to the kitchen and popped all my tabs!!! (The wax paper roll didn't have one though.)THANKS!
My boyfriend {of all people!} just showed me this the other day! I can't believe I went this long not knowing that!
Anonymous said…
wow,I didn't know this and been using f for a very long time.Thanks..
Jacki Holmes said…
WOW - Learn something new every day and at 50 you would think I would have known this one
Winnie said…
That was a fun fact! I will check it out today..Thank you...
Anonymous said…
I'm shocked that so many people don't know how to use tin foil! Apparently my mum has taught me well...I really thought this was common knowledge
Nisha said…
Coming across this page 4 years after you published the post, and didn't know about it. Gonna go check mine right away! Thanks for sharing :D
Jamie Lane said…
Wow pretty cool information. Thanks I will have to pass this on.
sheri said…
I have always used the one on my seran wrap but never thought to look at the other boxes. I checked my wax paper cuz I was using it last night for a draft and it kept falling out. it didn't have one..
Anonymous said…
That's the Darnest thing, all these years I didnt notice, When I get home I have to check this out!
Anonymous said…
Tga Alcan one does not have one....
Why I wonder
Anonymous said…
50 years I've walked this earth and never knew that. I'm sitting in bed and had my daughter bring me the foil. It was actually there. The war is over. Thank you.
Anonymous said…
For Sheri - the wax paper folks need to get a clue:)
Anonymous said…
Are you kidding me??? I'm 61 years old and have been cursing those rolls always crawling out of the container while I'm up to my elbows trying to get things covered up forever!! Thanks for the tip!
Unknown said…
Just stumble onto this, and its the same in the Uk! That useful hidden tab, life is going to change from now!
KoLdDesert said…
Uhh..I have known this for a very long time..but the thing is, it's hard to push the sides in..and if you do you end up with bent foil cylinder and foil never comes out right..probably why no one ever uses this. You have to be very careful or you'll end up wasting tons more foil.
Anonymous said…
Thank you so much for sharing this. I had no idea!
Iris said…
I saw this on Ellen a while back, and before that, I had never even noticed that tab!
Anonymous said…
63 years doing it the wrong way. Thanks for the tip. !!! No more aluminum foil roll flying away !!!
Anonymous said…
OMG! I had to check this out right after I read your article-and it's a fact. (except for wax paper). TKS!
CB said…
Like everyone else, after reading your post I had to see for myself. There it is! After trying the saran wrap and foil I tried pulling out a sheet and the saran was a bit tougher than the foil, but it worked. My husband last week was asking for help with the saran wrap, because the roll would not stay in place. Thanks for pointing this out to the people, whether we choose to use it or not.
Anonymous said…
Ummm, I am shocked at how many people didn't know about this. It has been on the box for decades.
Anonymous said…
I admit, I just got up from my chair and ran to the kitchen to see if my aluminum foil had the locking tabs. It does! Thank you for sharing this, I'm going to tell my family about it and see what they do.
Kit said…
Most boxes have them, but if you like your brand and don't find these- use a scissor to push thru twice on each end creating a 'V' and then- presto !
Instant 'my box has these!'
Anonymous said…
thanks for such an important information...Louisiana.......
Rachel R. said…
I did not know this until this year. But am I the only one who finds that the rolls never turn properly after locking the ends?
lauritus said…
you are amazing. Love you!
Courtney Adams said…
LOLs... i for one had the same experience.. got pissed and decided to throw that stuff.. then my mom suddenly told me that there's a lock at the end of the box.. whoooops.. if i could disappear that time, my cousin heard it and almost laugh himself to death..oh well, just learned to check how to use a thing before using it.. >__<
elviira said…
My goodness! This really works. Also here in Finland. Never ever noticed that before! I've always cursed those falling rolls, not anymore, thanks to you!
Anonymous said…
I've known about this for a while now, like since I was in my early twenties. I happen to be one of the few people that actually looks at the entire box of aluminum foil and things like that, out of boredom usually.