The wonderfully versatile Duct Tape

[Silverlady]

Ah, the wonder of duct tape.  Most web sites seem to agree that the sticky gray tape was invented in the 1920's, improved upon in the 1940's, and changed again in the 1970's. But who cares.  What inquiring minds really want to know is ... What have you used it for?

1.  I recently bought a pair of too long jeans I needed to wear right away.  Viola! Instant hem.

2. I had a old family cookbook that was falling apart.  The binding was shot and the pages were falling out.  I couldn't part with it, so I pulled out all the pages from the book and ran strips up and down one side securing the pages together. The I ran the tape up and down the binding edge overlapping it until it covered the page edges too. It isn't pretty to look at, but I still have my cookbook. Once again good old duct tape had come to the rescue.

3. Fixed a leaky garden hose.

4. I have this whirley gig garden decoration that seemed to unscrew itself out of the ground whenever it was too windy outside.  I just wrapped the bottom of the stick part a few times with the tape and stuck it back in back in the ground. It has fallen over since.

I'm sure there are hundreds, thousands, maybe millions  of other uses for this wonderful stuff.  Let's hear 'em guys!   

[indianasmith]

I usually put it over my victims' mouths before I  . . . . er, I mean, I use it to fix stuff around the house.  Yeah.  That sort of thing.

[AndyC]

The most interesting duct tape trick I've used was something a builder shared with me when I was helping out on a Habitat for Humanity house a few years ago. I had the job of installing insulation bats in an unfinished ceiling, before there was any vapour barrier or drywall to hold it up. Not sure why they didn't just blow loose insulation into the attic at the very end, but I think they might have gotten all the Fibreglass Pink donated from somewhere. Anyway, starting at one end of the room, wrap your duct tape around the first joist, leave the roll hanging while you jam your insulation up there, pull it under the bat to the next joist, wrap around and repeat. Do the same thing on each subsequent row. It only takes one strip of tape, because the outside wall or the previous row will provide additional support to your insulation.

I was amazed at just how smoothly that worked. The insulation was up in no time, and stayed nice and secure while the plastic and the drywall went up.

[Trevor]

I usually put it over my victims' mouths before I  . . . . er, I mean, I use it to fix stuff around the house.  Yeah.  That sort of thing.

[Jack]

We've got several sections of lawn that are only about 12' wide, like between the garage and the street, or the side of our house and the neighbor's yard.  Your average lawn sprinkler waters an area about 30' wide, so I put duct tape over the holes on either side, leaving only the ones in the middle open.  That way I can water my little strips of yard without shooting water all over everything else.

When they installed our new furnace in the basement, they left a lot of sharp edges on the ductwork, good for snagging your clothes on if not taking a good chunk out of your skin if you happen to brush against it while walking past.  So, a little duct tape over the sharp parts, and viola, they're no longer dangerous.

[Newt]

I'm told it can come in handy under a strapless dress...

[Derf]

I'm told it can come in handy under a strapless dress...

Indeed it does. But it pulls my chest hairs something awful when it's time to remove it. 

[Mr. DS]

My last used was for my air conditioner window shields. 

[Leah]

So I was building a go cart when the floor collapsed and I didn't want to waste an hour just to fix it, so I duct taped it! Duct Tape also makes for a good stripe or two

[Newt]

One of my sons ended up in a cast after a fall from a chair when he was almost 2 years old.  The Dr put it in a cast and told me to simply replace the cast when the child took it off.  Which he did with annoying regularity.  Slipped it right off over his hand.  Trying to put it back on was a trial: never mind the squirming (had to be uncomfortable), but the kid would spread his fingers and the tube-like cast would not  slide back on over his digits.

In desperation I ended up taking a long piece of duct tape, ran it up from the heel of his hand, over and past the ends of all his fingers and doubled it back down on the back of his hand: ended up with all his fingers taped as one and with a handy little tab/'handle' protruding that I could thread through the cast and pull on to slide his arm back in.  Slap-slap-slip!  Worked like a charm! (No worries: I removed the tape each time and re-applied it as needed).

[indianasmith]

You can also duct tape PVC pipe across a young goat's horns to keep her from getting her head stuck in the fence.  Looks kinda funny though!

[Doggett]

I'm told it can come in handy under a strapless dress...

Newt, you sexy thing ! 

[Newt]

I'm told it can come in handy under a strapless dress...

Newt, you sexy thing ! 

Doggett, dear, you have no idea. 

[Andrew]

Duct tape saved my marriage.

Actually, I've fixed our USMC load bearing vests with it, upholstery in a truck, the plastic windows on a HMMWV, an antenna, books as Silverlady mentioned, and it can be used as a field-expedient weatherproofing for rips or tears in tents and in roofs.

[Leah]

Duct tape saved my marriage.

Actually, I've fixed our USMC load bearing vests with it, upholstery in a truck, the plastic windows on a HMMWV, an antenna, books as Silverlady mentioned, and it can be used as a field-expedient weatherproofing for rips or tears in tents and in roofs.

Well, Mythbusters built a boat out of it!, a cannon, and is able to redo a car if it's busted up.