Try duct tape to resolve a sticky situation

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Almost everyone has a duct tape tale to tell.

The sticky adhesive has worked in a pinch to make home repairs. It's been touted as a wart remover. People have made clothes and fashion accessories using some of the more fashionable duct tape colors now available, such as aqua, red, yellow and blue.

"I think it's just a regular American icon like apple pie," said Bethany Schmotzer, product manager for Duck brand duct tape, which sponsors duct tape contests. "I haven't met anyone who hasn't used it."

Stories about interesting ways to use duct tape are countless. More than 2,600 people submitted duct tape tales in the Duck brand "Duct Tape Saves the Day" contest held by Henkel Corp., which announced its winning entry on Jan. 15, awarding a Virginia resident $5,000 for the best use of duct tape.

Inspired by Henkel, we asked readers for their duct tape stories. More than a dozen responded with stories that included innovative, interesting or humorous ways they've used duct tape.

Henkel's winner used duct tape and diapers over the course of a year to wrap an injured horse's hoof, ultimately saving the animal's life.

"When we called him, he was more excited about winning the year's worth of Duck tape than the $5,000," Schmotzer said. "He's a farmer so he goes through it all the time."

On March 5, the company will launch its next contest, "Stuck at Prom," which asks high-school couples to design their prom outfits out of duct tape and send in photos of their design for a chance to win cash and prizes.

On the Myrtle Beach-area's Grand Strand, Tracey Wallman put duct tape to a creative use: She made a strapless bra.

"It works wonderful and will stay in place as long as needed," wrote Wallman. "It's comfortable and you give the appearance of having a bra on without actually wearing one. ... I would have enclosed a picture, but my husband wouldn't let me."

Her advice when removing the makeshift strapless bra is to treat it like a bandage.

"One quick rip and it's off," she said.

Salvatore Losicco found a useful way to use duct tape after his wife kept stealing the TV remote when he'd fall asleep in his recliner.

"Now I duct tape it to my hand," Losicco said. "Problem solved! Every time I would fall asleep she'd be tugging at my remote control."

Losicco's wife, Carol, said she bought her husband a larger remote so it would be easier for him to tape it to his hand.

"He's a nut," Carol Losicco said. "He can be in a dead sleep and I'll take the remote, and he wakes up every time."

Carolyn McClintick of Murrells Inlet, S.C., enjoys making purses and other accessories out of duct tape. When she was unable to find an Ohio State purse, she decided to make one out of duct tape. Since then, she's made several items, including a Steelers pocketbook.

"I wanted one that I didn't have to knit or crochet," she said. "I looked it up on the Internet on how to do it."

She's often asked to make duct tape purses for others when they see her creations.

"I do them as gifts," she said. "They're pretty neat. You don't seem them out anywhere."

Duct tape helped Karole Jensen repair the roof of her grandson Zack's truck, a 1977 Ford F-150, which she was driving in a downpour when the roof peeled away and "was flapping in the breeze like an unhooked convertible top," Jensen wrote. "Only this was not meant to be a convertible."

She tried tying it down with rope, but dirt and leaves continued to pour through the cracks as she traveled down the highway on a trip from Columbia, S.C., back to Myrtle Beach.

"Clearly, the roof rope was stretchy and not going to make this trip," Jensen wrote. She pulled over at a store and purchased duct tape.

"At last, duct tape," Jensen said. "And lots of it. Round and round. All over the roof line. Some inside, latched onto the very bent up cardboard ceiling. That was a great remedy. That duct tape stayed in place with occasional repairs for well over two years."

Here are other readers' duct tape stories:

"My husband had a favorite pair of cutoff shorts that he always wore to do yard work. They became so badly torn, they were (in my opinion) unwearable. Believe it or not, (and unfortunately, we don't have a picture) he repaired them with duct tape. They lasted until I refused to wash them and threw them away."

—Bonnie Fidler, Surfside Beach, S.C.

"The Heather Lakes community in Little River has several community functions through the year for all residents and families. This past summer, one of the activities at the Memorial Day pool party included a duct tape costume event. Two-person teams were given duct tape and newspaper and had a limited amount of time to create a costume." The men created the Tin Man, a tribal Indian chief, the Statue of Liberty, another tribal chief and a hula dancer.

—Bob Weldon, Little River, S.C.

"Your request for creative uses of duct tape reminded me of a funny situation regarding my brother-in-law, who is no longer with us. His wife had bought him a shirt that had no pockets. He then proceeded to duct tape his pipe, tobacco, cigarettes, pen, pencil, etc., to the outside of the shirt and went out to the neighborhood store that way. He wanted everyone to know that his wife should never buy him a shirt without pockets!"

—Harry Andreae, Myrtle Beach

"We cut the head off a golf club, then attached a large, slotted cooking spoon to the shaft using duct tape. We use this device to pick up fossilized shark's teeth and shells from the surf on the beach. The slotted spoon allows water and sand to drain through. The device eliminates stooping — saves our back."

—Bill Kruse, a snowbird from Peoria, Ill.

"My husband uses a roll of duct tape to set his soda can into to prevent it from tipping over and spilling on the floor. He uses it on a TV tray in our living room. Believe it or not, it does work (most of the time)."

—Arlene Rogers, Conway, S.C.

"I have used duct tape for preventing blisters on my feet; decorating toy swords (gives the appearance of shiny metal); and on the face of golf clubs to determine the strike point."

—Korrene Powers

"When my daughter Caitlin and her roommate Liz were students at the University of Delaware, duct tape was their friend. Caitlin used it to hem the pants of her suit before a job interview. When the pipes in the bathroom started to leak and the landlord was too busy to come by, they wrapped the pipes in yards of duct tape. The window frames were so rotted that they hung their curtains with duct tape!"

—Catherine Slattery, Pawleys Island

"I purchased a wallet from Gibbes Art Museum in Charleston. It was for a friend who uses every color and lives by duct tape. The wallet was made of duct tape."

—Barbara Hammond

"Halfway through a 'trip of a lifetime' to Europe in 1999, when we toured seven countries in 18 days, the back of our film camera broke. At that time, it was the only camera we had with us. Fortunately, I had packed a small amount of duct tape wound around a piece of cardboard, and we put a piece of duct tape on the back of the camera. We finished the tour wondering if the shots of all the famous tourist favorites would come out, and were absolutely thrilled when they did. We always travel with a little duct tape now, because you never know!"

—Mary-Frances Williams

"How many ways and things that I've used duct tape for: Loose window seals; re-cover hardback book; reinforce photo frames; hold down plastic table covers; keep thumb tacks and pins from getting lost; re-seal freezer bags; decorate trash cans; cover remote controls to keep battery compartments from becoming loose; as a temporary hem for garments."

—Margaret Foster, Little River