I Feel So Dumb
Aug 15th, 2008 at 9:35 pm by Susie
My brother just forwarded me this email and it really is true, you can go look for yourself. Why hasn’t anyone ever told me this before? WHERE THE HELL WAS MARTHA STEWART?
I’ve been using aluminum foil for more years than I care to remember. Great stuff, but sometimes it can be a pain.. You know, like when you are in the middle of doing something and 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 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. And 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 in case you did not know this either. If you already know this, delete this message and don’t e-mail me and make me feel dumber than I already feel. If you didn’t know this, e-mail me and let me know so I won’t feel so dumb. I hope I’m not the only person that didn’t know about this.
I IMMEDIATELY WENT AND PUSHED IN ALL MY TABS…HA!
Trust me, you are not alone.
Forget the bottom of the box, look in the box. There’s nothing there to “lock” the roll in place. Physics is everything.
You’re kidding? I didn’t know that either! I just had a roll of aluminum foil jump out of the box this morning.
I will be forever damned. I never noticed that either. My Saran Wrap box even has the tabs clearly labelled: “Push and Lock Tab.”
Oy.
LOL! I’m 50 yrs old and have never noticed the tabs. I couldn’t believe it, so I went to check and pushed my tabs in too.
I’m going to ask my mom if she knew about them and, if so, why didn’t she teach me this when I was learning to cook!!
I was all zen about it and thought it was merely a test of my patience.
Duh.
My roll of Kroger foil had no such instructions—but the tabs were there. First I’ve ever heard of it, too.
I just wanted to let you know, that I immediately checked our aluminum foil here in Greece and dang if the tabs weren’t there as well. There are no instructions in English as the foil is sold all over Europe but the tabs are there and they work. Cool! Reading blogs on the Internet rocks!
You are not alone! I had no idea! What a brilliant tip! Thanks!
A follow-up: I went to the Reynolds website, clicked to the “Contact Us” form and asked how long the tabs had been there. Here’s the reply:
“Thank you for your inquiry regarding Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil.
In 1996, end locks were added to the cartons to hold the rolls in place. Press in the perforated tabs on each end of the carton before your first use.”
The things you learn on this here interwebby device! And “hi” to mattsmom, I have a son named Matt, too, and I’m 51. Also, like you, I immediately went to the kitchen and pushed in all my foil and cellophane wrap tabs. Tested the strength of the tabs with foil wrap box, turned it upside down and the nearly full tube stayed in the box.
I found a woman who posted online and that said she emailed Reynolds to ask, and they said they’ve had the tabs since 1996. Wow!