#426 Ripping off a square of plastic wrap that doesn’t get stuck to itself

Neil Pasricha

Plastic wrap is trouble.

When you’re peeling a new sheet from the flimsy cardboard box I’ve got just two words for you: watch out. We both know that plastic wrap loves blowing in the wind and get all stuck to its bad self.

Next thing you know you’re trying to frantically unpeel it, but unfortunately more and more just keeps getting stuck together. If you’re like me, this is when you realize that the plastic wrap has defeated you. With your blood boiling you roll the wrap into a tight white ball and toss it in the trash.

Now it’s time for round two.

Stare back at the cold potato salad on your countertop, steady your eyes on the thin cardboard box… and picture holding that cover tightly, pulling that wrap smoothly, and shredding that plastic swiftly on the tiny teeth. Then crack your neck, loosen your shoulders, and swallow hard before diving in…

Come in with purpose, come in with power, and just slice that wrap into one long and beautifully smooth sheet.

AWESOME!

Check out The Book of Awesome

Photos from: here and here

51 thoughts to “#426 Ripping off a square of plastic wrap that doesn’t get stuck to itself”

      1. I rarely use plastic wrap, save stress, but just yesterday while breaking down some freezer portions, I wondered why isn’t this easier yet…surely- and “here’s surely”…and I’m so Glad. Thanks!
        I shall have to enter this and you can too at:
        http://www.1000uses.com

  3. Ripping off a square of plastic wrap that doesn’t get stuck to itself *would* be awesome . . . if I could ever frigging do it.

  5. I am absolutely plastic wrap incompetent. I try so hard. I even plan ahead, mentally rehearsing my past mistakes and failures and setting goals of success for the future. But somehow it just never goes as planned.

    I have found one way to remediate my deficiencies: participate in the tearing of plastic wrap like it’s a team sport. I must find a partner to swoop in for the assist. Sad, I know.

    1. I always have to get a big space, lay it out and proceed to tear it slowly, inch by inch, laying it on the counter as I go. Even then it doesn’t always work.

  7. Equally as awesome are the little tabs on the side that allow you to pull the wrap WITHOUT the whole roll flying out! (and I saw it first on Wheel Of Fortune… Thanks Pat Sajak!)

  8. You don’t even have to go to Costco to buy the plastic wrap with the slide cutter. Go to Loblaws, it’s the no name brand, but it works like a miracle! I live alone and while that thing may last me 5 years, it’s money well spent, since I’m not wasting half the roll when it gets all caught together.

    Press & seal is good too, but it’s useless if you have a slightly damp surface, and I can never get it to re-attach itself nicely to the bowl of potato salad.

  9. This post reminded me that I haven’t used plastic wrap in a loooong time. Score one for Mother Earth – AWESOME!

  11. What?! Are you saying that it is in fact possible to do that?? I think I need some proof cuz I have never been able to keep the plastic wrap from sticking to itself before I wrap what needs wrapped.

  12. I think there was a step missing. I thought you were required to cut your finger on the serrated piece of metal first, then throw away that first blood smeared bit.

  14. Awesome indeed if it didn’t stick to itself! But it does… every time. :-(

    Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes was the only time I ever laughed about or liked plastic wrap. Otherwise, it is a menace to my sanity. Thank you to Reynolds Wrap and its brothers and sisters for helping me make through years of parties and family dinners.

  16. It usually takes me 2 times to get a perfect piece of tape which I use more often than paper wrap and when I finally get it perfect it’s the awesomest feeling in the world. (I hope that’s a word.)

  17. The trick to transporting plastic wrap is to lay it on your chest and stomach.

    If I’m just wrapping something up, I’ll usually lay it on or underneath the plastic wrap, and then tear it off. Works pretty well for me.

      1. Ha! You guys are hilarious (and very sweet). Was on vacation, so haven’t been able to check in. But just got back, and am now trying to get caught up on all the awesome posts (and comments!)

  20. I actually have ~ 75% or more success rate with plastic wrap. The trick is to keep the piece continually in motion so it doesn’t have a chance to collapse and cling to itself. Then swoop it on over to the thing you want to cover (this is for bowls or plates – wrapping an item up I just use Baker’s method above).

  22. The worst part is that it once you finally do get a mostly untangled piece, it won’t stick where you want it to. I want to put it on top of my bowl of pasta salad, and it just slides all over the place!

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  25. I had high expectations for this website. I mean, 1000 AWESOME THINGS!?! HOW COULD THAT BE BAD?!? However, this website is more like 1000 REALLY MUNDANE EVERYDAY THINGS THAT WE NONETHELESS LOVE. Your definition of awesome is mega boring. Awesome should make your jaw drop, your eyes pop out, make you remember for the rest of your life. Plastic wrap? WTF. I love plastic wrap, but it is Not Awesome. I tear it off perfectly every time anyway. You want awesome? Read some drmcninja.com. Or consult The Most Interesting Man In The World. OR JUST ASK A 5 YEAR OLD. Awesome should move you to cry TEARS OF JOY. Awesome should make your body pump ridiculous amounts of adrenaline. Awesome should PUNCH YOU IN YOUR BRAIN’S HEART. You my friend, have obviously never met awesome, and I pity you for it.

    2. Are you fricking. serious??? You think you can waltz in here amongst the long-time shippers of 100 Awesome Things, and just INSULT this (not to MENTION Neil Pasricha’s work!) wonderful pick-me-up. Any good hearted person would realise that the true meaning of awesome is the little things in life that we do not take any notice of but make us smile. What you described is the results of adrenaline- http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/09/22/93-adrenaline/
      On this site, awesome is when you strive for something and eventually achieve it. When you feel a great sense of release after a hard time. Appreciating the things you have. Being grateful for loved ones. great thing that came at just the right time. Things that give us hope for the future. Things that make you think deeply. When we are able to let ourselves go and leave our worries behind for a few minutes or hours. When you have no idea where something will take you but you are sure it will be good. When we get off easily when we really should be sweating. Cute things. Things that make us think from a different perspective. Things that make us laugh in times of trouble. Things that make us smile.
      You sir, are not awesome. If you think the definition of awesome is something that should ‘make your body pump ridiculous amounts of adrenaline’ and ‘PUNCH YOU IN YOUR BRAIN’S HEART’, then you are obviously an adrenaline junkie who spends his weekends drinking beer at the monster truck show with no better place to go. I assume you have no positive outlook on life, otherwise you wouldnt be so careless and cruel to post JUNK and FILTH onto a website filled with things that are truly
      AWESOME!

      1. Oh man, drinking beer at a monster truck rally would probably be awesome! Personally I prefer dirtbikes to monster trucks, but who am I to judge. To each his own, right? I’ll have to ckeck out that post on adrenaline, it sounds promising. But seriously though, I must be operating on a different dictionary because mine defines awesome as “inspiring awe.” You folks really have such a hard time with cling wrap that a decent tear on a sheet of it inspires awe in your mind? Cling wrap? Not standing on the top of a mountain or swimming in really clear water or watching the stars go down and the sun blaze red and burn a hole in the morning? What is this “true meaning of awesome” business. You’re thinking small. You know what is the most awesome? Rhinoceros. Rhinoceros are awesome!

        1. Wow, well that was a little more positive! Well, glad wrap is not awesome on its own, but that triumph feeling of accomplishment you feel after actually getting it flat and right is pretty awesome. Because seriously, does doing things right that usually turn out bad not feel good? Although i must say, those things you mentioned at the end are indeed awesome too. The kind of awesome that every post on this website is in the scale of. the same sort of awesome that makes us sit back and smile and think ‘wow, that really is cool!’
          But… i dont see the awesomeness of rhinoceroses. Please explain?

  29. They keep telling me that no straight man has ever mastered the art of plastic wrap. Well, i’m a straight woman and haven’t mastered the plastic wrap yet and tend to give up and overload on tin foil.

  30. My sister sent me a Wraptor Teeth for Christmas. It does excatly what they say it does, Take the Wrestle out of Food Wrap. No more Food Wrap Frustration. The best part is when I use it I always think of her. What an AWESOME gift. Finally a gift that I can use for ever. AWESOME!

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