Don’t Have an Opener to Pry Open a Bottle? Try These Hacks
You are tired after a long day of work and
are getting ready to relax with a nice bottle of beer or soda you just
bought. But wait! You can’t find the bottle opener anywhere in the
house. Now what?
This is a situation that can happen to anybody. A bottle opener, like
keys and other small items, can often get misplaced in the house. And
frustratingly, it can happen when we need it the most. Furthermore, not
all of us carry a bottle opener around with us when we go out.
Thankfully, there are some easy and
effective ways to pop open a bottle’s cap without using an opener. You
can do so by using simple objects that can be found in your house like a
key, a spoon, or even a sheet of paper! The best part is that you don’t
even need to be an expert at it. So, instead of using your teeth or
breaking the bottle in frustration, just take a look at some of the
handy ways we have listed to open a bottle without a bottle opener.
1. Pry open the bottle with a lighter
For this option, you will need an
inexpensive plastic lighter.
* Hold the lighter upside down with your dominant hand. The bottom of
the lighter should be slightly sticking out on your thumb side.
* Next, hold the bottle close to its neck with your non-dominant hand;
around the neck, close to the top.
* Now you will have to wedge as much of the bottom of the lighter under
the bottle cap as you can. The corner of the base of the lighter would
be more effective here rather than the flatter edge of the base.
* Press down the top end of the lighter using the hand that you’ve
wrapped around the bottle. This will give you more leverage. Continue
prying for a little bit and the cap should pop off.
2. Use a key to open a bottle
A house key or a car key will certainly
work in opening a bottle cap.
* Hold the neck of the bottle with your non-dominant hand. Then,
position the key sideways under the cap. Make sure that the ridged side
of the key is under the cap.
* Slide the teeth of the key underneath the edge of the cap and push it
upward. You may have to go around the cap doing this a couple of times.
* Keep moving the key under the cap until it becomes loose and finally
comes off.
3. Open a bottle using another bottle
This is a neat and surprisingly effective
trick that would come in handy when you don’t have access to any other
household item.
* Take another bottle and hold it upside down. Slide the lip of the
bottle under the lip of the one you have to open.
* Pull the upside-down bottle upwards. Use it in a similar way you would
use a bottle opener. The cap should come off now.
* Try this method under a sink. Since you are doing it for the first
time, you might end up making a little mess by spilling the liquid.
4. Pop the cap off the bottle using a spoon
You are likely to have at least one metal
spoon in your house, right? It can be really helpful to open a bottle's
cap.
* First, grab the neck of the bottle as close to the cap as you can with
your non-dominant hand.
* Position the edge of the spoon underneath the cap. Now, slowly try to
push the cap off with it using the base of your thumb as a leverage
point.
* The cap might not pry off on the first attempt. Make your way around
the cap with the spoon using the same method mentioned above a couple of
times and it should then come off.
5. Use a claw hammer
This is a fairly simple option for those
who have a claw hammer at home.
* Flip the hammer upside down so that the claw end faces upwards.
* Now, position the upside-down hammer under the lip of the bottle. Hook
the claw part of the hammer under the cap and pull. If the cap doesn’t
come off right away, just twist the claw part a little and it should pop
off.
* Don’t use too much force while using the hammer as you might end up
breaking your bottle by accident.
6. Open a bottle with paper
As weird as this may sound, this method
actually works. Especially when you don’t have anything else to work
with. All you need is a four-page newspaper sheet
* Fold the sheet of paper as many times as you can. Ideally, you should
stop only when it’s the size of a small and slightly thick candy bar.
* Hold the bottle’s neck firmly with your non-dominant hand. Place the
paper right underneath the bottle’s cap and hold it in place with your
thumb. Make sure the paper is tight and strong enough.
* Now, use the paper as a lever and push the cap upwards. It might take a
couple of attempts, but the cap should come flying off.