Things that can be fixed with tape

As much as I like penguins, applesauce, and buying things on sale, I can’t stand tight pants, umbrellas, and replacing entire objects because one part is broken. I’m a grad student. I can’t afford to replace entire objects because one part is broken. I’m also an engineer. Finding alternative functions for things is what passes for fun around here. [See pot as hammer. I’m also currently using a peanut butter jar as a pencil holder and I regularly repurpose my mixing bowls as fruit bowls. I lived without chairs in my apartment for weeks; do I sound like the kind of person who has a decorative fruit bowl lying around?] All of this is to say: I’ve fixed more than one of my belongings with specialty tools tape. You say cheap; I say economical and creative thinking.

Aglets – Those plastic things at the ends of shoelaces are subject to being stepped on and dragged across concrete, which means they often break off and leave your poor, helpless shoelaces prone to fraying. Well, fear no longer. Save your shoelaces by wrapping the ends with . . . tape. Color coordinate if you want; I think lime green and purple go great together.

Watch bands – I’ve worn a watch since kindergarten. I still prefer keeping track of time on my watch rather than my phone. [Insert grumbling about kids these days, technology ruining civilization, get off my lawn, you hooligans.] I recently had to switch watch brands because my watch of choice stopped being produced. It was still available on Amazon, but was sold from existing stock. Because the band was made of resin, my guess is that it became more brittle as it aged, causing it to break more easily. My last watch of that brand lasted less than two years before breaking. While I looked for a suitable replacement (digital, with the date/day of the week and alarm, watch face smaller than the width of my wrist, band not too thin) I taped my old watch band together. This is only a temporary fix, but it works well enough on a time scale of days to weeks.

Blinds – The blinds in my apartment are composed of vertical plastic slats that open and close by twisting a rod. This causes the slats to undergo a fair amount of torque that results in them breaking at the top. I figured it was worth it to try and see if taping a slat back together would work, because it’s quick, easy, and doesn’t need to involve maintenance. So far so good . . .

Instruments – This one wasn’t me (for once). Warm ups before a middle school band concert. One of the baritone or tenor sax players can’t play a single note on his or her instrument. In middle school, you don’t just have spare bari/tenor saxes lying around. The band teacher manually covers some of the suspect holes to figure out which one isn’t sealing properly. When he finds the problem, there’s no time to fix it before the concert. He duct tapes over the hole.

Phone screens – One freezing cold Saturday in Ithaca, I was trying to get into Olin Hall (24/7 card access for 24/7 ChemE-ing). While getting my ID card out of my backpack, I accidentally knocked my phone out. It fell a couple feet and one corner of the screen shattered. To avoid getting splinters of glass in my fingers, I put (clear) tape over the broken part of the screen. No splinters, and the touchscreen still works under the tape.

Bonus uses for tape:

1) Making pep band folders. A Cornell pep band tradition is to use duct tape to make music folders. They last much longer than paper folders and are colorful. Mine is orange and has smiling food on it.

2) Labeling water bottles, thermoses, Tupperware, children, calculators, etc. My favorite scientific calculator has been labelled since my math team days. As for everything else I’ve labelled, if you’ve ever been to any sort of college potluck, you may be familiar with the sorts of emails that get sent after a college potluck.

Person 1: Hey guys! If anyone’s missing a blue serving spoon, I have it!

Person 2: Hey, did someone accidentally take my bowl? It’s green and has a snowman on the side.

Person 3: Hi everyone, I brought a red bag with a yellow container inside it to the potluck. I left with a purple scarf, a stuffed elephant, and a yoyo. . .