If you have ever moved or unpacked a storage unit, you know that at the end of the process you are left with rooms full of empty boxes and crumpled up pages of newspaper and bubble wrap. It seems a shame to just throw it all away. Bubble wrap is great. It is one of the best ways to protect fragile items and furniture when moving, whether a long distance move or a cross-town move. While practically essential for packing or shipping, everyone knows the familiar feeling of giddiness when unpacking a box with items protected in bubble wrap. What’s more fun than popping bubble wrap? Not much. But, if you can hold off long enough from popping all the bubbles, there are many fun and useful ways to reuse bubble wrap.
Relieve the Stress
One pop and you can’t stop! According to a not-so-scientific poll survey, one minute of popping bubble wrap is the stress relief equivalent of a 30-minute massage. If it is between bubble wrap and a relaxing massage, we’ll take the massage. However, in a pinch bubble wrap could be just the remedy. Wrapping your friend’s head in bubble wrap and taking shots is not recommended, but Joey and Chandler sure do look stress-free.
Bubble Wrapped Gardening
Protect your delicate plants from cold air and frost during the winter by reusing bubble wrap to insulate your garden. This cool little trick will save your perennials from freezing. Before planting in a planter or pot, line the sides with bubble wrap leaving the bottom free for proper drainage.
Image via HGTV
Additionally, wrap the plants themselves in a bubble wrap tent covered by a sack to keep the tender foliage insulated from frost.
Image via Gardening Advice
Keep drafts from cooling your greenhouse with reused bubble wrap to line the windows.
Image via Dail Mail
Protect your car windshield in the winter
If you’re like most people and you hate eating into your sleep time just to get the frost off your windshield in the morning, then reuse that bubble wrap on your windshield. Place your windshield wipers over a large sheet of bubble wrap so it doesn’t blow away overnight. You will wake up to a frost-free windshield. If there was a snowstorm, snow is easily removed by removing the sheet of bubble wrap.
Reuse Bubble Wrap to Protect Groceries
Insulated grocery bags are convenient for keeping cold food just bought from the grocery store at a safe temperature while traveling around doing errands or if you have a bit more of a trek home from the grocery store. Reuse bubble wrap to line the inside of a grocery bag keeping the items cooler for longer. It is also great for wrapping delicate produce in, such as tomatoes or ripe peaches, to prevent bruising or damage.
Artful Bubbler
Resourceful artists have already discovered many ways to reuse bubble wrap for different art mediums.
Image via Flicker by Dave Wild
It has been used in photography for detail photos with colored lights and injected with paint to create masterful portraits or landscapes.
These are just a few of the ways to reuse bubble wrap after a move. Have you found any new uses?
