Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Only Time To Buy Plastic


Winter is finally upon us and it is cold. My house is old and I don’t have a ton of extra money piled around so a cheap thing for us to do in the winter is plastic up our windows. Luckily when I was cleaning out the basement I found a few packages I had bought at an earlier time.



The first thing I do is take rubbing alcohol and clean really good around the window. I give that a few minutes to dry.




After it is dry I very slowly apply the double-sided tape. This part can be a bit tricky and a pain in the rump. If the tape isn’t sticking try moving it a bit one way or the other. Give the tape a few minutes to set up but don’t peel the top layer away just yet.





Stretch the plastic out and cut it to the length of the window, if there is enough left over you may be able to do another smaller window. Peel the top layer off of the tape at the top of the window and the left side. Start fitting the plastic in leaving a little bit of overhang. When you get to the right side peel off the top layer and then work it from top to bottom. At the bottom do the same.

Once everything is in place take a hairdryer and start in one corner and sweep back and worth working your way across. It is super important that you don’t hold the hairdryer in one place too long or touch the plastic with the tip of it! Rub your hand across it to make sure it is smooth.

Give it a bit to set up and stretch. Do something else for a bit and come back. If the plastic has pulled away or if you accidently made a hole, take some of the extra plastic and cut a patch and go through the above steps again and patch it.

It isn’t perfect or pretty but it will keep you warmer and let you use a little less electricity. Take the money you save and put it toward new windows or a better furnace. 

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