This is from the net but I never know this and have had rolls leapt out of the box when trying to rip off a section. Has anyboby used this tab. Does it work?
Reynolds Wrap Locking tab
There was a thread about this here on the SDMB within the last month. Maybe even within the last couple of weeks. Obviously its making the rounds. 
Wait? Those tabs are secret? And there are people who don’t know about them? Mark my ignorance fought. I’d always accepted those tabs as common knowledge, along the same lines as punching a second hole into a can of juice before pouring.
I tried pushing them in for the first time tonight. It was a pain because I didn’t get them perfectly even and now the roll tugs and comes out a bit crinkly. I don’t think that they’re an improvement for foil.
I’ve never, not once, been able to push those things in so that the roll still rolls. I end up with a roll of foil or wrap that stays firmly ensconced in the box, and I have to reach in and push out the tabs and end up tearing the box and then I have to go get the tape and the cat is batting at the pieces of wrap and foil and MY GOD WHY DO THESE THINGS EVEN EXIST!?
Sorry. I’ll go lie down with a cold cloth on my forehead now.
Or you could just hold the top flap so that it puts a bit of pressure on the roll. It’s really not that difficult.
ETA: Or pull straight up so the weight of the roll keeps it in the box. It depends on the ratio of mass left on the roll to the friction of the tube turning.
Yea, I had never heard of them until a few months ago. I had also never really had a problem getting the plastic wrap out of the box.
Better yet, perhaps the box could be designed by non-engineers.
My problem with plastic wrap isn’t that it’s hard to get out of the box. It’s what it does after it’s out. Life is too short to spend any of it trying to get that stuff unstuck from itself and from me and lie flat so that it’s usable. I tried pushing in the tabs out of curiosity but I’m so used to holding the roll down with one thumb while I pull some out that I won’t try it again.
It didn’t work out well for me. It hampers the rotation of the roll.
And cling wrap is the Devil’s Playground, if you ask me. There’s nothing that can improve it’s performance. I keep a roll around just so I can be amused by Mr. K’s attempts to wrestle it into submission.
Guys - keep your plastic wrap in the freezer. It won’t stick to itself.
I just got up and tried this. My Kroger brand aluminum foil box completely fell apart when I pushed in the tabs. Yay, much better! 
I saw this in a thread last week. I used some cling wrap over the weekend, and pushed in the tabs. I immediately ran to show my wife.
She had never seen them either and asked how long I had been holding out this information! We checked every other box of wrap in the house, and with the exception of the wax paper, they all had one, whether generic or brand name.
I wonder how long they’ve been there, and WHY OH WHY, I’ve never found them before.
Hmm… curious. My aluminum foil has them, but my Target brand cling wrap does not.
Sad thing is, I went through decades of life frustratedly thinking, “They really need to put something through the roll of foil/wrap so it doesn’t leap out of the box every time I pull on it.”
I only discovered the tabs about a month ago. I’m ashamed.
The thing with plastic wrap is, it’s supposed to stick to itself. When you wrap it around a plate or whatever, it’s the plastic sticking to itself on the bottom that keeps it attached. The problem isn’t that it sticks to itself; it’s that it sticks to itself at the wrong time.
Am I the only one that puts the plastic wrap on the thing I’m wrapping before I tear it off the roll? Like wrap one end of the plate, then pull off enough to cover the rest, and then tear?
That was my thought too. I think I might have tried to tear off a sheet of plastic wrap first and then wrangle it onto my food the first time I used the stuff, but it pretty quickly became apparent that the best way to manage plastic wrap is to remove it only as you apply it, then cut at the end.
Isn’t that the standard when you are messing with something that sticks easily to itself? I use the same technique with decals, window film, bio-occlusive dressings, wallpaper, ect. No freezing, no frustration, no half-assed cardboard tabs.
my mum has a nifty dispenser in the kitchen that all the rolls go on.
it has 4 dowels on it, so you take the product out of the box and put it on the dowel. it is loaded with wax paper, cling film, foil, and paper towels. all neatly done easy to use and no slicing of fingers trying to cut the product.
boxes are recycled as soon as the roll is taken out.
my mum has a nifty dispenser in the kitchen that all the rolls go on.
each compartment has a dowel and 3 of them have cutting edges (the paper towel dowel just looks like a regular p.t. holder), so you take the product out of the box and put it on the dowel.
it is loaded with wax paper, cling film, foil, and paper towels. all neatly done, easy to use, and no slicing of fingers trying to cut the product. it attaches to the wall so you can really enjoy a good cling film wrestle.
boxes are recycled as soon as the roll is taken out.