# Locking Tabs on Foil and Plastic Rolls -- Duh! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 2, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464 "2008-06-02T13:30:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/1 "2008-06-02T13:30:47Z")
The “Duh” is because I had no idea these things existed (assuming they do – but Snopes seems to be pretty straightfvorward about such things). You’d think they’d trumpet it in their ads, the same way they make a big deal out of every other incremental change: > **[Aluminum Foil Locking Tabs](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/foiled-again/)** > > Boxes of aluminum foil commonly include lock tabs to help hold the rolls in place. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/2 "2008-06-02T13:59:01Z")
Duh! :smack: Now I feel stupid, too. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/3 "2008-06-02T14:08:08Z")
Well, I’ll be. Include me in on the stupid party; I’ve never noticed those either. ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/4 "2008-06-02T14:11:27Z")
This officially makes at least four of us dopers that didn’t know this. Consider Ignorance fought. Thanks for the FYI, I’m sure I’ll have less trouble with these things now. MT ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/5 "2008-06-02T14:16:43Z")
Can I join? I’ve never seen these either. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/6 "2008-06-02T14:19:13Z")
Technology is our friend. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/7 "2008-06-02T14:21:02Z")
I just discovered these on my roll of plastic wrap this weekend. Reading this thread makes me feel so ahead of the curve. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/8 "2008-06-02T14:22:35Z")
…well, that’ll make it easier the next time I have to wrap something. Which should be in the next two years, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/9 "2008-06-02T14:24:39Z")
Jeez whiz! Are you the same people that believed pineapples grow on trees? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/10 "2008-06-02T14:31:46Z")
[QUOTE=Dottygumdrop] Jeez whiz! Are you the same people that believed pineapples grow on trees? 😉 [/QUOTE] Okay, I’ll admit to being one of those who wasn’t quite sure about where pineapples grew, and if questioned, I would have said trees (until THAT thread), but I’ve always known about the locking tabs on foil and plastic wrap rolls. I think they’re fairly obvious, but I know a lot of people have said they never saw them. How else do you get the roll to stay in place? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/11 "2008-06-02T14:52:53Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Okay, I’ll admit to being one of those who wasn’t quite sure about where pineapples grew, and if questioned, I would have said trees (until THAT thread), but I’ve always known about the locking tabs on foil and plastic wrap rolls. I think they’re fairly obvious, but I know a lot of people have said they never saw them. How else do you get the roll to stay in place? [/QUOTE] That’s just it, the roll never stayed in place. I got an e-mail about this last week and felt so stupid that I had never seen this little tab before, that I shamelessly forwarded the e-mail to several people who hate e-mail forwards. OTOH, I knew about pineapples from leafing through the encyclopedia as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/12 "2008-06-02T15:13:57Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] \How else do you get the roll to stay in place? [/QUOTE] I’ve always used two hands, one to pull the foil/film, and I’d use my thumb on the other hand to press down on the roll, leaving a gap of about 3/4" between the cutter and the top flap. Never had a problem. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/13 "2008-06-02T15:14:03Z")
I can’t believe I have survived nearly 60 years on this planet and had never noticed such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/14 "2008-06-02T15:18:43Z")
Damn. How did I miss those all these years? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/15 "2008-06-02T15:44:30Z")
Me too. Never thought to read the copy on the smallest planes on the box. How long have these been around? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/16 "2008-06-02T15:59:55Z")
Finally a Dope thread that not only makes me not feel dumb but superior to you guys. I’ve been using the locking tabs my whole life. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/17 "2008-06-02T16:13:25Z")
I feel so incredibly smart and with it! Thanks, guys, for being incapable of dealing with daily life! 🙂 I mean, sometimes they kind of bind up, but it’s not a big problem. And my college roomate, who was from _Peachtree City, GA_? Thought peanuts grew on trees. She didn’t believe me that they grow in the ground until one day when we were driving by a peanut field I pulled the car over and showed her. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/18 "2008-06-02T16:26:26Z")
Crap–I get the village idiot award: I can’t even get the link to open. Never knew about the aforementioned caps, either. Where’s our dunce cap emoticon? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locking-tabs-on-foil-and-plastic-rolls-duh/451464/19 "2008-06-02T16:27:06Z")
A couple weeks ago I was trying to use aluminum foil and the roll popped out, leaving me with about three feet of crinkled foil I had to roll back up. I feel dumb now, but I can at least take comfort that my dad is no smarter, as it was his kitchen. 😃