Use TikTok's Hack To Fix Your Drafty Door With Leftover Plastic Bags
Drafty doors are one of those home nuisances that are hard to ignore. Not only do they let a chill in that will have you reaching for a second sweater, but they're also terrible for your energy bill. As warm air leaks out and cold air creeps in, your heating system will constantly kick on to try and maintain your desired temp. That's why it's so important to seal your door gaps in the winter, to help stop those leaks. And to do so in a pinch, you can use something in your pantry: plastic bags. According to TikTok, the same bags you get at grocery stores can double as door insulation with a little bit of finesse.
The reason your door is letting heat out is that the weather stripping that originally sealed it firmly has worn down, allowing leaks in the spots where the stripping has deteriorated. The solution is to plug those gaps, and you can DIY this by repurposing plastic bags into makeshift patches. This is a great way to give your bags a second life outside of using them as bin liners. Plus, it can act as a temporary band-aid if you don't have the time or funds to create a more permanent solution, like replacing the weather stripping altogether.
How to use plastic bags as makeshift weather stripping
To pull off this hack and create your own DIY door draft blockers, all you need is a handful of leftover plastic bags and a butter or putty knife. To start, figure out where the cold air is seeping through. Feel around the door's frame. Where you can feel cold air from the outside, that's where the stripping has worn off and where you'll want to add your plastic bags.
Once you locate a spot, grab a couple of bags and use the butter knife to push them into the gap. You want to use more than one in order to insulate the hole properly. Do this around the entire door until you have plugged all of the leaks. You can also do this to drafty windows.
This repair hack works for several reasons. First, plastic bags are thin enough to fit inside the small gaps in the door. For example, a towel or microfiber cloth would be too thick for most gaps. Second, plastic is a top-tier insulator, keeping the warm air inside. That's because the material is filled with small pockets of air, which makes it difficult for heat to pass through them. This keeps it locked in instead.