Hack Your Paper Towel Holder

Being a dad, more than once I had a situation when I wanted to tear off a sheet of paper towel, but It was challenging to do it with only one hand free.

In this Instructable, we look at a way to hack your paper towel holder, so it could be operated with a single hand.

What's needed:

• Paper Towel Holder
• Suction hooks
• Pool noodle
• Cable ties

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Step 1:

I grabbed a few suction hooks and removed the hooks

Step 2:

I drilled 3 holes at the bottom of the holder to glue the suction cups.

Step 3:

I cut off a piece of pool noodle and trimmed it a little bit.

Then I cut it in half and then cut a slot in each piece.

After that, I put both pieces around the holder's tube and tied them together with cable ties.

I made sure the pool noodle did not turn too easy or too hard.

The pool noodle will act as a break for the paper towel roll.

You can make it turn easier or harder by fastening or loosening the cable ties.

Step 4:

I did a final shaving to make sure the pool noodle fits inside of the roll.

Now slide on the paper roll and attach the holder to the table.

When a sheet of paper towel is needed, just pull it gently.

If you want to tear off a sheet, do it by a quick pulling motion.

It works similar to the seat belt. When pulled gently, the towel will unwrap.

If you pull it quickly, the sheet will tear off.

Comments

[Battlespeed]

All you need to do is fill the gap between the cardboard roll and the rod. When I put a new roll on my holder, I just tear off the first sheet, fold it several times and stuff it down inside the cardboard tube. Bingo - instant "brake" on the roll to keep it from excessive spinning when I pull off a towel with one hand.

[saraetta]

Oh, yeah! Thank you

[jeanniel1]

Ha ha - I have those half sheet rolls, and sometimes I just want the half sheet - once I jerked downward and the whole bloody roll and holder came off the countertop. It seemed easier to get a sheet off when the roll is large, vs near the end of the roll. Thanks for the hack!

[Thejesterqueen]

Thank you! I especially like the suction cups, because I have the same holder and it always comes at me with the paper towels whenever I try to pull one.

[Beadlady1242]

Brilliant idea, you should get a patent on this and start selling them. I would purchase one but not handy enough to make one. I could proably glue the sucyion cups on and stick a paper towel inbetween as someone suggested. Thanks

[Wrrr 10-G]

That's pretty crafty my man.. Nice.

[Łukasz]

Why aren't we funding this!??!

[Yonatan24]

What exactly do you mean by that?

[Łukasz]

Like why isn't this an actual product in shops!! I'm really impressed, the amount times trying to get one sheet, and accidentally unraveling too much and needing to wrap it up again... you know like on dragons den when they look for investors to help fund startups for products..

[Trini Mom]

Totally awesome life hack, thanks

[ShakeTheFuture]

Thank You!

[Was1x]

I used a folded paper tube from inside the last roll of towels, to one I attached to my workbench. But I like this better, more resistance.

[DIY Hacks and How Tos]

Great life hack.

[ShakeTheFuture]

Thanks!

[DIY Hacks and How Tos]

Great life hack.