The aluminum foil trick that saves your kitchen drawers — and cuts down on cleaning time
Protect your drawers from messes
Beyond lining baking sheets and pans, aluminum foil has many other uses in the kitchen and even in your yard.
I’m currently using the foil’s reflective surface to scare hungry birds away from my newly reseeded lawn. I’ve also covered how aluminum foil can deter indoor pests and how placing a ball of aluminum foil in your washing machine can make laundry day easier.
This seemingly innocent roll of silver foil has many uses beyond protecting cookware. And now I'm going to reveal how people are lining their kitchen drawers with aluminum foil.
What are people lining their kitchen drawers with aluminum foil?
In the past, I’ve lined my bedroom drawers with leftover wallpaper to make them look cute. But when it comes to lining kitchen drawers, it’s not for aesthetics, especially since aluminum foil gives off practical, not pretty, vibes.
So why line your kitchen drawers with aluminum foil? It’s for the same reason you use aluminum foil to line the shelves in your refrigerator. It makes spills and food residue easier to clean up.
It acts as a barrier between the contents and the surface, waterproofing it and preventing leaks from soaking into or warping the wood or particle board. So when oil, sauce, or honey spills, it won’t damage the base of your drawer.
When spills happen and food residue is left behind, lining your kitchen drawers makes cleanup quick. Instead of scrubbing oily residue or reaching into corners for crumbs, you can simply remove the foil, wipe down your drawer and reline it with another layer of aluminum foil.
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What’s more, if the insides of your kitchen drawers look a bit weary, or you live in a rental property and want a layer between the drawer and the items you are storing, it can provide a cleaner finish.
How to line your drawers with aluminum foil
Luckily, it doesn’t take long to line a drawer with aluminum foil.
1. Start by removing everything from your drawer, cleaning it and letting it dry.
2. Measure and cut the foil so it’s slightly larger than the drawer base.
3. Place the foil in the drawer. If you’ve cut it slightly larger than the base, you can turn the edges up slightly to form a shallow edge. This should prevent any residue from escaping under the foil.
4. Replace the foil once it becomes torn or soiled. You will need to change it more often in drawers that are in constant use.
However, do make sure you’ve got enough aluminum foil left to cover your baking sheets, otherwise you might need to use my colleague's hack to get your baking sheets looking like new without hours of scrubbing.
This heavy-duty aluminum foil comes in a 125 sq ft roll. It's suitable for cooking, outdoor grilling and food storage. We also think it's perfect for lining kitchen drawers to provide a barrier between food residue and spills.
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Camilla is the Homes Staff Writer and covers everything to do with homes and gardens. She has a wealth of editorial experience, mounting over 30 years, and covers news and features, tests products for reviews and compiles buying guides.
Her work has appeared in business and consumer titles, including Ideal Home, Real Homes, House Beautiful, Homebuilding & Renovation, and Kitchen & Bathroom Business. She’s even appeared on the cover of Your Home, writing about her own house renovation.
Although she’s obsessed with decorating her home, she also enjoys baking and trying out the latest kitchen appliances. But when she’s not inside, you’ll find her pottering about in her yard, tending to her vegetable patch or taking in her prized hydrangeas.
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