10 Clever Uses for an Empty Paper Towel Roll

Though things like paper towel rolls are easily disposed of, there are a surprising number of reasons to keep ‘em. Unsure why you’d ever do something like that? 

Here are 10 reasons to hang on to those extra paper towel rolls instead of dumping them.

If you went to college in the days of early iPods, you know that making a tiny slit in a paper towel roll and inserting your phone can amplify the sound exponentially. Try it; you’ll be surprised. 

Boots always falling slack when you’re not wearing them? If only there was a long, cardboard tube of some kind to help them keep their shape while they’re not being worn. 

If you’re me, birds are a menace. Some people seem to want them around though, so here’s a cool video showing you how to turn a paper towel or toilet paper roll into a bird feeder. 

Something that I do all the time, which is a very stupid thing to do all the time, is throw out the box that my trashbags come in. I have no idea why I do this, but it happens far too often. Paper towel rolls can help keep ‘em in line when there’s no other means; same goes for dog baggies, too. 

Wire farms are horrible on the eyes and even worse on the psyche. You don’t want one growing on your desk, under your desk, or anywhere near your desk. That’s why you’ve got a paper towel roll underneath that is discreetly funnelling all your cables into one, nice, organized, hidden passageway. 

It can be annoying to find places to keep sharp knives, and if you’re not interested in buying an expensive knife block, a paper towel roll is all you need. This is also a great way to donate knives to places like Goodwill in a safe, easy-to-handle way. 

This one is truly inspired: Stick a toilet paper roll around the long bar of your hanger if you’re sick of your slacks having thick creases in them. 

If you’ve got loose wrapping paper, the stuff becomes basically unusable once it’s all crinkled. Are you gonna wrap people’s presents in old newspaper like my dad? No, of course not. Keep that wrapping paper tight and taut. 

There are about 75,000 different crafts you can make with a paper towel roll. You can make little flowers. You can make toy cars. You can make crabs and space shuttles and pretty much anything your imagination can conjure. Here’s some Pinterest inspiration. 

Got a ton of them? People will buy anything. Try ‘em out on Craiglist or eBay.