What's The Deal: Opening impossible plastic packaging

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Monday, July 8, 2019
What's The Deal: Opening impossible plastic packaging
What's The Deal: Opening impossible plastic packaging - Sarah Bloomquist reports during Action News at 4:30 p.m. on July 8, 2019.

Most of us are familiar with the difficulty of opening some types of plastic packaging- especially the hard packaging that encases so many things.

The frustration has been coined "wrap rage."

The people at MoneyTalksNews have put together some tips to help you open these packages without ending up in the emergency room.

Plastic packaging is prevalent, annoying and potentially dangerous.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, thousands of consumers have ended up in emergency rooms from these things.

First, take a look at the package. Some manufacturers are putting perforations in or making easier to open tabs.

If not, the next step is to arm yourself with the right tools. You can use anything from box cutters to tin snips to open these things.

But before you start dragging out the tools, look in your drawer and see if you've got an old, rotary can opener. It might do the trick.

Run the can opener around the edge of the package, just like you would with a can.

If that doesn't allow you to pry open the package and get the item out, carefully run a knife between the two layers of plastic until you can safely open it.

You can also try using scissors or even tin snips, if you have them, to trim around the edges and then be able to open up the layers of plastic.

Try not to cut through the middle, this is one way to get cut by the package or the tool you're using and you might cut through instructions for the item as well.

If you don't want to risk cutting open one of those hard plastic cases at all, you can avoid them altogether.

Amazon actually has an entire section of products labeled certified Frustration-Free Packaging.