How To Saran Wrap Windows

Is this a genius trick or a waste material of time? Here'southward what yous demand to know about sealing and insulating windows with Saran Wrap.

If you take older windows in your abode, at that place's a good adventure that they are drafty and none-too-insulating. Possibly they're single pane. Maybe at that place are gaps around the frame that icy winter breezes and ambitious summer insects can clasp through. Whatsoever the case, you have a problem.

What'due south the solution? You could accept the windows re-sealed. This can be fourth dimension-consuming, and options like caulking may demand to look until you lot take a stretch of warm, dry out weather. Meanwhile, completely replacing the windows is highly effective. It'south likewise quite an investment. Well sealed, double pane windows can offer you lot large savings in your energy bill over the long run. However, they are a hit to your budget in the short run.

Crafty DIY-minded homeowners take been turning to a creative alternative: Saran Wrap. Hither'southward what you need to know:

Related:Types of Soundproof Insulation | Types of Soundproof Windows | What Are Storm Windows | Blackness Out Curtains vs. Blinds vs. Window Films | Types of Windows

Why Saran Wrap Your Windows?

Saran Wrap (and other brands of plastic wrap) come in long sheets. It sticks to itself and many household materials. You tin can probably picture how this works with drafty windows.

The idea hither is to utilize Saran Wrap over the entire window, including the frame. By overlapping the strips, you lot create a continuous surface of the plastic. In theory, this plastic prevents icy breezes and moisture from getting into your home. Information technology also won't damage your windows. When you want to remove information technology, you simply pare the Saran Wrap abroad.

Does It Work?

So how well does Saran Wrap on windows work? Is it time to toss away your caulking gun and invest in a few dollars' worths of stretchy, clingy plastic? Tin can a humble scroll of plastic wrap be the reply your window insulation needs?

The short answer: Sort of.

The long reply: It depends on how you apply the plastic wrap and what you're looking for.

There are 2 ways to apply a Saran Wrap. You can stick it straight to the window panes. This is the easy route. Y'all tin also apply it to trap a bubble of air betwixt plastic and glass. This is considerably trickier to pull off. Both of these methods are detailed below, but how effective are they?

Sticking the Saran Wrap directly onto the glass tin be useful if you have loose panes, cracked or chipped drinking glass, or a draft sneaking in at the edge of the frame. If smoothly applied, it can look invisible to a casual glance. However, it won't offer whatever significant insulation confronting temperature loss. You may not be tickled past icy drafts, merely your heating and AC related bills will still take a hit.

Applying the Saran Wrap beginning from the window glass creates an effect similar to double pane windows. There will be a pocket of air trapped betwixt the layers of glass and plastic. This air creates an insulating upshot. Dissimilar the previous method, starting time Saran Wrap is quite visible, specially when looking at the window from an bending.

Is this method as effective equally a professionally produced insulating window with multiple layers of drinking glass? No. But it can help. According to a study by Energy Star, shrink-wrapped plastic windows can reduce your energy bills by upwardly to 20%.

What Else Can Yous Try?

If you're looking for Saran Wrap alternatives, some options include:

Thick Plastic Sheeting Cut to Fit the Window

Pros

This is easier to work with as information technology doesn't stick to itself.
More durable than plastic wrap.
Plastic sheeting is unlikely to deform under its own weight, and then it's a practiced fit for large windows.
You tin can probably shop and reuse information technology next winter.

Cons

This won't shrink-wrap in place.
The tape may loosen or peel off paint from the frame.
Thick sheeting lets less light through.
It may look less attractive.

Chimera Wrap

Pros

Merely similar plastic sheets, chimera wrap is easier to piece of work with as information technology doesn't stick to itself.
You probably have some bubble wrap already lying around the home.
The tiny trapped air bubbling let you insulate windows without time-consuming shrink wrapping.
It creates a unique visual look that many find attractive.

Cons

You may terminate upwards hating the unique visual expect.
This cloth blocks more lite, leading to a darker indoors.
Y'all and your family unit will have to resist the urge to pop the bubbles.

Estrus Shrink Plastic Kits for Windows

Pros

These kits are especially designed for window applications.
They include most of the supplies you need.
The heat-shrink plastic sheets are 1 continual piece, no seams or overlapping required.
You can go kits for windows of different sizes.

Cons

More than expensive than a uncomplicated roll of Saran Wrap.
Larger pieces of estrus compress plastic are tricky to install solo.
If the plastic gets damaged or you mess up an application, you lot'll need to buy another kit.
These don't have all the supplies needed; you'll still have to find a hairdryer.

How To Utilise Saran Wrap On Your Windows

Is Saran Wrap the right method for you? If so, your side by side decision is whether to use straight onto the panes or offset to create an air gap. These methods crave by and large the same supplies.

You Will Need

Plastic Wrap (thicker, more expensive versions are easier to piece of work with and may be more effective)
Scissors
Double-sided tape
A measuring tape
A hairdryer or estrus gun (for showtime applications)

Footstep One: Gear up Your Area

Castor or wipe around the window frame to remove dust, dislodge spiderwebs, etc. Clean the inside of your windows if they're dirty. You won't be able to do this chore later the plastic goes on. Finally, lay out your supplies.

Pace Two: Adhere the Plastic

Lay down double-sided tape along the edge of your window frame next to the wall. This will let you ballast the Saran Wrap as yous work.

Your whorl of Saran Wrap is probably too narrow for your window. For this reason, you'll need to apply multiple strips.

Commencement instructions: Pull the plastic strips taut forth the width of the window. Secure the cut edges with your double-sided tape. This will ensure that you're trapping that layer of air in place.

On-pane instructions: Cutting strips of the correct length and press them directly confronting the glass, securing the edges on the tape. Smooth each strip downwards with your fingers and palms. This will create a tight seal with the window panes and the frame.

Both methods : Equally you get down, one stripe at a time, overlap them by about an inch. This will create a solid surface with no place for drafts to sneak by.

Footstep Three: Cheque the Seal

Go around the edges of the frame and brand certain all the plastic is secured by tape.

Wait over the window, checking that each sheet overlaps the side by side.

On-pane instructions: Come across if there are any cruddy air bubbles or wrinkled bits that nevertheless demand to exist smoothed down. No? Congratulations, you finished the job!

Offset instructions: Continue to Step Four.

Step Four: Shrink Wrap It

This step is non strictly necessary. Your window now has an insulating layer of trapped air. All the same, you lot'll get more draft prevention and insulation benefits with a shrink-wrapped seal.

Turn on your pilus dryer or oestrus gun. Aim it an inch or two from the plastic. Yous'll want to use depression to medium estrus. For the dryer, choose a low airflow setting so you don't accidentally blow your work off the frame.

Piece of work around the edges and seams, taking your time. You should see the wrinkles lighten or vanish as you become. This is the Saran Wrap shrinking and tightening to a secure fit.

Circumspection

In that location are a few things to watch out for equally you work. Start, accept y'all ever wrestled with trigger-happy your Saran Wrap on that serrated cutter on the box lid? If so, y'all already know the biggest challenge of this DIY job. Plastic wrap clings to itself. Information technology balls up hands. Information technology can stretch and deform when you effort to straighten it out. Flat sheets stick together neatly. Damaged sheets won't do for this project.

For this same reason, article of clothing apparel that you know don't attract static. After all, y'all don't demand to make this job tougher on yourself.

Effort to work slowly and advisedly. If a strip of plastic seems likewise damaged (holes, ripples, stuck-together places), y'all're better of scrapping information technology and getting a fresh piece.

Adjacent, be careful if you're using heat on the Saran Wrap. Y'all could burn yourself. Another danger is of melting a hole in the plastic. Try to patch information technology with a square of plastic wrap and you lot've created a weak point that air current and wet tin go through. You may also make full your home with the odor of scorched plastic and have to air it out during unpleasant temperatures.

Finally, figure out how you'll protect your shrink-wrapped window. Go along pets away from it, particularly cats. Talk to your kids about not playing with the plastic. Over again, information technology's unlikely that you'll exist able to patch whatever holes. Shrinkwrapping your windows is time-consuming and may be frustrating. You don't want to have to redo this job anytime shortly.