Heat Shrink Tubing is one of the most useful products for labeling, insulating and protecting all types of wiring. While heat shrink, or shrink wrap as it is sometimes known, is most commonly thought of as a wiring product, heat shrinkable tubing has dozens of useful applications, in and around the home and the shop.
Here are 13 of the most useful applications for how to use heat shrink tubing.
- Wire insulation - electrical wires, home stereo equipment, including headphone wires, and other types in indoor and outdoor wiring can be protected and repaired with heat shrink.
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Improving the grip on your hockey stick, baseball bat, cricket bat, or tennis racket - the grips on sporting equipment wear over time, making them uncomfortable, and occasionally jagged and sharp. A piece of heat shrink around the handle makes sporting gear easy and comfortable to hold and can extend the life of the equipment.
- Labeling keys - heat shrink will form a tight grip around the upper portion of a key, making it easy to distinguish. Using multiple colors of heat shrink is great for organization.
- Labelling toothbrushes - Ideal for those toothbrushes left behind at the cottage, shrink wrap applied to the handle will let you color code and mark the toothbrushes left behind.
- Distinguishing wires - if you have a mess of wires leading in several directions, heat shrink, combined with the bundling capabilities of cable ties, can allow you to create labels for each wire that indicates where it is connected. As a bonus, the shrink wrap will protect your wires too.
- Branding Cable Assemblies - makers and assemblers of specialized industrial wiring are able to brand their work with custom labeled heat shrink.
- Branding your Innovative Product - companies that have created a unique product or invention can associate their brand with the product by applying custom printed heat shrink.
- Protecting and improving the tool grips - like sporting equipment, tool handles are susceptible to wear and tear that heat shrink can prevent, and applying heat shrink to tool handles makes them more comfortable to use.
- Labeling your garden hose - keep the equipment around your house, especially your garden hose, properly labeled to avoid confusing ownership of your garden tools with your neighbors.
- Connecting two wires without soldering - adhesive lined heat shrink can be used to keep two wires connected, preventing them from shorting out.
- Adding a soft grip to Helping Hands - prevent the sharp teeth on Helping Hands from scratching your equipment with the addition of some heat shrink to the grips.
- Automotive repair - Using a heavy duty, adhesive lined heat shrink product is very useful in automotive repair. When heated, the adhesive melts and flows to form an effective barrier against automotive fluids and moisture.
- Fixing Laces - Anytime the plastic covering begins to break on shoe or skate laces, heat shrink is a great tool for repairing those frayed ends.
We would love to hear how you are using heat shrink. What are some of the most effective and innovative ways that you have used the product?