Use A Clever Spoon Hack To Easily Separate Stuck Bowls

You catch frustrated mutterings and a few choice words coming from the kitchen: Those ceramic bowls are stuck one inside the other again. Or maybe it's a duo of coffee cups, a pair of glass bowls, or twin plastic drinking cups. Since stacking dishes is one of the best ways to utilize vertical space in kitchens, this is most likely a dilemma that every human will encounter. Short of hurling the offending dishes to the floor, what can you do to loosen this iron grip?

You might have heard of using oil to save the day if glasses are stuck together, but there is one hack that involves no clean-up at all. To rescue your dishes from your exasperated family member, take hold of your fused bowls, give the bottom one a light tap with the side of a metal spoon, and they should come apart in a jiffy. What's more, it works on other containers, including ones made from different materials. You can also sub the spoon for other utensils or tools if you need to (for instance, the rubberized handle of a hammer can work). Try this on plastic containers, glasses, measuring cups, and any other stuck dishware you're troubled with.

If your spoon tapping hasn't yielded the desired results, all hope is not lost! There's an alternate method that is a bit more involved, yet still doesn't require you to wash your dishware afterward. Set your conjoined dishes inside a large bowl that's about half-full with warm water. The warm water shouldn't reach higher than the lip of the lower stuck container. Fill the top stuck container with ice water, and the dishes' expansion and contraction due to the temperature difference should loosen their hold on each other. This trick can also work in the unexpected event that two differently-shaped containers become inseparable.

There are times when neither of these tricks get the job done. Sometimes, persistence with one method is key. Other times, you have to bring out the big guns. You can separate stuck glasses with WD-40; this popular household item is great for all sorts of un-sticking applications. Just like with the cooking oil trick, the WD-40 can loosen the bond between the two containers. Spray a bit of this multipurpose lubricant around the touching edges of the two containers, give the lower container a few taps with a spoon, and carefully twist the two containers apart.