Household tip: Non-Skid rubber liner and its uses

About a year ago, I found a bunch of remnant pieces of rubber shelf liner that my husband had used in his tool chest drawers in the garage.  This is the stuff I'm talking about here:



(Click the image link to access it on Amazon.com)

I have found multiple fun uses for it in the house.  For starters, I have cut some circles to size to put underneath my utensil-jars to keep them from sliding around on our counters.

I also keep a couple of 6" diameter circles in a drawer to help me open stuck jar lids.  It helps you grip the lid and get better traction.  I sometimes even use one for my left hand to grip the glass jar, and one on the lid to give me a little extra oomph. 

I cut a couple of these things to put inside drawers under those plastic flatware organizers so they don't slide back and forth either.



But maybe the best that this material is amazing for is cutting-board non skid mats.  Any cutting board I have ever used on my granite counter tops slides around far too easily for my comfort, especially when I'm using my very, very sharp knives from Gunther Wilhelm Cutlery... A lot of times I pick up speed when chopping, dicing and julienning veggies, and a slippery cutting board would be a missing hand waiting to happen.

Some kitchen websites and magazines recommend a damp towel under your cutting board, but that also means always having a damp towel to contend with when you are done.  But one day I had a EUREKA moment, and cut this non-skid material to fit my cutting boards perfectly.  I even trimmed around rounded corners so that you can't see it at all under the cutting boards.  I can fold this stuff up in a jiffy and store it with my dish towels when it's not in use, or leave a cutting board on the counter top all the time. 

After I realized how absolutely amazing this stuff was to keep my cutting board in place, I never used a damp towel again.  Besides, a damp towel is not all that great anyway, whereas this stuff is almost 100% skid-proof. You would have to really lean into your cutting board to make it slide on this stuff.   To clean it just run it under hot water and squeeze a little dish soap through it a few times, and let it air dry. 

Or why not cut some to fit under your counter top appliances to keep them from skidding while making milkshakes or kneading dough?

So go ahead and order yourself a roll -- you can use it in your drawers, under appliances, pantry shelves, cutting boards,  or open your jars with it.  I love this stuff. 

Can you think of any other uses for it?

See you soon with more recipes or household kitchen tips!