Man Shares ‘Vaseline’ Hack That Makes Ripping off Your Band-Aid Quick and Painless

In the early 20th century, a cotton buyer named Earle Dickson encountered a grave problem. He was newly married and his dear wife, Josephine, often cut her fingers while cooking or slicing vegetables in the kitchen. After several experiments, he finally invented a solution in 1921. The solution was “Band-Aid.” Since then, over 100 billion band-aids have been sold worldwide. While it guards the skin against bacteria, germs, and friction, its sticky adhesive often makes it impossible to rip off. As a result, removing a band-aid becomes a painful process, especially when it pricks along with it, pores of skin or tiny hairs. TikTok user Blake Chiuminetta (@blakechiuminetta) shared a simple yet game-changing hack to make the band-aid removal process less painful. The cure lies in Vaseline.

Being a life hack enthusiast, Chiuminetta tried this Vaseline hack and approved of it. The clip opens with him flashing a bandage on his arm in front of the camera. In his other hand is a typical blue-tipped box of Vaseline. He pokes his fingers into the box and scoops out a dollop of the waxy ointment. Then gently he rubs Vaseline over the bandaged area of his flesh. He demonstrates how easily the band-aid is ripped off from his skin while leaving the skin rash-free and with just the leftover Vaseline glistening in the Sun. “A nurse taught me this,” he described in the caption.

The video received mixed reactions from people. While some were amazed by the simple trick, others called it common sense. @bel_2727 said the hack is especially useful for elderly people who have frail skin. @cindytorrpr added that baby oil, castor oil, and olive oil also work well as emollients to soften the adhesive. “Just rub in well,” they advised. @surfsup0070 seemed against using Vaseline and instead suggested alcohol, “Rubbing alcohol works much better, and I promise you are extremely clean, leaving no residue.”

Chiuminetta is not the only one who believes in using Vaseline to rip off band-aids painlessly. TikTok content creator Angie Lara (@angielara3541) also applied this hack to peel the bandage from his toddler’s skin smoothly. As it turns out, many experts believe in this hack too, including the National Institute of Health and Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation. Petroleum jelly like Vaseline enables easy peeling of the band-aid by weakening or softening the adhesive that sticks to the skin, as per Parents.com. The method is to thoroughly rub the jelly over the band-aid and repeat it until it is completely soaked.

At times, ripping off the band-aid might feel so scary because it aches more than the actual wound itself. But this moist jelly makes it easier to peel off the bandage without causing much pain to the skin. Meanwhile, some scientists are also working on a type of bandage that rips off without pain. For a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists took inspiration from spiderwebs to design a band-aid that would be ripped off as easily as it would stick to the skin.

You can follow Blake Chiuminetta (@blakechiuminetta) on TikTok for more interesting life hacks and product reviews!