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How to unscrew a screw without a screwdriver?

Have you ever needed to remove a screw from a chair or a bedroom wall or wanted to open a laptop but couldn’t find a screwdriver nearby to assist you? If yes, then there’s no need to be concerned because you’re not alone!

We generally encounter some hardware products that aren’t a great match in our busy lives, and you know how annoying the situation can be.

You unscrew a screw without a screwdriver by using your kitchen knife with a sharp tip. You can also try using your keys. Also, try a dime or fork. Hairpins, pliers, scissors, thumbnails are a few common household items you can use.

Methods you can use to unscrew without screwdriver:

It’s not new to open or remove a screw without a screwdriver, and many people try various DIY methods to find a LIFE HACK.

Here, we’ll show you some of the essential ways for opening a screw, which you may also refer to as “alternatives to screwdrivers.” All of the goods listed below are readily available in any home, so no extensive hunting is required.

So, let’s see what we’ve got for you!

1. Keys

We have motorbikes and cars in our house and use the keys for the unlocking of the vehicle. 

Use the keys with sharp and nice edges because it would be easy to unscrew the screw with that key. Put the key into the front side of the screw and rotate it in an anticlockwise direction. Keep doing it until you get the screw. 

2. Kitchen Knife

To unscrew the screw, insert the flat edge of the butter knife in one of the grooves and attempt rotating it counter-clockwise. When you try to remove the screw with a butter knife that is too tight or poor quality, the knife may bend.

3. Coin

Insert the edge of a tiny coin (pennies work well) into the screw head’s longest groove and spin the screw counter-clockwise. This approach is more effective on bigger screws than on tiny ones.

4. Fork 

It is commonly found in every kitchen of the house and thanks to the sharp edges of the fork that are very useful to unscrew a screw from a wall or a piece of furniture.

But the screw must not tighten. Otherwise, this trick will not work. You can use one edge of the fork and roll in an anticlockwise position in the screw. After using the fork, keep in mind to put that ‘important stuff’ again in the kitchen!  

5. Tooth brush

You can utilize this method if all else fails if you have an old toothbrush and a lighter. With a lighter or comparable wellspring of warmth, liquefy the finish of your toothbrush. When the end is delicate and dissolving, embed it straight into the screw head’s furrows and allow it to cool. You might eliminate the screw by pivoting the plastic counter-clockwise whenever it has been set. 

This method is great for free screws. However, more tight screws will break the toothbrush, leaving some plastic inside the screw head’s scores. To avoid incidents and liquefied plastic pouring everywhere, dissolve the plastic tenderly and cautiously utilizing a lighter.

6. Thumb Nails

Just if the screw is truly free, will this methodology work. Try not to endeavor this methodology in case it is safely gotten since it might bring about hurt! Instead, spot the edge of your nail into one of the sections and turn counter-clockwise until it’s free enough to pull out with your fingers.

7. Hair Pins

Ask your partner, girlfriend, or wife to give you a hairpin for this hack!

Try to loosen the screw from its place then you will have to rotate the hairpin on the + sign of the screw until it comes out. 

Hair pins to unscrew screws

8. Try your Fingernails

Again you need a girl to try this method because most girls have long nails and what would be the better use of them if they will not assist us in getting out the screw!

You will have to use the finger with the longest nail and then put the nail on the screw. This trick will work as the hairpins. Rotate your nail until you find that the screw has come out from its place.  

9. Pliers

If the screw isn’t totally tightened, you can endeavor to eliminate it with a couple of forceps. To eliminate the screw, get the head with your pincers and gradually turn it counter-clockwise.

10- Some old Credit Card

Old Mastercards or participation cards are a deep-rooted screwdriver substitute. 

There will not be much utilization for more modest screws, and because they’re so adaptable, you’ll battle to eliminate especially close screws with them. 

However, for looser screws with little heads, they’re worth an attempt if you’re frantic and don’t approach a legitimate screwdriver. 

We’d suggest picking an old card that you at this point don’t have any need for, as the possibilities are, you’ll wind up parting the card before you’re done!

Methods to unscrew very tiny screws like smart phones or laptops

PC screws are regularly fine with little heads that require a particular screwdriver size. However, on the off chance that the screw is overtightened or the screwdriver is some unacceptable size, the head can strip, passing on no real way to control and turn the screw. This is a significant irritation, and eliminating the screw isn’t generally a simple assignment. 

A wide range of strategies can assist with recovering control and eliminate a tool screw from workstations.

Try to find out the actual Screwdrivers

The screws found in laptops or mobile phones are small, so it is advised to find the screwdriver to unscrew the screw. If you try to pull them out with any recommended thing, they will get damaged. You can also borrow the screwdriver from someone if you do not find one near you.

Try out a sharp pointed knife

Spot the tip of a sharp blade into the screw’s head. If it is at all practical, point the blade marginally to develop strength further. Then, to eliminate the screw, cautiously turn the blade counter-clockwise.

Small Scissor

Gadgets like scissors help us in many ways in our daily life. And if you have to unscrew a screw found in your laptop or mobile, you need a scissor that is very small in size. 

The small scissor has a sharp and fine edge from which you can put out the screw from its place. You have to grasp the screw with both edges tightly and then rotate the screw until you pass the mission! 

Nail File

There are a few nail files, but a pointed end works best for this method. You may use it in smaller flathead and Phillips screws if the end forms a sharp enough point. The file may also be inserted sideways into the slot of bigger screws, making it extremely DIY-friendly.

Tweezers

As long as they have pointed tips like the pair illustrated above, Tweezers are one of the finest alternatives to a small screwdriver.

As shown in the figure above, you can use both tips in the head if the screw is large enough, or you can use a single tip if the screw’s slots are smaller.

What’s better? Tweezers’ tips are often designed to provide a sharp angle on the edges, giving them a suitable alternative for small screws and a viable substitute for a specialist ‘watch screwdriver’ or a jewelers screwdriver set.

Additional Read:

  1. How to unscrew a stripped screw
  2. How to select a cordless drill
  3. Best Cordless drills under 50 USD