Your cooler is packed with cold drinks that are buried under mounds of ice on a hot summer day. As you make your way out the door with your cooler, you discover it is leaking. Further investigation reveals that your cooler plug is missing. It is hard to believe that this tiny little rubber part has rendered the cooler useless, but it will be nothing but a water spout by the time you get to your destination. At times like these you need a temporary quick fix until you can buy a replacement plug.
Things Around The House
Grab a resealable zipper storage bag and check your kid's room for a modeling compound such as "Play-doh," or for "Silly Putty." Take a piece that is big enough to clog up the plug hole in the cooler. Wrap the plastic bag around it, push the air out and zip it up. Push the gob in the plastic bag through the hole and mold it in the hole and against the sides until it is tight. This water-tight plug will keep things dry so you can enjoy the day.
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Floral foam or flora putty can also be used inside a plastic bag as a plug for your cooler.
If all else fails, use a wash cloth inside the plastic bag and pack it into the cooler's plug hole tightly.
Incredible Edibles
Open up your refrigerator and use any type of dough you have for bread, rolls or pizza to put inside the plastic bag. The dough that comes in the "pop and fresh" tubes works well.
A potato cut just a little bigger than the cooler hole will also work. Put it inside a plastic bag and screw it into the hole tightly.
A carrot that is wide enough can also be used as a quick fix.
Make sure that your perishable food fixes are only used for the day. Once you get back home, they should be thrown away.
Styrofoam and Cork
Plug your cooler drain hole with a piece of Styrofoam from an odd piece of insulation. Cut a piece just a tiny bit bigger than the hole and twist it into the hole like a cork.
If you notice the plug is gone once you are on the road, go through the drive-thru at a coffee shop and get a Styrofoam coffee cup. If it is thin enough, twist it through the hole that is missing its plug. If it is thick, you may need to use just a large piece of it.
Speaking of corks, if it is a small cooler, a wine bottle cork will do the trick.
Permanent Fix
Once you have gotten home and your day was saved with a quick fix for a cooler plug, order a replacement. Parts are sold online for almost every make and model. Many hardware stores also carry a generic plug that will fit the cooler just fine. The cooler plug is an inexpensive rubber piece that will assure the usefulness of your cooler once again.
