How to unscrew a screw without a screwdriver. At some point in your life, you will probably find yourself in a situation where you have to remove a screw, but you don’t have a Phillips head or slotted head screwdriver at your disposal.
The situation may appear urgent, but there are workarounds that can be tried if necessary, and starting them is within the grasp of anyone willing to get their hands dirty.
How to unscrew a screw without a screwdriver
If you wish to upgrade from a manual screwdriver to an electric screwdriver, we suggest considering factors like power source, speed, and the number of torque settings.
It’s also important that the electric screwdriver has safety features like adjustable clutch settings that help prevent stripping or blade overload.
To remove a screw, place the flat edge of the butter knife over one of the grooves and apply upward firm pressure.
If the screw is very tight or you are using a low-quality butter knife, it may bend. You can use Keys, pliers, coins or credit cards, and thumbnails as common household items.
Using a table knife
There are certain tips and tricks that one should be familiar with when working with tools.
For example, using your table knife as a screwdriver by simply turning it around to use the dull side of the blade instead is one such trick.
Knives usually have rounded blades, making them perfect for this purpose.
But try not to use a pointy tipped blade because it might scratch the screw head or even worse could end up stabbing you.
This method works best with larger screws that can accommodate the size and width of the table knife.
Use pliers or locking pliers
Pliers are one of the most widely used tools. Locking pliers have better stability when it comes to gripping and removing screws.
Pliers clamp onto the screw head and provide a high amount of force
when squeezing and turning in order to unscrew them from their host objects such as a surface, cabinet door, part of a machine, or other things you want to remove screws from.
You can also use them if you’re unable to get your fingers into a tight location with a screw inside that needs loosening or removal.
The attached plier handles simply allow you to use all your hand muscles instead so they’ll always be helpful when you can’t get a grip otherwise.
Pliers have many other uses than just removing screws or tightening bolts and it’s best learned through experimentation so you can discover their full range of uses just like we did here.
You can use a coin or a credit card
This technique won’t be effective with all types of screws. In fact, it might not work for screws that are thicker than your credit card and coins.
However, if a screw has a simple, slotted head like on most disposable batteries in toys perhaps it could work very well as you get better at using this technique correctly.
At the same time, I guess it would depend on which type of screwdriver you have and whether or not it fits coins or credit cards tightly because some actually will work better than others while working with any thickness so yes that is something to keep in mind.
Using Your Nail
If you don’t have the appropriate tools for loosening a screw, you can use your fingernail instead. You should pinch the head of the screw before attempting to remove it so that you don’t accidentally damage your fingernail.
I strongly advise against using this method if there are other alternatives available because you stand a very real risk of snapping or cracking your fingernail.
Be very mindful as well that you do not bend or otherwise damage the head of the screw in any way while performing this task.
Apply Keys
We have motorbikes and cars in our house. We unlock them using keys. It is best to get shiny, sharp-edged keys so that you can remove screws easily.
The key should be inserted into the small space on the back of the screws head and twisted until its pointed teeth can penetrate the screws’ narrow grooves.
With this method, a stubborn screw can be cracked open, making its removal simple.
Using Fork
Utensils are a common sight in every home, and forks can be quite useful for tightening a screw on the wall or with furniture. But when you need to remove the screw, remember not to over-tighten it.
Otherwise, this trick will not work. You can use one edge of the fork and roll it in an anti-clockwise position into the screw hole. After using the fork, make sure you put it back where it belongs!
Tweezers are helpful
Pointed tweezers are one of the best small tools because they can be used to remove screws or parts that fit within their jaws.
There are many options for pointed tweezers with different tip sizes, materials, and contours making them easy to grasp small components.
In many cases, tips are shaped in such a way as to create an angle to facilitate working with small screws and can be replaced with tweezers or a tool designed specifically for this purpose, such as a jewelers screwdriver set.
How to unscrew a screw without a screwdriver
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