We've Been Opening Water Bottle Packages Wrong This Entire Time

You only need to scroll through the 2000-plus comments on the viral TikTok water bottle case-opening hack posted by user Keva Chang to know the frustrating world it's now freed us from. "So u mean I don't need to punch a hole thru the plastic w my finger [sic]" says one popular comment. "So ive been fighting for my life getting first few bottles for nothin [sic]" says another.

While some commenters note and others counter by mentioning the water-insecure communities that may need bottled water, there's no debating the ingenuity in the video. Like many of the best hacks, it's simple, surprising, and takes an everyday time suck and cuts it in half. Literally.



This hack wasn't invented by Chang, but her video brought it to a huge audience. It's easy: Place the shrink-wrapped water bottles on the floor, grab a sharp knife, split the case at its midpoint, and then open it like the cross-section of a delicious sandwich. In the video, Chang's dad slides the now open-faced case to the corner of a room for easy access before flashing a thumbs up, but this hack is also great for large parties, kids' sports games, and any occasion where the last thing you want is an obnoxious fight with a piece of stubborn plastic just for a bottle of water.

Why water bottles are packaged like that We love this hack, but why are water bottle cases shrink-wrapped in the first place? The process itself is no different than shrink-wrapping anything else: wrap in plastic, heat, shrink, and repeat. For big-b.