Here's How To Open A Bottle Of Wine With A Shoe

It's a situation most of us have found ourselves in at one point or another: We have a bottle of wine to open, but no corkscrew. It's one of those insanely frustrating moments, especially if dinner is on the table and getting cold. So close, yet so far! But there's actually a rather ingenious way to open a bottle of wine using nothing more than – wait for it – a shoe.

All you have to do is hold the shoe in one hand and the neck of the bottle of wine with the other, put the bottle of wine in the shoe so that the base of the bottle is at a 90 degree angle to the sole, and bash the two against a wall simultaneously, with the heel and the bottom of the bottle hitting the wall at the same time. Eventually the cork will begin to emerge. It might work after a few tries, or it might work after 15 minutes, but it will eventually work — unless the cork is plastic. Or unless the shoe is anything but a dress shoe with a solid sole.

So how does this work? It all comes down to fluid dynamics. According to NPR's The Salt, the force generated from the heel hitting the wall is transferred to the bottle, then transferred to the wine —and then transferred to the cork, gradually pushing it out of the bottle's neck.

So give it a shot, and prepare to impress (or seriously bore) your friends.