Easily Remove Drywall Anchors In A Pinch With TikTok's Clever Corkscrew Hack

Drywall is a relatively soft home construction material, so anyone looking to hang heavy objects for display should start their projects by preparing holes for drywall anchors using an appropriately sized drill bit. These anchors will expand when a screw is inserted to lock them in place, which is especially important for securing furniture or major appliances like refrigerators. However, when it comes time to remove those standard plastic drywall anchors, one TikTok user offers a clever solution using an unexpected kitchen tool: a corkscrew wine opener.

In the video posted by TikTok user @megank_home, who runs a page for beginner DIYers, embedding a few inches of their corkscrew into an exposed anchor allows them to pull out that support within the span of an eight-second clip. This method is relatively cheap and convenient, as those who don't already own a bottle opener for pouring celebratory glasses of wine can easily order one from Amazon for under $10. It's also an easy hack to execute: @megank_home simply lines up their corkscrew (with its arms up) against the drywall anchor, screws it in until the lip of the anchor begins to pop out of the wall, and then smoothly pulls the whole thing free.

The process of removing a drywall anchor is similar regardless of what tools someone decides to use. You want to get a firm grip on the anchor, either by leaving a screw halfway inserted or using other household and emergency kit items like tweezers. However, the surrounding drywall can crack or rip apart if this removal is done at the wrong angle or with the wrong amount of pressure, leading to what many in the TikTok hack's comments say is another common solution: just pushing the anchor further into the wall and covering it up. Not to mention the prevalence of specialized ways to secure objects not seen in this video, such as threaded wall anchors with screw-shaped bodies that cannot merely be pulled loose, or the more complex furniture anchoring kits recommended by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

That being said, the solution posited by @megank_home is novel, and appears to work well for simple anchors by offering a full-bodied tool with its own grips to improve leverage. Removing an anchor without damaging its surroundings will make it easier to repair any holes left in the drywall, itself a process as simple as filling the crevice with putty (be it a wall mending agent or DIY filler mixed from powder), smoothing over the surface with a trowel or flat blade, and then repainting. After that, the wall should be good as new, and there are undoubtedly plenty more videos floating around on social media to get you thinking about what will fill your home next.