How to Unseal & Reseal an Envelope

You prepared the contents, addressed the envelope and sealed it, only to realize that you made some sort of mistake that requires unsealing the envelope. It's an incredibly frustrating situation that we have all found ourselves in before. The next time this happens to you, don't beat yourself up over your carelessness and wasting of a perfectly good envelope. Instead, salvage the envelope with one of several home remedies that allow you to unseal and reseal it.

Things You'll Need

• Freezer
• Knife
• Letter opener
• Glue stick or double sided sticky tape
• Cooking pot
• Stove
• Pasta drainer

Instructions

1. Place sealed envelope into the freezer for about three to four hours. Once you remove the envelope, run the blade of a knife under the flap to open it. Leave the envelope aside until it warms up. Moisten the glue as you normally would and press the flap against the envelope body.

2. Use a letter opener to carefully detach flap from envelope body. You must slide the opener slowly and carefully under the flap to prevent the flap from ripping and ruining the envelope. If the original glue no longer works, seal the envelope by running a glue stick along the adhesive part of the flap or covering it with strips of double sided tape.

3. Bring water to a boil in a pot. Remove the pot from the stove and place a pasta drainer on top of the pot. Place the envelope into the drainer for about 20 seconds, with the flap facing the steam. You will be able to unseal the envelope using a blade as described in Steps 1 and 2.You should be able to reuse the original glue, which the humidity of the steam reactivates.