After videos of a man in China fixing things using ramen noodles went viral a lot of people have been asking themselves if this trick actually works. In the clips the man fills in the void of a broken object either with sections of ramen noodle blocks or with crushed ramen noodles depending on the size of the cracks to be filled in. Then he pours some kind of glue from a bottle over the top and then chisels away the excess before sanding and painting the items to look brand new. So the question is: does the ramen hack really work?
As the videos show the uncooked ramen noodles in this case are essentially being used as filler and the glue is what is keeping it all together and making the ramen stronger. To test this out 2 YouTubers tried to repair various dishes using this method, as well as a skateboard.
In the original videos from China the man repaired a broken sink as well as several different dishes. It’s hard to think about ramen being used in a wet environment, but as we see later on the super glue is a game changer.
Using the ramen and super glue method the repairs were built up then chiseled away at (if needed) before getting sanded and painted. And the results were pretty surprising. In one of the repaired dishes they cooked ramen in the microwave and it didn’t fall apart or get soggy.
However, when it came to impact and weight the ramen fixes didn’t fare so well. When hit directly in the ramen-repaired area of a bowl popped right out as it was the weakest part of the dish at that point.
And, as one might expect the skateboard fixed with ramen didn’t hold up to the weight of an adult very well, though it didn’t break immediately. The final verdict is surprising because this hack sort of works! To say we were not expecting that plot twist would be an understatement.
The control for this experiment was to use baking soda and super glue for one of the fixes, which resulted in a much smoother finish since it’s not as bumpy as ramen. This is another trick that works because the baking soda reacts with the super glue to make a sort of resin.
Now these fixes won’t be food safe, but it is interesting to see just how well these household items can be combined to make these repairs.