The sound a soda can makes when you open it can be quite satisfying. But it can also be pretty loud. There are some situations where we just don’t want anyone to hear us opening up a can of our favourite fizzy drink or beer. How can you open a soda can quietly? Here are a few easy ways to do that.
Why are soda cans noisy to open?
It helps to know why something makes so much noise before trying to make it quieter. So, before we get into what you can do to open a soda can quietly, we first need to understand why it’s making that noise.
When you open a can of any kind of fizzy drink, you hear at least two different sounds. The first sound you hear from the tab on the can and the other from the soda itself. What causes these two sounds?
In order to open a can, you have to cause the tab to push into the can. Because it’s a metal can, this process of pushing the tab into the can will make a loud click. What about the soda? Why does it make a popping or bubbling sound when you open the can?
It all has to do with physics and the design of the can. The pressure inside the can is much higher than the pressure outside of it. It’s this pressure that keeps the gas and fizz in a drink. Once you open the can, the pressure starts to equalize causing the gas to get pushed out of the can, which is what makes that hissing noise.
Once the pressure has lowered considerably, the gas bubbles don’t have anything keeping or holding them in the liquid, so they start off on their own little journey and start to rise to the surface. As a result, you will hear that popping sound.
How to open a soda can quietly?
Use a dish towel
You only need one dish towel for this solution to work but you can use more than one if you want to.
What do the dish towels accomplish? The dish towels do a great job of dampening sound when they’re wrapped around an object.
What’s great about using this method, is that wrapping your soda can in a towel will dampen both the hissing and clicking sound.
Here’s the steps you can follow to successfully open a can of soda quietly using a dish towel:
- Take any towel and wrap it around the can of soda as tightly as possible, leaving the top part of the can where the tab is, exposed. Make sure that the majority of the material is on the top sides of the can and apply pressure.
- Now it’s time for your thumb and index finger to work some magic. Use these two fingers to pull the tab up but remember to do it slowly. The goal we’re wanting to achieve is that of getting the pressure in the can to equalize.
Now that you've got it open, pour your soda in a glass and put in some ice that you made in your quiet ice maker.
Leave the soda can in the freezer for a while
Being one of the easiest methods, this is probably something you’ll want to try first. You don’t need to put your soda in the freezer for too long, 10 minutes will be fine. It'll need to go in the freezer though. A quiet mini fridge won't get it cold enough.
How does putting a soda can in the freezer help?
In a nutshell, lowering the temperature of the can helps to equalize some of the pressure inside the can. Like we spoke about earlier, pressure plays a huge part when it comes to the noise a soda can makes.
To follow this method, all you have to do is put the can in the freezer for a couple minutes and then open it using the tab. But once again, you need to open the can slowly. If it just so happens that the can doesn’t open completely, you can use your thumb and press down gently on the opening of the can. You need to be really careful when doing this because you can easily cut yourself.
Drill a hole in the soda can
Drills make noise, so you may be wondering why we’re even suggesting this method as a solution. It’s more applicable to a situation where you would be able to make noise before the soda cans are actually meant to be used.
For this solution, you’ll want to drill a hole of about .030 inches into the top of the soda can. This will release all of that pressure inside the can. But now that it’s opened, you need to close it again to be used for later. For this you can use a UV curing weld to seal the hole.
When you eventually decide to get a drink and need to open the soda can, you can use the tab as you normally would but try to pull the tab up slowly. Now, because the pressure has equalized, there won’t be as much noise. Unfortunately, though, your soda will be flat. This is definitely one of the more complicated solutions, but it will work pretty well.
Open the soda can with your thumb
You might be wondering how opening a can with your thumb would even be possible and whether it’s safe, considering how easily you can cut yourself on the opening of the can. You’d be right to be concerned about it, but if you work steadily and slowly with your hands then you have nothing to worry about. So, what steps do you need to follow to open a soda can with your thumb? Let’s get to it.
- The first thing you want to do is take hold of the soda can with your left hand and grip it tightly. You want to place it on a sturdy or flat surface, which will make the whole process easier and prevent spillage.
- Once your soda can is in your left hand and sitting on a flat surface, you’ll want to place your right thumb on the opening of the soda can. Push down on this opening, gently. You should push until you hear a soft hissing sound.
Side note: Check to see if any of your fingers are resting on the tab. You don’t want any of your fingers on the tab, because you’ll end up pushing on the opening a lot harder than you should. If this happens, then the soda can will make that popping noise and this just defeats the purpose of the exercise.
- When the hissing stops, use the tip of your thumb to push down the opening of the soda can. You should do this gently as well.
Use a knife or protractor to puncture the can
Both of the items mentioned above are more than capable of puncturing a hole in a soda can, but you definitely need to be careful. If your hand slips while you’re creating the hole, you could end up poking a hole in yourself instead and we don’t want that.
If you are keen to try out this method, then you’ll be happy to know that it’s really simple. Once again, your goal is just to release some of the pressure that’s trapped inside the can. Most people will poke a hole in the top of the soda can, but you can also choose to puncture the side and even the bottom.
Poking the hole in the bottom of the can probably doesn’t sound like a great idea since all the soda will spill out of the can. But not to worry. If you put a cup under the can, the soda will just pour out into the cup.
Open your can of soda under a duvet or a blanket
This solution is incredibly similar to wrapping a towel around a can, but we thought it was worth the mention. Opening your soda under a duvet or blanket isn't necessarily convenient but it will work. And the great part is that if you use a duvet or blanket you don’t really have to be careful when you open up a fizzy drink because it will absorb the noise and pretty much the whole can will be covered. So, even though it’s not the best method it’s still a good one to keep in mind.
We’ve discussed 6 things you can do that will help you open a can of soda quietly. All of these methods are simple and easy to follow. It may take a little practice but if you’re looking to open a can of beer quietly or don’t want anyone to know you’re having yet another can of soda then these tips will come in handy.