Does the Wet Paper Towel Trick Chill Drinks in 15 Minutes?

Have you ever arrived home with a warm bottle or can and needed it on the table within minutes? The wet paper towel trick - wrapping the drink and putting it in the freezer - has attracted millions of views on social media, promising to make everything ice-cold in 15 minutes. Once physics is brought into the picture, however, the story changes slightly.

The science behind the trick is real

The reasoning behind this trick is not made up. Evaporation cools; it is the same principle that makes us sweat in hot weather. As the water in the paper towel evaporates, it draws thermal energy from the bottle’s surface, speeding up cooling. That is also why wrapping a can in a damp cloth and placing it near a fan works so well on hot summer days.

The issue is that this mechanism depends on a condition that an ordinary domestic freezer rarely provides: active air circulation. Without ventilation, the water in the towel does not evaporate - it freezes. Rather than helping the drink cool faster, the wet paper then becomes an insulating layer around it, producing the opposite of the intended result.

• Freezer without ventilation: the wet paper freezes before it can evaporate, forming an insulating shell that slows cooling rather than accelerating it.
• Frost-free freezer with a fan: the trick genuinely works, because the airflow enables evaporation and the drink cools more quickly.
• Damp cloth + external fan: this is the most efficient combination for chilling a drink quickly outside the freezer, particularly in summer heat.
• A can cools more than a bottle: aluminium conducts cold far better than glass, so the trick produces a more noticeable result with cans than with bottles.
• Salt in the water used on the paper: salt lowers water’s freezing point, keeping it liquid for longer in the freezer and improving thermal contact.

The experiment that challenged the viral promise

Researchers tested the technique by placing two identical containers of water in an ordinary domestic freezer: one wrapped in a wet paper towel and the other left uncovered. The outcome was the reverse of what the videos claim: the container wrapped in wet paper took longer to cool than the unwrapped control. The reason is straightforward: the paper adds another layer that heat must pass through before it can escape.

With glass bottles, the effect is even less pronounced. Glass is naturally a poor thermal conductor, so any added layer around it, even a damp one, worsens the insulation. Tests suggest that using wet paper towels on glass bottles in a freezer without circulating air reduces chilling time by only 18%, well below the 40% figure shared online.

When the wet paper towel trick actually works

Researcher Greg Blonder examined the question in depth and identified the setting in which the method genuinely works. When he tested a bottle wrapped in a damp cloth inside a commercial freezer with a powerful fan, it cooled significantly faster than an uncovered bottle. The key difference was the active airflow, which allows water to evaporate continuously and truly remove heat from the drink’s surface.

The method that works when you are desperate for a cold drink

Ice, water and salt: the most efficient combination for chilling in minutes

For anyone who needs a cold drink within minutes but does not have a commercial freezer, the most effective approach is an ice bath with salt and water. Dissolved salt lowers the mixture’s freezing point, taking it to around -10°C to -15°C - far colder than ice alone. Immersing a can or bottle in this mixture for just 5 to 10 minutes is enough to bring it to the ideal drinking temperature.

The principle is simple: liquid transfers heat far more effectively than air. A can in an ordinary freezer may therefore take 1 hour 30 minutes to chill, whereas the same can in a bucket of ice, salt and water is ready in under 10 minutes. It is the difference between waiting for summer to pass and enjoying the barbecue straight away.

Away from the freezer, the damp paper trick also makes sense when combined with a switched-on fan. Wrap the can in a wet cloth and place it in front of the airflow, and real evaporation takes place, lowering the temperature. It is the same principle as perspiration in the human body, applied to a drink instead.

A mistake that can ruin the drink completely

Whatever method you choose, one basic precaution is worth repeating: never leave bottles or cans in the freezer for more than 30 to 40 minutes. The water in drinks expands as it freezes. In glass bottles, internal pressure can cause cracks or even an explosion. With aluminium cans, the base distorts and carbon dioxide is lost, leaving the drink flat. Setting a timer on your phone solves the problem with a single tap.

The viral trick is not entirely false, but it is not the universal solution the videos suggest either. Context is everything: in a domestic freezer without ventilation, a wet paper towel hinders more than it helps. With moving air or an ice-and-salt bath, physics works in your favour. Understanding the mechanism is what separates someone waiting an hour from someone raising a toast in ten minutes.

The variation that improves either method

Anyone wanting to get the most from paper towels in a frost-free freezer can make one simple adjustment: add salt to the water used to wet the paper. Once the salt is dissolved, water’s freezing point drops below zero, keeping the paper liquid for longer inside the freezer and improving thermal contact with the container. It is a small detail that makes a genuine difference to the final result.

Ultimately, the trick shows how a correct scientific principle can be applied incorrectly. Evaporation does cool things down. A domestic freezer without ventilation is simply not the right environment for it to happen.

This is the kind of tip that will save plenty of barbecues. Share it with anyone who always turns up with warm drinks at the last minute.