{"id":1759671,"date":"2022-04-14T10:09:31","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1759671"},"modified":"2022-04-14T10:09:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:09:31","slug":"tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","title":{"rendered":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"If you're anything like me, you use aluminum foil at least three times a week, if not more. From leftover storage to some truly surprising uses<\/a>, it seems like there's nothing it can't do!\r\n\r\nAnd, much like me, you may have also found yourself saying \"tin foil\" instead of aluminum foil. While it might seem a harmless substitution, when it comes to tin foil vs. aluminum foil, it turns out there is<\/em> a difference.\r\n\r\nDid you know you can use aluminum foil in your dishwasher<\/a>?\r\n

What Is Tin Foil?<\/h2>\r\nPrior to the 20th century, tin foil was incredibly popular as packaging in the US\u2014it was used to line cigarette packs, wrap chewing gum sticks and much more. Created from tin, it was made for industrial use, and was popular as packing material and insulation. And of course, it was also used to wrap leftovers.\r\n

Is Tin Foil the Same as Aluminum Foil?<\/h2>\r\nAs it turns out, tin foil and aluminum foil aren't interchangeable words, simply because tin foil is made out of, well, tin. While the material's popularity soared in the late 1800s and continued into the 20th century, it did leave a \"tinny\" taste on food, which was a significant downside.\r\n\r\nBy the early 1900s, aluminum foil was already making an appearance. By 1926, the United States Foil Company, the parent company of what would become Reynolds Metals (the creator of Reynolds Wrap), began to mass-produce the material. Not long after, a Reynolds employee discovered a new way to use the product in the household. As the story goes, the employee was without a pan to hold the turkey on Thanksgiving. Thinking quickly, he grabbed some aluminum foil, wrapped up the turkey, and saved the holiday meal with ease. The rest is history. Because the material was non-corrosive, lightweight and less expensive to produce, it quickly took off and became more popular.\r\n\r\nThis is why aluminum foil has a shiny side and a dull side<\/a>.\r\n

Why Do People Call Aluminum Foil \"Tin Foil\"?<\/h2>\r\nIt's likely that the term \"tin foil\" is simply a holdover from the last century\u2014our grandparents, raised with actual tin foil, probably continued to use the term and passed it down to us. While it's not technically accurate, aluminum foil is a bit of a mouthful, so we'll let this one pass.\r\n\r\nAnd next time you're at the store, keep an eye out for Reynolds' color codes<\/a>\u2014they'll tell you exactly what you need to buy.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two foils may seem similar, but there’s definitely a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7803,"featured_media":1761034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303797],"categories-v2":[308432],"coauthors":[340569],"acf":{"long_pin_file":false,"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_moat_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false},"yoast_head":"\nTin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: Are They the Same Thing?<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: Are They the Same Thing?","description":"People often use terms for the two foils interchangeably, but there's a major difference you should know.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: What's the Difference?","og_description":"The two foils may seem similar, but there's definitely a difference.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","og_site_name":"Taste Recipes","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","article_published_time":"2022-04-14T15:09:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Social-Image-Aluminum-GettyImages-1332933936.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amrita Thakkar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: What's the Difference?","twitter_description":"The two foils may seem similar, but there's definitely a difference.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","twitter_creator":"@tasteofhome","twitter_site":"@tasteofhome","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amrita Thakkar","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/"},"author":{"name":"Amrita Thakkar","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d22902e322341870b079fa237a7c491e"},"headline":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: What’s the Difference?","datePublished":"2022-04-14T15:09:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-14T15:09:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/"},"wordCount":419,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","keywords":["Home & Living"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","name":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: Are They the Same Thing?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-14T15:09:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-14T15:09:31+00:00","description":"People often use terms for the two foils interchangeably, but there's a major difference you should know.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600,"caption":"close up of a woman's hands tearing aluminum foil from a box"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Home & Living","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/home-living\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: What’s the Difference?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","name":"Taste Recipes","description":"Find Recipes, Appetizers, Desserts, Holiday Recipes & Healthy Cooking Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization","name":"Taste Recipes","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","width":166,"height":125,"caption":"Taste Recipes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/x.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tasteofhome\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/taste_of_home\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/tasteofhome"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d22902e322341870b079fa237a7c491e","name":"Amrita Thakkar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/27e58e7667c67b1aaf5d6bb1a0ed1fba","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Amrita-Thakkar-profile-photo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Amrita-Thakkar-profile-photo.png","caption":"Amrita Thakkar"},"description":"Amrita is an Assistant Digital Editor at Taste Recipes. As a writer and amateur photographer, she often ends up applying these skills to her one great love: food. She can usually be found researching global cuisines, at the farmers market, doing yoga, or looking up new places to travel to.","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/author\/athakkar\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-03-23 23:56:32","action":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tin-foil-vs-aluminum-foil\/","author_details":{"1524222":{"ID":"1524222","display_name":"Amrita Thakkar","first_name":"Amrita","last_name":"Thakkar","user_login":"amrita-thakkar","user_email":"sw-93264@skyword.com","linked_account":"athakkar","website":"","description":"Amrita is a writer, poet and amateur photographer who often ends up applying these skills to her one great love: food. You can find her up at 3 a.m. writing, researching the perfect combo for her next grilled cheese or making a more eco-friendly grocery list.","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"","school_and_year":"","education":"","highlights":"","expertise":"","short_bio":"","user_nicename":"amrita-thakkar","type":"guest-author","nickname":""}},"images":{"1761034":{"image_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","post_data":{"ID":1761034,"post_author":"7859","post_date":"2022-04-12 13:47:00","post_date_gmt":"2022-04-12 18:47:00","post_content":"","post_title":"close up of a woman's hands tearing aluminum foil from a box","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"inherit","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"gettyimages-1332933936-jvedit","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-12 13:50:22","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-12 18:50:22","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":1759671,"guid":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg","menu_order":0,"post_type":"attachment","post_mime_type":"image\/jpeg","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"post_meta":{"_wp_attached_file":["2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg"],"_syndication_rights":["1"],"_wp_attachment_image_alt":["close up of a woman's hands tearing aluminum foil from a box"],"_wp_attachment_metadata":["a:5:{s:5:\"width\";i:2400;s:6:\"height\";i:1600;s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"2022\/04\/GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit.jpg\";s:5:\"sizes\";a:16:{s:6:\"medium\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-300x200.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:300;s:6:\"height\";i:200;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:5:\"large\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-700x467.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:700;s:6:\"height\";i:467;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:9:\"thumbnail\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-150x150.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:150;s:6:\"height\";i:150;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:12:\"medium_large\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-768x512.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:768;s:6:\"height\";i:512;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:9:\"1536x1536\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:43:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-1536x1024.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:1536;s:6:\"height\";i:1024;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:9:\"2048x2048\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:43:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-2048x1365.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:2048;s:6:\"height\";i:1365;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:18:\"categories-v2-hero\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-768x768.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:768;s:6:\"height\";i:768;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:18:\"categories-v2-card\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-568x568.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:568;s:6:\"height\";i:568;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:21:\"homepage-featured-big\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-522x522.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:522;s:6:\"height\";i:522;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:23:\"homepage-featured-small\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-185x185.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:185;s:6:\"height\";i:185;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:16:\"square-thumbnail\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-295x295.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:295;s:6:\"height\";i:295;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:21:\"medium-featured-image\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-350x350.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:350;s:6:\"height\";i:350;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:28:\"curated_content_joke_archive\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-640x800.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:640;s:6:\"height\";i:800;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:27:\"web-stories-poster-portrait\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-640x853.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:640;s:6:\"height\";i:853;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:26:\"web-stories-publisher-logo\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:39:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-96x96.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:96;s:6:\"height\";i:96;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}s:21:\"web-stories-thumbnail\";a:4:{s:4:\"file\";s:41:\"GettyImages-1332933936-JVedit-150x100.jpg\";s:5:\"width\";i:150;s:6:\"height\";i:100;s:9:\"mime-type\";s:10:\"image\/jpeg\";}}s:10:\"image_meta\";a:12:{s:8:\"aperture\";s:1:\"0\";s:6:\"credit\";s:0:\"\";s:6:\"camera\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"caption\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"created_timestamp\";s:1:\"0\";s:9:\"copyright\";s:18:\"\u00a9 2021 Grace Cary\";s:12:\"focal_length\";s:1:\"0\";s:3:\"iso\";s:1:\"0\";s:13:\"shutter_speed\";s:1:\"0\";s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:11:\"orientation\";s:1:\"0\";s:8:\"keywords\";a:0:{}}}"],"_one_time_use":["0"],"_image_licensor_id":["1332933936"],"_image_licensor_name":["Getty Images"],"_license_type":[""],"photographer_credit_name":["Grace Cary\/Getty Images"],"web_stories_base_color":["#202227"],"web_stories_blurhash":["UDJt}400004T?b?b00x^.8MxofWA~q-;a~00"],"mdd_hash":["d2cb843504e4c804e3d6c286a485dda5"],"mdd_size":["188821"]}}},"current_site_slug":"toh-com","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Tin Foil vs. Aluminum Foil: Are They the Same Thing?","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"People often use terms for the two foils interchangeably, but there's a major difference you should know.","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"tin foil vs aluminum foil","dek":["The two foils may seem similar, but there's definitely a difference."],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7803"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759671"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761461,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759671\/revisions\/1761461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1761034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759671"},{"taxonomy":"categories-v2","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories-v2?post=1759671"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1759671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}