6 easy ideas for making a DIY lock

While traveling, moving home, or in a number of emergencies, it might be impossible to lock your door. Luckily, there are several tried methods for making your own locks. These are not permanent security solutions but easy life-hacks that may come in handy when you need to quickly limit access to your premises.

Barricades

When it comes to barricades for doors without locks, you can choose to buy or make one.

A commercial door barricade may come in a form of a bar that blocks the door – such as the Burglar Bar or a portable floor-installed barricade (which is frequently used in trucks and cars) such as Nightlock. If your door opens inward you can also go for the well-known classic and put a chair against the door. Alternatively, pile heavy objects to block entry.

Tying method

What if your door opens outward only? You can try the tying method which is good both for doors that open inward and for those that open outward.

You must have something to tie your DIY lock to. Also, remember that your tie needs to be strong, and you need to make a sturdy knot. Tie a rope (or a scarf) around the door handle and put its other end around a sturdy object nearby. If you happen to have a screwdriver, you can unscrew the strike plate on the door, tie your rope around one of the screws, and then screw it back in.

Got some change?

If you happen to have some spare change and want to lock the door, you need to check if the gap between the door and the frame is not too small or too big.

You need to insert your pennies between the door and the frame. Make sure they stick out not to get trapped! To get out, you will need to pull the pennies out from your side. Be careful – this method won’t work on door that has a lip over the door frame.

Use a fork

You can easily lock your door with this simple trick, provided you have a fork which you can afford to break and a set of pliers or a hammer.

Use pliers or a hammer to bend the teeth of your fork at a 90-degree angle – the more teeth you manage to bend, the better the outcome. Then, cut off the fork handle. Next, place the bent teeth of your fork in the strike plate exactly where the bolt should go. Leave the other end sticking out towards you and close the door over the fork. Stick the fork handle through the teeth. Door locked!

Ultimate DIY ideas

If you run out of other ideas you can lock your door with socks.

Ideally, they should be thick and long. Fold your sock and put it on the top of the door. Now you can unlock the door only by opening it while pulling the sock – otherwise, the door becomes jammed.

Alternatively, you can use a wedge which may be either a commercial door stopper or anything else which – with just a bit of your creativity – can be shaped into a wedge. You may use a piece of cardboard, a piece of clay or even… a large potato.