You can also place the object against a wall or other vertical surface and press horizontally. Push on the bottle’s wide base to force the cork in easily. Hold the neck area and the other end of your object to prevent slipping. Make sure the surface is strong enough so that it will not dimple, or protected, like a wall padded with some junk mail.

This method works well but you will likely end up with small pieces of cork in your wine. You can strain the wine through a coffee filter before serving it to remove any cork pieces. [4] X Expert Source Murphy PerngCertified Wine Consultant Expert Interview. 19 February 2020. The surrounding area (and the opener’s clothes!) should be stain-resistant as a little wine may spill; don’t try this with red wine and a nice outfit or over a carpet. Have some napkins handy; you may wish to wrap one around the neck as you push.

Exercise caution when using a knife. Make sure not to cut yourself.

If applying pressure from the side, it works best to grip the bottleneck with your free hand slightly below the knife.

If you are on a picnic and there isn’t a wall nearby, you could hit your shoe against a pole or a tree. Just make sure not to miss it or you will likely drop your bottle! If you don’t have a shoe that fits a wine bottle, you could wrap the bottle in a towel or hold a book behind the bottle while hitting it. The shoe’s purpose is simply to protect the bottle from breaking.

Work carefully to ensure that the cork does not break apart into smaller pieces.

Make sure the corncob holder is thinner than the flat end of a small to medium threaded screw.

Repeat on the opposite side of the cork with the second paperclip.

If at first the cork does not come out, hammer nails in again in a line perpendicular to the original line and try again.