Keith,
What hand do you use to unscrew the screw-top on a bottle? What hand do you use to screw it back on? Do you use the same hand? If so, change your ways. To loosen the screw-top on a bottle or other container, use your left hand to turn it counterclockwise. To put the screw-top back on, tighten it with your right hand, turning it clockwise.
Why use different hands for these different procedures? This is to take advantage of the principle of the pipe wrench, which grips tighter when turning in one direction than when turning in the other direction.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)
Martha Stewart ain't got nothin' on me!
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 