If the ridges on the cap are too sharp, use your shirt as a buffer between your hand and cap. Be careful not to hold your bottle at a downward-facing angle! You don’t want to be mopping up the water once you get the cap off.
Hot water will loosen the plastic cap, making it easier to unscrew the bottle. Don’t make the water too hot or run it over the cap for too long. This could potentially melt the cap or damage the bottle—or, at the very least, it could heat up the cold contents of your bottle, which would be unpleasant.
The seal is a thin plastic ring located at the very bottom of the cap—it’s attached to the cap via a perforated line. Be careful handling sharp objects!
If you don’t want to trek all the way to the store for rubber bands, try wrapping a hair tie, plastic wrap, or a rubber glove around the bottle, or anything else you’ve got at home that could offer some traction.
