Tin foil and aluminum foil are not the same thing. We informally refer to metallic foils in America as “tinfoil”, but tin foil and aluminum foil are two different inventions filling the same role. Aluminum foil as we know it replaced tin foil by 1910, with the operation of the first aluminum rolling plant in Emmishofen, Switzerland. This is primarily why creating your own aluminum foil at home is virtually impossible. Standard household aluminum foil has a thickness of 0.016 millimeters, while foil marketed as “heavy duty” is 0.024-mm thick.