What do you when your tennis balls lose their bounce? When they can no longer serve as they were once meant to? If you have a dog (and don't prescribe the "glue in tennis balls is bad" theory) then you probably have a hard enough time keeping your good tennis balls to yourself. However, if you are dogless and find yourself with a plethora of unplayable tennis balls, you might want to check out this list of 10 things you can do with your balls.
1. Floor cleaners. Put tennis balls on the end of a broom to clean cobwebs from hard to reach corners or your ceiling. Tennis balls are also a great way to remove scuffs from floors. Cut an X in the top of the ball, then stick the broom handle or long dowel in. This is a quick and easy way to remove black marks or scuff marks with no scrubbing!
2. Floor protectors. This is an easy one. Simply cut an X in the top of each tennis ball and put them on the bottom of your chair legs. They also work on the bottom of walkers and make it much easier for residents to push them around. If you spend a lot of time outside on a deck then you might not be worried about protecting your floor. However, you might find that your chair legs get stuck between the slats. You guessed it, tennis balls will stop this from happening.
3. Lantern. For this project you’ll need one tennis ball and one tennis ball can. Leave your one ball in the can. Stick a small LED touch light inside near the top. To turn it on or off, just shake the can. The ball will touch the light and do the work for you. (Not that pressing a touch light is work, it's just more fun to let the ball do it.)
4. Comfy chair. You can cut tennis balls in half and glue them to the back of a wooden chair or cut holes in the chair and stick the tennis balls through. Moving your back over a bunch of tennis balls feels much better than a hard-backed wooden chair. Think of it as a crafty person's massage chair! Then, when you’re sitting in your chair, put a tennis ball under each foot and roll around on them. They make great foot massagers.
5. Laptop holder or camera mount. Cut a tennis ball in half and put one back corner of your laptop on each side (round side up). Use one half for a small camera mount.
6. Pool cleaner. Even the cleanest people leave body oil behind in a pool. Throw some tennis balls in the water. They absorb oil and keep your water cleaner longer. Just make sure to replace them often. Note: We're not sure this works for dog oils.
7. Laundry. Throwing two or three tennis ball into a dryer not only dries your clothes faster (saving energy and money) they also are great for fluffing towels, comforters or pillows. Need an easy way to clean your nice cloth shower curtain? Put your shower curtain into the washing machine with a ½ cup of vinegar and a tennis ball and then wash with hot water on gentle cycle. The vinegar kills the mildew while the tennis ball scrubs it clean.
8. Bug repellent. If you like to spend time outside on your deck or patio try this easy trick to keep certain gnats and flies away: Coat a tennis ball with Vaseline and hang it from a nearby tree, bush or railing.
9. Packing materials. Tennis balls are perfect shock absorbing cushions. Use them to take up empty space in a packing box. If you like the person on the receiving end of the package, spend a few minutes drawing funny faces on them. It's better for the environment than Styrofoam peanuts and you'll probably make someone smile.
10. Anchor balloons. Having a party with loads of helium balloons? Tie them together then stick them into a tiny slit in the top of a tennis ball. You can always put some sand inside the ball for some extra weight. If your party is tennis themed, even better.
Do you have any clever uses for old tennis balls? We want to know!