An old tennis ball makes a good cover for a towbar ball to stop it rusting. That requires one vehicle per tennis ball though, so is not particularly efficient.

Yes, a great idea for keeping the grease from the tow ball getting on peoples’ clothes.

Would it be possible to make them into hanging bird food containers?
Or to stick on the ends of canes being used in the garden to protect people from eye damage.

You could put them on spiky fence posts, bed posts, radiator controls etc to stop children getting hurt heads.

If they are split or worn out cut in half and create slug collectors - leave in strategic locations in the garden and then collect the slugs etc - you can decide how you want to dispose of them -my local birds find them a treat!

I often use old tennis balls in my dryer cycles. The balls help fluff around your clothes in the dryer, which gets them more air. Essentially, this helps lessen your dryer running time. I usually use around five balls, and they last forever…so this may notbe that efficient either.

Also, using tennis balls in your dryer cycle is great for balnkets or pillows with feathers, as it helps prevent them from lumping together.

They slit them then use them to put on the bottoms of the metal chair legs in the classrooms at the elementary school here - cuts way down on the noise as the chairs are moved around on the tile floors.

I sell them to people with dogs 25p each and also cricket clubs use them to get the children in to cricket without using the hard balls

You can cut them out and put magnets in them for some fun.

Those are nifty ideas to get rid of a few, but what about a load of balls? I constantly cycle through tennis balls, and I find myself with no option but to throw thema way.

I’m a teacher and I use tennis balls by the boxful or pass them on to other teachers. As mentioned above, it greatly reduces the noise and makes desks easier to move around. At 4 balls to each chair and 4 more per desk, they can be used in great quantities. Also, they get really dirty and need to be replaced after a year or so.

i am looking for some to make dog toys with - recycle and make dogs happy - it’s a win win. you can send some to me - i am in the dc area if that works for you.

I could use 240 or so in my classroom. I have 30 chairs and 30 desks, 4 legs each. It is an art room, so we move around a lot. If you’ve got a batch you are going to throw away, let me know!
mspdgtt@yahoo.com
I have seen the “official” chair feet covers, but they are $1 each–like I said, I teach art and there is no budget for chair feet covers, so free tennis balls would be great!

How about making some poi?
Get two small string bags the kind you put you laundry tablets in and put a ball in each of them. Attach some string to them, and make some finger attachments and you get a great circus toy!

I remember seeing one of the Wildlife Trusts had used a number of tennis balls as homes for dormice (or possibly harvest mice - it was a long time ago). They cut a hole in the tennis ball so the mousy thing could get in and out and put them around the area that they lived. It seemed to be quite successful.

donate them to your local elementary school. they use them on chair and desk legs.

I’ve seen the elderly &/or hadicap use them on the bottom of their walkers, canes & crutches….

Tennis Ball crafts - page down

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_home_accessories/article/0,1789,HGTV_3255_3740070,00.html

They are used at school ,split and placed on the legs of the desk that the kids sit in.

I am looking for old tennis balls myself. Would anyone know where I can get some from. Have tried a couple of tennis clubs, but they are not very nice!!

Send them all to me - I am disabled so the only way I can exercise my dog is to go to the park armed with a racket and balls. He runs like crazy but sadly isn’t that great at finding them - and since I can’t go looking for them, we go through quite a few. Any donations are very welcome!

I have a box I’ll send, where are you located?

You already have this one, but seriously, it is true, Old Tennis Balls are great for schools. I use them on my art stools…I am an elementary art teacher. It cuts WAY down on noise in the classroom. The technology teacher uses them in her lab as well for the same reason.

Cut the ball in half to place paper clips. It just like a tumbler.

Put few balls into a bag as a cushion.

They make great inconspicuous hide-y spaces, just make a slit fill with your favourite hiding item, place in an inconspicuous space, although, not where anyone is going to play with it, or throw it out. This is what I used before I had a bank account.

There is a new company that specializes in recycling tennis balls. You might check them out (rebounces.com)

Try rebounces.com

The only system in the world that Replay, Reuses and Recycles tennis balls

Cheers

I’m a tennis coach and I cut them in half, color them and use them for markers. I also made a coloured hanging mobile for my daughter.

Ivan,

Hi. My name is Grant Garland. I represent Rebounces.com. I saw that you are a tennis coach and thought that you might be interested in our business. Please visit our website at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Grant Garland
Rebounces.com

Jennifer just emailed me to say:

There’s a company in the states of Arkansas and Missouri that take in tennis balls. They re-pump balls that are still intact, reuse the ones that can’t be re-pumped, and then recycle the ones that can’t be re-pumped or reused. Their website is http://www.rebounces.com/

what about donating some to a dog shelter?

I just throw mine over to my neighbors dogs they enjoy them.

Construct them into a bench: http://www.superuse.org/story.php?title=Tennis-Ball-Bench

They make great massage devices. Find a flat wall that you can stand up against. Put the tennis ball behind you into the muscle along your shoulder blade, then press your back into the wall. You should be able to move up and down a little bit and massage some of the muscles. Once you’ve found one of your knots, just lean into the ball and breathe deep for as long as you can hold it. You will likely be sore after. You can do this with your feet, your face, your calves, etc.