How can I reuse or recycle clean, hot water?

boiling water in a kettleIt’s World Water Day on Sunday so this week’s Recycle This is water themed.

Following on from Monday’s post on reusing bath water or water from a shower, I thought it would be good to get some reuses for misc CLEAN hot water.

As good citizens of the world, we only try to heat as much water as we need when we use the kettle but sometimes someone changes their mind over a cup of tea or we just simple misjudge how small a container is, and there is freshly boiled clean water leftover. It would be a waste of both power and water to just let it cool again then tip it away.

I also had sinusitis for most of last year and the best way to get temporary relief was to steam open my block cavities with a bowl of boiling water and a towel over my head. The water was always still super hot when I was done so again, it was a shame to just throw it down the drain.

I mostly use our leftover hot water for pre-washing pans or other cleaning tasks around the kitchen – at the very least, it gets swooshed down the dish-draining rack on its way to the plughole.

Away from the kitchen, I have half a memory of very hot water in a spray can being good for getting rid of aphids or something. And crafters could use it for hand felting small objects like felt balls.

Any other suggestions to make the most of it?

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21 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle clean, hot water?”


  1. Bobbie says:

    If you have a nearly full pot, use it to pour on a fire ant mound instead of using chemicals.

  2. Peg says:

    I pour hot water saved from draining pasta in the cracks in our cement walk to get rid of any weeds starting to grow. If fact, even if the weeds get a head start, the hot water will get to the roots of the weeds and within a very short time, the weeds will wilt and die. The hot water kills any weeds starting to sprout. In fact, if weeds have started to grow in the cracks, the hot water will still kill the weeds.

  3. I also have sinus problems but I re-use the water that usually has “Vicks” type stuff in it. So I keep the bowl in the microwave and re-heat it throughout the day.

  4. Melinda says:

    A big pot of clean hot water makes a good chaser for some baking soda and vinegar poured down a sink drain to help keep it clear.

  5. anna says:

    Use it to pre-soak beans or lentils or other dry material before cooking. Wash and rinse the beans first, then put them to the hot water and leave somewhere where the heat stays nice – you will save so much in cooking time.

  6. rachel says:

    If I have boiled any excess water in a kettle, I pour it into a vacuum flask to re-boil up later for the next cup of tea!

  7. Lizzy says:

    Yeah, I too just put it into a Vacuum Flask, but I don’t bother reboiling – I’ts fine as long as it is not in there for more than a couple of hours. Saves time and Energy =D

  8. Anonymous says:

    I carefully pour just a few drops on my stove top-avoiding the burners!-and countertop. Then wipe with a rag. Dissolves spilled, dried messes almost instantly, without cleaning agaents, or even very much elbow grease. But just a tiny amount, and be careful, please!

  9. Alice says:

    I often put it in a hot water bottle so I don’t need the heating on so much.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Kill the weeds.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Keep the lid open to humidify the air.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Deep eggs in it for 20 min. and they’ll come out cooked.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Throw in some herbs for a nice smell in the house.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Place in it some cups, glasses, jars or spoons and forks you’d like to really disinfect.

  15. mommacat says:

    Pour it into a glass measuring cup and add sugar in a ratio of 3 parts water to one part sugar. Stir till the sugar dissolves……now you’ve got fresh sugar water for a hummingbird feeder (and these need to be replenished and swapped out quite frequently). Mix it with a little baking soda and when it’s cool enough to touch give the inside of the microwave a quick once-over. Get some baby food jars and make noms to take to work for lunch—–stove top stuffing, instant mashed taters,
    chocolate pudding, jello….gotta be dozens of treats that just require a smidgen of hot water to prepare. Throw a teabag in it…..make ice tea.
    Mix it 50/50 with GENUINE fruit juice/pureed whole fruit and sugar & let the kids freeze their own “homemade popsicles”. Make instant oatmeal.

  16. mommacat says:

    Got expired pills in the medicine cabinet? Put them in a disposable coffee cup and pour in HOT water to dissolve them. Then fill the cup with clumping kitty litter. Toss in the trash. Better than puttin the pills down a drain (hey, that’s the way to the water supply!), no fishing em
    out of the trash for “street sales” (some of these low life types…wow).

  17. mommacat says:

    Get a glass bowl that your eyeglasses fit into and and about once a week give em a hot bath.
    Put into a bowl, add a touch of dishsoap, and when it is warm soak your nails and cuticles & give em a good once over with a toothbrush. Then rub your hands with a drop of olive oil. The Italian women swear by this!
    Got a stain on a shirt? Pre-treat it with your favorite “stain-be-gone” product and pour some hot water on the stain too. Put the item in the sink and be careful not to burn yourself when you pour the hot water.
    Here is my all time favorite tip for using left over hot water from the tea kettle in the morning (drumroll please): I put it into a tall glass with a pinch of baking soda……and in goes my toothbrush! No more fighting to get that caked on toothpaste out from between the bristles while wasting the water that is running down the drain. Be brutally honest, have you ever spent as much time cleaning your toothbrush as you spent cleaning your teeth? Now multiply that by millions of people! How
    much water could we conserve if just the simple act of toothbrushing suddenly became twice as efficient? It’s something to think about.

  18. Victoria says:

    I assume, you want to reuse it while it’s hot. Brew some tea, then chill it in a refrigerator for ice tea. Or place inside this water eggs for 20 min. – they’ll be cooked. Say, you keep the cattle on a table, then cover it with sweater or jacket, or gloves and scarf you plan to wear outside (nothing that melts) and you ‘ll stay worm in a cold weather in preheated outerwear.

  19. Victoria says:

    Say, you keep the cattle on a table, then cover it with sweater or jacket, or gloves and scarf you plan to wear outside (nothing that melts) and you ‘ll stay worm in a cold weather in preheated outerwear.

  20. Student 14 says:

    I think it’s better to reuse hot water…

  21. Ecarg says:

    你。。。



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