10 Brilliant Uses for Tennis Balls

Cover a metal hammer with a tennis ball to protect the surfaces of your projects when you knock them together or apart. Carefully cut an 'X' in the ball with a sharp utility knife. Make it just large enough for the head of an 18- to 24-oz. hammer to slide through. You'll discover that your rubber-bumper hammer works better than a standard rubber hammer, since it concentrates the blow on a small area and doesn't leave black marks. If you don't want to waste a tennis ball on your hammer, check out this combination mallet.

Clean off shoe scuff marks from vinyl flooring with a clean, dry tennis ball. A light rub and heel marks are 'erased.' Click here to get more ingenious cleaning tips like this one.

Old tennis balls still serve well! Cut 2-in. slits in the balls with a utility knife, then squeeze them to open and load them with driver bits, small sockets or assorted small hardware like screws and brads. Use a permanent marker to identify the contents. Stored in a drawer, tool chest or nail apron, these bright tennis balls will organize a lot of small parts.

Slice open a tennis ball and you've got yourself a little vault just like those rubber squeeze coin purses from the '70s. Don't store the ball in the garage with the other balls or it could get tossed across the yard for your dog.

If you have ever wondered why a tennis ball was hanging from your friend's garage ceiling, here's why. To park your car in perfect position every time, hang a tennis ball from the garage ceiling so it just touches the windshield. It will show you precisely where to stop. No guesswork! Here are 16 Easy Garage Space-Saving Ideas.

Grandma will love you after this one. Take a couple of tennis balls, slit them open slide them over the feet of a walker. They help the walker slide better and keep the legs from getting caught on rugs. Learn other ways to make a home safe for older folks right here.

Do you have tired, achy feet? Grab a tennis ball and roll it around under your foot. This exercise helps stretch out your foot muscles and relieve pain. Try a baseball if a tennis ball doesn't do the trick.

Rolling a tennis ball between a wall and your lower back can help stretch out your muscles. You can also lie on top of a tennis ball and roll around on the ground to stretch. Do you continue to have lower back pain? Check out these ways to save your back when moving furniture.

If you have trouble opening jars, a tennis ball could be just the ticket. Cut the tennis ball apart, and you have a grippy, easy-to-hold jar opener. Get more extraordinary uses for ordinary things here.