The “Hands Free” Funnel

I prefer putting pigments in a polish bottle by hand but after having spilled my expensive SpectraFlair pigment a few times, I decided it was time to utilize one of the various funnels I made, made instead of bought because you won’t find a metal funnel small enough. The problem with funnels is that they sometimes fall off the bottle if you’re not holding onto them; bump it and there goes pigment everywhere (which I’ve also done) so I improvised and made the “hands free funnel” with a few simple items I keep at my work area- Scotch tape, paper, index cards and toothpicks. 

- The first step would be making the funnel itself but I figure that’s pretty self explanatory so we’ll assume you already have one.

1. Cut a small strip from the index card just slightly wider than the neck of the bottle is tall.

2. Wrap it around the neck and tape it so it stays in the circular form- this will serve as the bottle collar later.

3. Cut several pieces from the toothpick the same length as the collar you just made and secure them at intervals around it with the tape- this will ensure that the funnel collar with fit loosely enough to slide on and off.

4. With the collar on the neck, cut a second strip from the index card but not as wide as the first, wrap it around and tape it to make sure it maintains the shape. This collar will be taped to the funnel itself.

5. Put the funnel on the second collar, check to make sure the angle is pointed straight down and tape the sides of the collar & the funnel together. You don’t want the tip of your funnel going all the way through the collar; you want it raised a bit higher.

- It ends up looking a little odd but functional.

With the pieces assembled, slip the bottle collar on the bottle and fit the funnel over it.

Your final product should look something like this.

The outer/inner collar design provides stabilization for the funnel, preventing it from falling over or off and frees up your hands for other things.

 I love improvising. -MK