Eggs are a great source of protein, they’re full of vitamins and minerals and hey, they taste good too. But once you crack the shell and fry up them eggs, what good is the shell but tossing it in the trash? A lot more than you’d think. I am still playing the waiting game for my first eggs from my chickens, but in the mean time I am saving egg shells from my store-bought eggs.
Here are 20 Things to Do with Eggshells that you might not know about.
- Composting: Eggshells are rich in calcium with about 750 to 800 mg of calcium in each medium eggshell. Eggshells include lots of other nutrients that are great for plants. Just crush or grind them up and add to your compost.
- Fertilizer: Along the same lines, you can crush eggshells and sprinkle them into a hole right before planting to fertilize the soil. Then every two weeks, crush eggshells and sprinkle them around the base of your plants.
- Prevent blossom end rot: Tomatoes and cucumbers are especially susceptible to blossom end rot. Sprinkle crushed eggshell around the vegetables to prevent this and provide some calcium carbonate.
- Seedling starters: Need a place to grow seedlings? Take an eggshell, rinse, add a hole on bottom for drainage and crack the other end. Fill this end with dirt and one to two seeds. Once they’re ready to be planted, just crack the eggshell at the bottom and plant the young plant along with the shell.
- Pest control: Crush eggshells around vegetables and flowers to keep away snails, slugs and cutworms because they don’t like crawling over the shell. Should keep cats from using your garden as a litter box too.
- Fertilize indoor plants: Just as with your garden, eggshells are a great way to keep your indoor plants healthy. Add the shells to a container of tepid water. Put in a cool, dark place overnight and then add the water to your plants.
- Cleaning dishes: Use eggshells to clean pots and pans that are tough to clean. They work wonderfully as an abrasive.
- Clean vases: Vases can be hard to clean since they’re so tall and slender. Just rinse the vase with warm water, add a few crushed eggshells, fill with warm water, and then add a drop of dishwashing soap. Shake and rinse thoroughly.
- Remove coffee and tea stains: Have a mug that is stained, no matter how you scrub? Add in some ground up eggshells, drop them in the mug and add warm water. Let sit overnight, letting the eggshells absorb the stain.
- Whiten laundry: Just stick some eggshells in a mesh bag in your laundry and your white clothes will lose their grayish tint. I haven’t tried this myself. Has anyone tried this? Did it work?
- Feed them to chickens: Laying hens need lots of calcium and often need supplements in order to get that calcium. Calcium deficient hens lead to thin-shelled (and possibly shell-less) eggs.
- Homemade calcium supplement: Clean and sanitize the eggshells, let them dry, and then blend them to powder using a blender or coffee grinder. Spoon them into gelatin capsules or add them to smoothies for the extra calcium and other health benefits.
- Pet calcium supplement: You’re not the only one that can benefit from egg shell. Your pets can also use a calcium boost. Just add sterilized, ground eggshells to your pets’ food.
- Make homemade sidewalk chalk: This is definitely something to try for the kids. Grind up 5-8 shells, add 1 tsp of hot water, 1 tsp of flour, and food coloring. Mix together and then pack into toilet rolls till dried. Sounds like lots of fun!
- Coffee additive: Try adding an eggshell to the filter in the coffee maker. It will take some of the bitterness out of the coffee flavor and what’s left over in the filter is perfect for adding to your compost.
- Coloring: Rather than hard boiling eggs and coloring them, use the blow out method to remove the egg yolk. You can then color the eggshells.
- Eggshell mosaics: You can leave your colored shells be, or consider taking the colored shells, crushing them, and creating a beautiful mosaic. All you need are colored shells, card stock, a design, glue and tweezers.
- Gelatin molds: Want a clever gelatin dessert? Use eggshells as a gelatin mold. It can also be used to create egg-shaped chocolate treats. Just pour in some melted chocolate.
- Facials: Use a mortar and pestle to grind the egg shells (or I assume a blender would work as well) and then mix with egg whites. This makes a great facial, but be sure to let the mixture dry completely before you rinse it off.
- Use as a bandage: The membrane inside eggshells is perfect for bandages. Crack the egg, swipe some membrane, wrap it around the cut and let it harden.
Do you have any fun uses for eggshells? I’d love to hear about them!
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Joy says
That’s what I do- specifically with locally grown free range duck eggs that I get farmer direct. I am glad to know others do this, too! After I thought to do this, I learned it is a good source of calcium and collagen too.
ctyonit says
Late to the party–I make Christmas ornaments from them. It started when I was just married and had no money for tree decorations. As I cook with eggs –I poke a hole bottom and top and blow the egg through. I rinse a few times with water and let them dry a day or two. I paint them and then acrylic coat them. I also cut a large hole in the front and make scenes inside. Anyway quirky–but I think they were kinds cool. This year I gave my married boys (31 & 28) a bunch that I made all those years ago.
peter novakovski says
hi, my name is peter, thanks so much, for sharing your things to do with egg shells, & how to freeze eggs, I wish I would have learnt this years ago, im quite interested in reusing useable things, why toss them away when there are so many natural uses for egg shells, & other things, thanks again , peter.
Karen says
I love these ideas, I have chickens too. I’ve crushed them up real good and used as oyster shell replacement. But what I might do is really grind them up supper fine and put in homemade gardeners soap. Thanks again.
Carla says
I use egg shells for art when my kids were young. Take clean shells (I use gallon of water and one or two teaspoon of bleach in a lg. mixing bowl. Put egg shells in and take them out whenever I remember to do so, usually a couple of hrs later. Only really need to leave them in there for about 30 min), crush them up to whatever size you want( I usually make mine small like rice), put in different cups, add food coloring, and mix. Then you can use them like you would glitter. I also use them for decorating Easter eggs. Put glue on egg roll on egg shells or sprinkle. Fun for kids and adults when there is nothing else to do.
Carla says
I’m replying to my comment. Once you color the egg shells you put them on paper towel and let them dry before using.
Dorothy says
Just a questions… when u are using the shells for all these creative ways, are u cleaning them first.
My mom would wash them in water 1st and then crush and put in her flower beds.
is this what you are suggesting/recommending?
Karrie says
I rarely ever wash the shells unless I gathered them from my chickens and there was poo on them. Otherwise, I just toss the shells in a bowl, let them all air dry and they seem to just crush super easily then.
Jennifer says
10 Not sure about that is just bacteria waiting to happen. I think theydidnt research that one.
Ronda says
Hi! I love your ideas for eggshell usage! I have been drying mine out, removing the membrane pieces, and then smashing the eggshells up to tiny bits to add to seed-starting mix and also I use the egg-cooking water (after cooled, of course) for house plants. The one tip you have do think is a problem to (now days, anyways). If you used an egg membrane for a bandage… wouldn’t you then be opening your body up to salmonella? Of course, if it had already been hard-boiled, the salmonella should be effectively killed, but a raw egg membrane should never be used!
Stacey says
Hi there…just found your blog and love this! We have 6 red stars and get LOTS of egg shells! As a farm raise girl, I thought I would offer one word of caution, though. Feeding egg shells to hens as a calcium supplement has, in my personal experience, caused a higher instance of “egg eating.” I’m not saying it will make all your hens break eggs to eat them, but it does happen. And man oh man, once they get started it is soooo hard to break them of the habit. To me it is just much easier to feed them crushed oyster shell once a week or so. Hope you get those eggs soon!
Margaret Rose says
I had a small family farm for 13 years, and experienced what you did, Stacey, when I fed the chickens egg shell halves. They’re identifyable as egg shells, even to the chickens. However, when I made sure to crush the eggshells right after cracking the eggs before throwing them into the “chicken bucket”, the problem disapeared! The chicken bucket also received other kitchen scraps, which the chickens absolutely were crazy for. They love weeds from the garden, too, and will eat the greens and any bugs amoung them. So whenever I weeded, I tossed the proceeds over the fence into the chicken yard. I do miss my lovely green eggs!
Christina says
Thank you for this. We go through dozens a week! I was thinking the other day ‘what a waste!’) I hate to waste anything. I will definitely be trying these out!
anne says
We make cascarones! Kids love them! They are a tradition in San Antonio during the week of Fiesta/Niosa.
lilyan says
Love the ideas ….thank you.
kristin says
For 10 i’d put them in a toe of a ladys panty hose. This also works for oat meal for slimeing up children with chicken pocks, or other itcheys.
kim says
I use egg shells for seed starting
Jesikah says
You can use crushed up egg shells to lime a pond.
stephania says
I don’t have chickens, live in a tiny apt, and cant afford 4 bucks a dozen, so I buy mine from store. I put my shells back in the cardboard carton. when all the eggs are used, I tear up carton and shells to add to my compost. as said in apt, so have a tumbler, and the cartons help add the carbon needed to make my compost cook properly.
for now I use tums in bottom of tomato plants hole…
Alex says
I recycle our eggshells by crushing them up, placing them in a mesh bag and suspending it in the biological filters for our Koi pond. As the eggshells dissolve, the Calcium releases feeding the beneficial bacteria and assisting with Nitrite removal!
cindy says
eggshells dissolve?? mine hang around forever
toonew2two says
Every time you use eggs, crack the eggs into whatever and throw the shells into the garbage disposal. Run the disposal as and when you normally would. The shells scrap off any gunk that as build up on the side the of disposal and clean it. This keeps it from smelling.
becca says
I’ve heard this one before, but egg shells actually dull the garbage disposal blades. You’re better off sticking to citrus rinds. You can even wipe the inside of the sink down first with the rind before throwing it down the disposal. It cleans out the disposal just like the egg shells are supposed to but without damaged the blades. And the acid in the rind cuts grease and leaves a fresh citrus scent. I do this with lemon and orange peels.
pat johnson says
WRONG !!!!!!!!!! Do NOT ever throw eggshells in the garbage disposal. My sister-in-law was doing that and after awhile her pipes got clogged because eggshells take forever to degrade. SHE and my brother ended up paying a plumber $5000 to replace some of the pipes and they almost got a divorce over it.
maria says
after you boil eggs, use the water for plants (after cooling) or save the water and use it for pasta or rice, it adds some of calcium leeched from the shell to your food.
i can tell the difference when i do this by my finger nails.
Karrie says
Great idea Maria! 🙂
tricia says
I have a little bucket with a tight fitting lid. (That sounds like a song:)I use this to make a liquid compost for my garden and potted plants. In this bucket I collect banana peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, et cetera and most importantly, egg shells. I fill the bucket with water, put on the lid and let it set a couple of days. Then I water my garden with the liquid compost keeping the ingredients in the bucket and just using the water. It is important to have a tight fitting lid because it does smell but it also works. My garden is a jungle. My garden is fenced so pests cannot get into it. I imagine otherwise it would attract unwanted pests. The calcium does wonders for my tomatoes. Had a lot of blossom rot last year but so far none.
Bridgitte Raven says
“I have a little bucket with a tight fitting lid” – cracked me up, waiting for the youtube video.