12 Clever, Weird and Unusual Air Compressor Uses That You Can’t Ignore

Are you using your air compressor to its full potential?

You might think that you’re getting the most out of it by utilizing your air compressor to power tools like nail guns, sanders, jackhammers, and more. But in reality, there are so many other clever, weird, and unusual air compressor uses that you may not have ever considered.

Your air compressor gives you direct access to highly pressurized air. So why in the world aren’t you pushing it to the limit and finding creative ways to use it?!

If you want to start putting your air compressor to good use and have some fun with it at the same time, you should learn about some of the wild things it can do. Here are 12 wacky air compressor uses that you simply can’t ignore.

1. Cleaning Up a Messy Driveway

Let’s start things off with one of the more practical air compressor uses.

After you’re done working out in the yard in the spring, summer, or fall, your driveway can look like an absolute mess. It’ll usually be covered by everything from grass clippings and leaves to sticks and good old dirt.

You could spend an hour sweeping all of that away. Or you could put on some safety goggles, crank up your air compressor, and blast it off your property in approximately 2.2 seconds.

Which option sounds like more fun to you? We think we know the answer…

2. Creating a Beautiful Work of Art

Based on our first suggestion, you make be under the impressions that air compressors are only good for raising hell. And to some degree, that does seem to be what they’re best at!

But you can also use air compressors to create beautiful works of art if you’re careful when you use them. You can actually do some very effective spraypainting with an air compressor and deliver a nice even coat of paint to almost any surface.

Whether you choose to paint a wall while using an air compressor or put your artwork up on a canvas, you’ll be blown away by how well an air compressor works when you’re creating a work of art.

3. Starting an Impromptu Snowstorm

Do you live in a part of the country where it doesn’t snow a whole lot? Or are you throwing a party and looking to spice things up by delivering a snowstorm in the middle of it?

There are snow machines that rely on air compressors to help them create snow and send it out into the air. It can be a little bit tricky figuring out exactly how to make them work at first, but it’ll be well worth the effort on your part when snow is falling from the sky.

4. Drying Off Your Car

The best part about sending your vehicle through a car wash is watching all the water get blown right off of it at the end. It leaves your car looking its best and makes the paint on it look shinier than ever.

If you want to get the same effect at home, try using your air compressor to dry off your car the next time you finish cleaning it. You do want to be careful about using an air compressor on certain paint jobs, but most cars will respond well to you using an air compressor on them.

5. Stoking the Flames of a Firepit or Bonfire

Okay, so we should start this off by saying that it’s never, ever a good idea to play with fire for no reason.

A fire breaks out every 24 seconds in the U.S. So the last thing you need to be doing is messing with fire with an air compressor if you don’t know what you’re doing.

But if you’re handy with an air compressor and want to give the flames in a firepit or bonfire a boost, a small amount of air can go a long way. You can stoke the flames and really heat things up in a matter of just a few seconds.

6. Clearing Out Your Garden

Does the garden in your backyard look like an absolute mess right now?

Maybe it’s covered with leaves that you never got around to raking in the fall or debris that built up on it during the long winter. Whatever the case, you can clear it right out with your air compressor in no time.

You may not have ever pictured using an air compressor in your garden before. But once you see how it clears your garden right out and gives you the space you need to plant things, you won’t know how to move forward with your garden without it.

7. Blowing Up Pool Tubes

There is almost nothing worse than spending a hot summer sitting by the pool trying to blow up pool tubes for your kids.

Within just a few minutes, you’re going to feel like you’re ready to pass out. And then, when you finally get the pool tubes blown up, your kids will be over them and ready to play with something else.

Not fun!

An air compressor can make this job significantly easier and allow you to avoid feeling lightheaded for the rest of the day. It’ll blow up pool tubes in just seconds and have your kids having a ball in the pool right away.

8. Inflating Bouncy Houses

You can use air compressors to blow up more than just pool tubes and other small toys.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can rent an entire bouncy house, plop it down in your backyard, and blow it up in no time for your kids. It’s usually best to utilize a rotary screw air compressor in this situation.

9. Building Paintball Guns

Do you want to know why it hurts so much when you get shot with a paintball gun?

It’s due in large part to the fact that there is a ton of pressurized air behind a paintball pushing it in your direction. That pressurized air is often the result of an air compressor.

While you should really stick to purchasing paintball guns from the pros who put a lot of time and effort into manufacturing them, some paintball aficionados enjoy building paintball guns of their own using air compressors.

It could be worth a shot if you’re interested in trying to create your own paintball gun at home.

10. Shooting Water Out of Customized Squirt Guns

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to shoot a squirt gun that is basically the equivalent of a fire hose, you’re not alone! There are more than enough people out there who have tinkered with different types of equipment and coupled it up with an air compressor to create customized squirt guns that shoot water at high speeds.

The Supercannon II is one such example. It can shoot water more than 70 feet in the air and is so powerful that it could potentially do damage to someone if you tried to shoot them with it.

Just like with the fire example earlier, we would not necessarily recommend you trying to build one of these squirt guns at home. But it does illustrate just how wild an air compressor can be.

11. Painting the Outside of Your House

Painting a house sounds like it would be a long and tedious process. And it is if you’re only using a paint brush and a can of paint.

You can make it a lot more fun when you throw an air compressor into the mix. An air compressor can make it possible to use a spray gun to paint your house, which can make it infinitely more entertaining.

It can also help you reach parts of your home that you might not be able to get to otherwise.

12. Putting Together an Insane Potato Launcher

You didn’t think that we were going to assemble an entire list of weird air compressor uses and not mention that you can use an air compressor to put together a potato launcher, did you?

The internet is littered with how-to guides on creating your own potato launcher at home that relies on an air compressor for power.

This is yet another suggestion that we’ll have to include a warning with, as you should not build and use a potato launcher if you can’t do it responsibly. Potato launchers can break windows, cause injuries, and do real property damage when left in the wrong hands.

But it’s sure fun to watch YouTube videos of people using them. Who would have thought air compressors could be so much fun?

Try One (or More!) of These Weird Air Compressor Uses Today

Stop leaving your air compressor locked up in your garage or shed all the time.

Take it out and try at least one of these weird air compressor uses. You will find that your air compressor is even more useful than you could have imagined it to be.

Do you want to want to see something else that’s weird? Go check out these weird home improvements that will surprise you.

Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?