It is practically inevitable - You are adding more oil to your thirsty motor and end up slopping oil all over the valve cover. If you are like me, this is a major pet peeve. I like to keep the oil on the inside of my motor as much as possible.

I also like to get as much oil out of the oil container as possible. Rather than hold the bottle for a long time, I used to stick it in the filler hole once most of the oil had been poured and let the bottle drain for another minute or so.

Normal funnels do an okay job of channeling the oil into the motor, but they really don't fit the oil-filler opening well enough to hold the oil bottle upright. Fortunately, I found an dirt-cheap solution to both problems which works very well.

Simply cut a 1-liter Aquafina water (or Pepsi) bottle in half. The threads on the water bottle fit the threads on the oil fill hole on the valve cover. Now you can open the oil container, easily stick it in the oil funnel, and drain the bottle to your heart's content - all hands-free and with no mess.

Now, where is that engine degreaser...