Hops in the Bag
Hops, the bitter buddy that makes beer shelf stable and delicious is also very messy during the brew process. Most beginners will struggle with the trub, or gunk, they leave behind in their wort; straining the wort or siphoning it off the top. These methods do work but often times result in a higher loss of wort. There is a simple solution, however, and it works for both pellets and whole flower hops; the mesh bag.
If you're an extract brewer you may have used a similar bag to steep your grains, this is the same idea. Pretend the bag is a giant tea bag; toss in each addition of hops during the boil right in the bag rather than directly into the pot.
Although this method will keep out the large particles you will still of course get some trub from the fine powder (especially from pellets) and other proteins in the wort. That's fine, you'll still be saving yourself a mess and helping to increase your chances of clearer beer.
Warning, this bag is nylon it will melt if in direct contact with heat so make sure it isn't near the flame of your stove and keeping it off the bottom of the pot is also a good idea (I use chip clips).
The only downfall of this method is that you'll have to clean the hop bag. Although it isn't the most difficult thing in the world it does take a few minutes, but is totally worth more wort and a reusable hop container. You can pick up 5 gallon bags at Home Deopt for cheap or grab one at MoreBeer with your next order.