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17 Uses for Coffee Filters That Aren’t About Coffee at All

brown curled paper coffee filter

Everyone loves coffee, right? Or at least a lot of us do.

If you’re a coffee drinker, then you’re probably also familiar with coffee filters. You know, the brown (or white) paper you that you use with your coffee maker.

It turns out that filters are quite versatile. In fact, you can do much more with coffee filters than you might think!

Here are 17 uses for coffee filters that have nothing to do with coffee are definitely creative.

1. Dryer sheets

That’s right: you can totally use coffee filters in place of dryer sheets. All you have to do is add a few drops of essential oil!

2. Cleaning stainless steel

Coffee filters won’t leave lint behind, so they’re pretty ideal for cleaning any stainless steel you might have.

3. Cleaning electronics

In that same vein, coffee filters are a great option for cleaning electronics, especially if you’re out of microfiber cloth.

4. Covering your food

If you’re microwaving a dish that has the potential to explode, you can use your coffee filters to cover the food and keep it contained.

5. Filtering cork crumbs

We don’t all open our wine perfectly, and that’s okay. If you’ve got bits of cork floating around in the bottle, just toss a coffee filter on top of it as you pour your drink into your glass.

Photo by Zan on Unsplash

6. Potting plants

A coffee filter is a great solution if you’re hoping to keep the soil in your potted plants from leaking out of the bottom of the pot!

7. Funneling liquid

In a pinch, a coffee filter can totally act as a makeshift funnel for brewing drinks, filling hummingbird feeders, and more.

8. Spreading butter while cooking

If you don’t have a brush on hand, you can use a coffee filter to spread butter or oil in a pan while you cook.

9. Holding small parts

Anyone who has ever put together a Lego set knows that once opened, those pieces go everywhere! You can keep your pieces divided up inside coffee filters as you build.

10. Protecting plates

If you have extra-special dishes that you definitely don’t want to be damaged, you can keep them stacked with a coffee filter between each one.

11. Lining tins and containers

People who like to bake know that sometimes the most delicious treats leave a little residue behind. Storing your snacks in coffee filters inside tins and containers will help!

12. Steeping tea

If you want to use your own herbs for tea, you can simply load them into a coffee filter, tie the filter with a string, and voila: you have your very own tea bag.

13. Snacking

If you don’t want to have dishes to clean up after snacking, pop your snacks into a coffee filter! They’re portable and you can recycle them when you’re finished.

14. Lighting photos

A coffee filter can be great for softening the flash on your DSLR.

15. Cleaning up your nails

You can also use coffee filters to clean up your nails after polishing them. They absorb nail polish remover well and won’t make a mess!

16. Preventing rust

If you like to cook with cast iron skillets, you know how important it is to prevent rusting. Storing your skillet with a coffee filter inside it will help.

17. Lining a sieve

Chefs are forever looking for easy ways to line their sieves while cooking — look no further than a coffee filter.

Some of these are so creative! I can’t wait to try out a coffee filter the next time I make tea.

Don’t forget to let us know which ones you try in the comments!