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!
Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash
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.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
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.
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.
Photo by Shengjun Shi on Unsplash
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.
Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
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!
Photo by Tanaphong Toochinda on Unsplash
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.
Photo by Mc Jefferson Agloro on Unsplash
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!
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
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.
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
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!
