The HH is the only one who drinks coffee at my house, and since we now have a fancy new coffee maker with a reusable filter, I have left over coffee filters lying around. I couldn’t stand just letting them go to waste, so I decided to figure out some ways to put those babies to use.
Here’s my top 10 ways to use coffee filters for something other than brewing coffee:
- Clean windows/mirrors. They are lint free and don’t break apart when wet.
- Lay a couple on a plate and use them to soak up excess grease when cooking bacon, homemade fries, etc.
- Cover plates/bowls with coffee filters when microwaving to prevent splattering.
- Use to apply shoe polish.
- Prevent soil from sneaking out of the bottom of planting containers. Place a coffee filter over the holes in the bottoms of your pot, plant as you would regularly. The plant will still have proper water drainage, but you won’t lose any soil.
- Use to protect nice dishes. Place a coffee filter in between stacked dishes you don’t use very often to protect them from chips, scratches, etc.
- Use them to filter used frying oil. Wait for the oil to cool and pour it through a coffee filter. You will be able to reuse the oil next time you are frying. How amazingly frugal is that?
- Put some baking soda into a coffee filter and set it in the heel of shoes to get the odor out. “Oh, Monkey Boy! Where are you?!”
- Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments to protect them during storage.
- Use as an alternative to paper bowls for snacks. They are way cheaper and hold snacks like crackers and popcorn perfecto.
If you had a bunch of extra coffee filters laying around, what would YOU do with them?
~Mavia
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Donna Brown says
When I had a milk goat, I used a coffee filter to strain the milk.
Perhaps could also use to make regular yogurt into Greek yogurt(?)
Tasha K. says
I agree with #1. They work excellent for cleaning windows and mirrors! I learned this trick at a restaurant I used to work for.
cptacek says
Filter homemade yoghurt to make homemade greek yoghurt.
Soak skittles (that have been sorted into different colors) with vodka until the color comes off, then filter through coffee filters to make colored/flavored vodka. Recipes abound on the ‘net.
Becky says
They’re great for holding hot dogs in the bun. I’ve also used them to make cut out snow flakes with my kids, and tie dyed them with the kids for flower decorations.
Veronica says
We made snowflakes and the “lace” on Valentine’s day cards out of them.
Marian says
Well I work at preschool and we use them for all kinds of fun art projects!!
Cecily says
I use them to make double devon cream.
Helen in Meridian says
Once on TV they had a wedding dress competition…best most reasonable wedding dress. One lady had made hundreds of those roses, delicately painting the centers in pastel, and attaching to the skirt of the wedding dress. It was stunning and the dress had cost around $20.00. It was very full and beautiful like Mavis’ Enchanting Formal in blue.
Lee in Maine says
Our quilting group uses them to sew circular quilt blocks. We sew them onto fabric, trim off the excess outside the circle, tear away the filter and then we either use the whole circle or bisect for half circles or quarter circles depending on the pattern used.
rebecca says
I use them for spice bags when I`m making pickles. Just fill with pickling spices & close with a twist tie. Toss when done. No looking for a piece of white cotton fabric, scissors, etc.
CanadianErin says
I use coffee filters to sprout my seeds when starting my plants indoors – I write the name of the seed on the edge of the filter, put some seeds in, fold the filter then wet it & place the whole thing in a plastic bag, put it somewhere warm. Then I just check the bags in a week, and again the following week. Once they sprout & have the seed casing off, I carefully plant them (using tweezers) in soil cups
This methodt helps ensure that there actually IS a sprout in each little pot — so I am not wasting soil, cups & time (and plants) by sowing into soil in cups! It saves A TON of time, too!