Creative Uses for Coffee Filters

Who would have thought that coffee filters could do so much!  For a few nickels and dimes you can buy a package of a thousand of these filters and put every one of them to good use.

1. Cover food with the filters when you cook something in the microwave to reduce splatter.
2. Use them to clean mirrors, glass and chrome.  They are lint-free so windows will sparkle.
3. Place a sheet between your china dishes to help to protect them.
4. If you break a cork when opening a bottle of wine, there is no need to go fishing in your wine glass with a spoon.  Use a coffee filter to filter out the small bits of cork as you pour.
5. Use them to protect your cast iron-skillet.  Coffee filters will absorb moisture and help to prevent rust.
6. Ball up a coffee filter to apply shoe polish.  They are lint-free and help to bring your shoes to a shine.
7. Recycle frying oil but straining the oil through a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods on a kitchen scale, but keep your scale clean by placing a coffee filter on the kitchen scale first.
9. Use them as a wrap to hold messy foods like tacos and wraps, or hotdogs.
10. Prevent soil from being drained from potted plants by placing a filter in the container before filling it with soil.
11. Prevent a popsicle from leaking by poking a hole through the filter with the end of the popsicle stick.
12. Use strips of coffee filter to wax your eyebrows instead of using expensive strips.
13. Keep a stack in the bathroom.  They are handy for doing little clean up jobs you don't need a whole paper towel for, like when you get nicked with a razor.
14. Use them as an easy-tear backing for embroidering or to applique soft fabrics
15. Wrap baking soda in a filter and place in shoes or a closet to absorb odours.
16. Use them to strain soup stock or to tie herbs for cooking stews and soups.
17. Keep them handy in the kitchen so that you can use them as a spoon rest or to clean up small spills.
18. Use them to hold dry ingredients when cooking to save on dishes.
19. Wrap Christmas ornaments in coffee filters to protect them chips and scratches.
20. Use them to remove nail polish.  They are cheaper than cotton balls.
21. Press flowers between two coffee filters and then place in a heavy book.
22. Use as a disposable dish for chips and popcorn. 

Coffee filters are great because they cost so much less than paper towels.  They are versatile because they are lint free.  While they are not as environmentally-friendly as using a cloth or other alternatives, they are compostable.