Uses For Coffee Filters: 16 Uses You May Not Have Known

We always keep some coffee filters on hand for our morning coffee ritual, but why stop there? These thin paper filters are highly absorbent and have dozens of other uses around the house. Read our 16 most unusual alternative uses for coffee filters to start fully utilizing these handy, multipurpose tools!

Once you’ve had fresh coffee brewed with a pour-over coffee maker and a gooseneck kettle, there’s no going back, which is precisely why we haven’t!

Keeping these paper filters on hand is useful for far more than a daily cup of joe (though we all agree that is very, very important). There are plenty of other uses for coffee filters. You can try them in everything from cooking to cleaning, and even in your makeup bag!

Read below to learn more about the many essential uses for this little paper filter in our big list of coffee filter hacks. 

#1: Make an herb sachet for soups. 

Sometimes, the best way to flavor soups, sauces, and stews are with a handful of fresh herbs, but no one wants a mouth full of a whole bay leaf. You can easily make a small sachet of fresh or dried herbs and spices to simmer in your soup and remove easily afterward, with no mess to clean up!

#2: Help see a little more clearly. 

Have you ever tried to polish your glasses with your shirt? They end up more smudgy than before. If you don’t have one of those little microfiber glass cloths on hand, you can use a coffee filter to clean and shine them back up again, without any leftover lint. 

#3: Brighten up your under-eyes. 

If you haven’t slept well and your under-eyes are looking a little puffy, you can soothe them by soaking coffee filters in green or chamomile tea, then leaving them in the fridge to chill. 

When they’re sufficiently cooled, you can fold the filters up and place them right on your eyes - they’ll feel great and make your skin look re-energized, too!

#4: Polish your wine glasses to perfection. 

Sick of spotty wine and rocks glasses? Even though you know they’re clean, there’s something unpalatable about drinking a delicious cocktail out of glass covered in cloudy water spots. 

That leads us to one of the many things to do with coffee filters - polish your glasses! Give them a quick polish with a dry filter, and you’ll have gleaming, lint-free glassware in no time!

#5: Decant your wine and remove sediment. 

Did some of your cork fall in as you opened a bottle of your favorite wine? Or you’re serving a vintage that you know to be full of sediment? 

You can filter wine with coffee filter papers; just pour the bottle into a decanter as you hold a filter over the opening. Voila, smooth wine!

#6: Freshen your air. 

Does your car smell like a dog? Or does your dog smell like a dog? One of our favorite coffee filter uses is to make an inexpensive and toxin-free air freshener to use at home, in the car, or your son’s smelly hockey bag. 

Simply place your favorite herbs, florals, or essential oils in the center of a coffee filter, bundle it, and tie the sachet with a string. 

#7: Cushion your fine china. 

Do you have a beautiful set of fine china you’re petrified to break or scratch? Use a coffee filter as a cushion between your china to prevent any scratches or marks on your precious dishware. 

#8: Grease your pans without making a mess. 

Wondering what to do with coffee filters in the kitchen? Try greasing your baking sheets and pans with a coffee filter.

Simply scoop up some oil or butter with the filter, and rub it around the bottom and sides of your pan. It keeps your hands clean and is easy to toss out afterward!

#9: Remove your nail polish. 

Need some coffee filter nail tips? Maybe you didn’t think about it before, but now you certainly are!

If you’re out of cotton pads or cotton balls, use a coffee filter dipped in some nail polish remover to make nail clean-up a breeze without leaving any lint behind. The filters are quite strong, so they won’t entirely fall apart when dipped in the remover chemical.

#10: Clean windows, TV screens, and computers. 

Try using a coffee filter to clean all of your windows or fragile glass surfaces. They don’t leave any lint or streaks behind, and you don’t need to use any cleaners that may potentially damage your expensive electronics.  

#11: Make non-toxic DIY dryer sheets. 

Coffee filters are perfectly safe to fluff up your clothes in the dryer in place of dryer sheets, which often contain chemicals and have ingredients that break down your dryer faster. Dab a few extra drops of your favorite essential oils on a coffee filter and toss it in your next dryer load.

#12: Keep veggies nice and crisp. 

Celery sticks tend to get a little flimsy in the fridge over time, even more so if you already chopped them. To keep your celery as fresh as possible, wrap the stalks in a coffee filter and place them in a zippered plastic bag. Seal and store in the fridge to keep moisture at bay and enjoy your celery sticks how they should be - crisp!

#13: Polish your stainless steel appliances. 

One of our favorite uses for coffee filters is to polish our stainless steel fridge and dishwasher. Instead, using coffee filters seems to keep stainless steel streak-free much better than the specialized cleaners meant for the job.

#14: Line your indoor planters. 

Those draining holes at the bottom of planters are necessary, but soil can easily fall through them and damage the surfaces around your home. 

Place a coffee filter at the bottom of the planter, then add your plant and extra soil - water will still drain without the mess left behind. 

#15: DIY your own loose leaf tea bags.

If you’re gifted a bag of loose leaf tea and don’t have a strainer, don’t worry! You can place your tea in a coffee filter, tie it with a string, then steep right in the cup or pot. 

#16: Blot your makeup mid-day. 

Many of us blessed with oily skin already know what oil blotting papers are, but why buy expensive papers when a coffee filter does the job just as well for a fraction of the price? Cut each filter into small squares that you can slip into your purse. 

Coffee paper is a good quality virgin paper that can easily de-grease your face mid-day with a few blots. 

If you'd like to learn more, check out our article on coffee filter sizes!

We hope you get to try some of these out-of-the-box (or, in this case, out-of-the-pot) uses for regular, everyday coffee filters!