Clever Uses for Coffee Filters You’ll Wish You Knew Sooner

Make an air freshener

Fill a coffee filter with baking soda, twist-tie it shut and you have just made an air freshener. Make several and tuck them into shoes, wardrobes, the fridge or wherever else they may be needed. Find out 20 more extraordinary uses for baking soda.

Filter cork crumbs from wine

Don't let cork crumbs ruin your enjoyment of a good glass of wine. If your attempt at opening the bottles results in floating cork crumbs, just decant the wine through a coffee filter.

Find out how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew.

Clean your specs

Next time you clean your glasses, try using a coffee filter instead of a tissue. Good-quality coffee filters are made from 100 per cent virgin paper, so you can clean your glasses without leaving lint. You can also use them safely to polish mirrors, TV and computer monitor screens.

These nearly-forgotten cleaning tips from the past work just as well today!

Create a non-medical face mask

The coronavirus pandemic has seen a new (and previously unforeseen) use for coffee filters: They’re one of three common household items you’ll need to create a DIY face mask. Follow the step-by-step instructions in the video above to see how coffee filters, hair ties and a bandana can be used to assemble a non-medical face mask for your next trip to the grocery store—no sewing required!

Cover food in the microwave

Coffee filters are microwave-safe. Use them to cover bowls or dishes to prevent splattering when cooking or baking in your microwave oven.

Make sure you avoid these potentially dangerous microwave mistakes.

Line a sieve

If you save your cooking oil for reuse after deep-frying, line your sieve with a basket-style coffee filter to remove smaller food remnants and impurities. Find out more clever kitchen hacks you'll wish you knew sooner.

Dusting

When you need to clean a computer monitor or TV screen, reach into your kitchen cupboard for a coffee filter. Thin, cloth-like paper filters are great at picking up fine dust particles, and one filter goes a long way. You can also use coffee filters for dusting knickknacks and other home accessories, while you’re at it. Add a spritz of cleaning solution and the coffee filter will catch even more dust and disinfect surfaces, too.

Check out more home items you should be cleaning more often.

Dirt stopper

Every spring, I spend a lot of time adorning my deck with flowers. I love every part of it: potting the seedlings, daily watering and relaxing in my lounge chair relishing their beauty. But there's one thing that drove me nuts. I used to have trouble keeping the dirt from flowing out the bottom of my potted plants when I watered them. I tried using larger stones in the bottoms of the pots, but that didn't completely solve the problem. The solution was to place a coffee filter at the bottom of the pot before filling with dirt. The coffee filter stops the dirt while still allowing the water to flow through and not waterlog the plant. Now I have solved one of my tiny pet peeves and can move on with my life! —Kevin Daniel, reader

Consider purchasing these air-cleaning plants for your home.

Empty coffee grounds into your garden

Rinse your coffee grounds out to remove extra acids—you can do this with the old filter to make things easier. Then mix with your soil in a flowerbed or garden! The grounds will add valuable nitrogen to the soil without altering the pH balance too much and without rotting. It's one of the best waste items to use in your garden. Check out more gardening shortcuts that will save you time and money.

Filtering water

Filter out solids through a coffee filter before purifying water.

Don't miss these $1 solutions for common household dilemmas.

They use everyday items to keep things clean

Don't put off cleaning because you don't have supplies. "You can clean windows without leaving streaks behind with the help of a coffee filter," says Larry Patterson franchisee of the Glass Doctor in Dallas. "Coffee filters and old cotton T-shirts also work well to remove remaining lint left behind from dry cloths." Another pro tip? If you wiped vertically outside, make sure to wipe horizontally inside. Then, you'll know whether the missed spot is inside or outside.

Check out more surprising cleaning tips that actually work!

Tea bags

If you drink a lot of tea and like to save money then you might want to consider transforming coffee filters into tea bags. Sure it requires a little extra effort, but if you're in a pinch it'll work like a cinch! Find out what happens to your body when you drink tea every day.

Face oil blotting sheets

Coffee filters are great for using on your face to remove oil or for use on your skin. Coffee filters are way cheaper than blotting sheets and will work just as well because they made from nearly the same material. You can get extra crafty and cut up some coffee filters into squares to carry around in a tin so you have some in stock anywhere you go.

Pamper yourself with these homemade face mask recipes.

Dryer sheets

Doing laundry and throwing it in the dryer only to find you forgot to pick up dryer sheets is pretty frustrating. You can certainly forgo the dryer sheets but if static electricity drives you nuts you can fashion a makeshift dryer sheet out of a coffee filter, white vinegar and some essential oil. Find out more brilliant uses for vinegar all around the house.

Clean cast iron

There are a lot of ways to clean cast iron skillets, like with coarse salt. You can also use a coffee filter to soak up any remaining moisture after washing it. The coffee filter will help prevent rusting.

Now that you know these clever new uses for coffee filters, check out our best-ever aluminum foil hacks.