Got Coffee Filters?

Coffee filters are so versatile, and they are lint-free! Below are some ways to use coffee filters in your artwork.

I make roses using coffee filters - used and unused. Depending on the strength of your coffee, and how long you leave the wet grounds in the filter, each one will be different.

These are some of my used, dried coffee filters

This is one of my roses made from used coffee filters


These are some watercolored roses I made from unused cone coffee filters. Take time to smell the roses? Or wake up and smell the coffee?


I use coffee filters (used and unused) to wipe off my paint brushes when I'm painting. Once the coffee filter is completely *painted* and dried, I cut it up and use for atc's, backgrounds,collage work, etc.

artist trading card backgrounds


Here I used coffee filters to make a skirt for a doll. I can't show you the completed doll, you'll have to wait for the release of the Winter 2009 Somerset Gallery - Expressions Page *wink wink*

Below are 28 additional ways to use unused coffee filters around and outside the home:

1. Clean your mirrors, windows and wine glasses with coffee filters
2. Use coffee filters to serve cookies to children (and messy adults) - they catch the crumbs!
3. Line a flower pot with a coffee filter to stop the soil from leaking through the holes in the bottom of the pot
4. If the cork in a bottle of wine breaks off in the bottle, pour the wine through a coffee filter
5. Stack your good china with a coffee filter between each plate
6. Recycle your used coffee filters to make an altered book
7. Clean your eye glasses with a coffee filter
8. Use a coffee filter to clean your computer screen
9. Polish your furniture with a coffee filter
10. For a mess-free popsicle, poke a hole in the center of a coffee filter and place the stick through the hole. The coffee filter will catch the drips
11. For an ice cream cone, put the cone in the center of the filter and hold the cone with the filter
12. Reuse cooking oil by draining it through a coffee filter
13. Strain blueberries through a coffee filter and not lose them down the sink drain
14. Use coffee filters to shine your shoes. Apply shoe polish and then buff it off with a clean coffee filter
15. Coffee filters make a good chip bowl for kids and adults on the run
16. Don't have cheesecloth handy? Wrap herbs like bay leaves, cloves, and peppercorn) in the center of a coffee filter and cut away the excess at the top. Tie the coffee filter with a piece of cotton twine and toss it into whatever you're cooking. Remove after cooking
17. For something impressive, bake giant cupcakes in coffee filters
18. Use coffee filters to cover foods in the microwave
19. Cut the end off a cone-style coffee filter to make an instant funnel. Keep a few in your car and use them to avoid spillage when you add oil
20. Keep your cast-iron skillets rust-free by placing a coffee filter in the skillet when it's not in use
21. For an instant air freshener, fill a coffee filter with baking soda and twist-tie shut. Tuck these in shoes, closets, the refrigerator, . . .
22. To absorb the grease when preparing bacon, use coffee filters instead of paper towels (which bacon can tend to stick to)
23. Use a coffee filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering thin fabrics
24. When taking indoor photos, place a coffee filter over lights, lamps, or even your flash to lessen the harshness of direct light
25. I haven't tried this one, but I would think if you were in desperate need, you could use coffee filters in place of toilet paper
26. Use a coffee filter on a plate to keep deviled eggs from sliding around
27. In a pinch, use coffee filters as napkins
28. Use coffee filters to strain yogurt when you need to make a sour cream substitute

Do YOU have any other ways to use coffee filters that you would like to share?