COFFEE FILTERS . . . WHO KNEW?

Coffee filters . . . who knew? And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing. Paper coffee filters have many advantages. They are easy to find, cheap to buy and, they're lint free. These benefits make coffee filters handy to have around your house, even if you don't brew coffee! Here are some fantastic uses for paper coffee filters:

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave.
Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Give Windows, Mirrors and Chrome a Brilliant Shine.
Use paper coffee filters and your favorite glass cleaner, and your windows, mirrors and chrome will sparkle. Since coffee filters don't leave lint behind, you won't see specks of paper on the glass and chrome surfaces.

3. Protect Dishes When You Pack Or Store Them.
If you're moving, or just storing away some dishes, place paper coffee filters in between each piece to help keep them from getting scratched, cracked or broken. Protect China . . . Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine.
If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Keep Your Cast Iron Skillets Clean and Dry.
The next time you wash and season your cast iron skillet, place a couple paper coffee filters inside it before you put it away in the cupboard. The filters will help keep your skillet clean and dry so it doesn't rust.

6. Shine Up Leather Shoes and Boots.
Have you ever dressed up, put on a good pair of shoes or boots, and noticed that your footwear is dirty? Dampen a paper coffee filter and shine them up in no time. You can use a second filter to dry each shoe. Applying shoe polish; ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil.
After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods.
Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale. The filter will not add extra weight, so you get an accurate measure.

9. Hold messy foods.
Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for tacos, hot dogs, any food that can drip.

10. Keep the Soil Inside Houseplant Pots.
Love houseplants? Sometimes, accidentally overwatering a plant, the soil leaks out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. To stop this mess from happening again, place a paper coffee filter in the bottom of each pot before adding the soil. Stops the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.
Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.

13. Soak up the grease.
Place a few coffee filters on a plate and put your fried bacon, french fries, chicken fingers, etc. on them. The filters will soak out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers

15. Teach Your Kids How to Make Flowers for Craft Projects
The flat, round type of paper coffee filters work great to make flowers. Your kids can leave them white. Or, they can dunk each "flower" in some water paint to give them attractive colors. Once the flowers dry, your kids can paste the flat bottoms on a piece of cardboard. Then, they can use crayons or colored markers to draw stems and leaves to finish making the flowers.

16. Safely Clean Your Computer Monitor
It's not recommended for laptop computers, but clean PC monitor with an electronics cleaner and soft, lint-free paper coffee filters. Doesn’t streak or scratch.

17. Soften the Flash on Your Digital Camera
The problem with taking close-ups with your digital camera is that the flash often causes your subject to look "washed out". Try placing a paper coffee filter over your flash the next time, and it will diffuse the light and soften the picture.

18. Dust Wood Furniture and Knick Knacks
Another fantastic use for paper coffee filters is to dust your furniture and knick knacks with them. These filters are gentle enough to use on most any material.

19. Protect Fragile Christmas Ornaments
Store fragile Christmas ornaments in sturdy boxes that contain many partitioned sections. The individual sections keep decorations from rubbing together and becoming scratched or otherwise damaged. But, the ornaments still bounced around and rubbed on the sides whenever the box was moved. The solution? Wrapping a paper coffee filter around each ornament to further protect them from harm.

20. Fashion a funnel from a cone-shaped coffee filter for use in the kitchen or laundry room. Keep a couple coffee filters in the car and snip off the end to add a quart of oil.

21. Fill a coffee filter with baking soda and tie it shut with a twist-tie. Tuck it into the fridge, a closet, a gym locker or under the front seat of the car as an air freshener.

Can you think of more uses to add to this list? If so let Grandma know by going to my contact page, Ask Grandma.

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