101 Uses for a Coffee Filter

As if I needed another distraction, I have hit upon an idea that will not only get me out of an unlimited amount of laundry folding, but could actually be helpful as well.

According to Rachel Hardage in 101 New Uses for Old Things, you can take common household objects and use them for multiple tasks, some of them far outside their original purpose. (I'm vaguely remembering doing this with a safety pin some time back) Now Rachel gives us 10 uses for each of the items on her list, but being the obsessive compulsive types that we are, I think we can do better than that. Don't you? Let's see if we can come up with 101 uses for each item. Starting with the Coffee Filter:

1. *Diffuse the flash on a camera.
2. *Strain wine from a bottle with a broken cork.
3. *Serve popcorn or other snacks.
4. *Help with kitchen prep. (by holding cut veggies, herbs, chocolate...)
5. *Cover items in the microwave.
6. *Prevent soil from draining out of flowerpots.
7. *Prevent scuffs and scratches on fine china. (I already do this-yay for me!
   
8. *Protect hands from Popsicle drippage.
9. *Serve pita sandwiches.
10. *Clean windows or glass. (*These first 10 are from Rachel's own list. We're on our own from here on out.)
11. Make funny little hats. (see the silliness above)
12. Make coffee. Who would have thought?
13. Make tie-dye butterflies. (use spray bottles with diluted food coloring, and when they are dry, pinch them in the middle and wrap with a pipe cleaner for antennae.
14. Make skirts for Barbies.
15. Use as mini portable garbage cans for craft projects (thread clippings, paper scraps, glitter...)
16. (Here are the ones that were sent in by others) My husband uses them as potato chip snack containers as he sits on the couch. They absorb grease. From Gramatrick.
17. Put it in a strainer and use it to dip dead bugs out of a hot tub (mini pool net)
18. Strain herbal tea
19. Strain broth when making gravy
20. Line a glass pan with them and fill with cake batter when cooking in the microwave for non-stickness. 4 From Romana.
21. I use them to make little "bouquet garnis" for apple cider. From Hufflepuff Lost.
22. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
23. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
    
24. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
25. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a filter on a kitchen scale.
26. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.
27. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.
28. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
29. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers." 8 from Woody Clowns.
30. Very mild abrasive towlet for scrubbing delicate items. From Just4bees.
31. They also come in handy when making paper flowers.
32. The unbleached kind make for fun shredding material for hamsters.
33. You could fold one up and use it as a bookmark.
34. Or use one to blow your nose in a pinch. 4 from Mother of five.
35. They also work great for cleaning your spectacles, I have discovered.
    

Your turn. Email or leave comments and I will add to the list. Upcoming posts will include other lists for different items. Just think of all the chores we could avoid!