Coffee filters are great for, er making coffee, but they do have a number of other less well known uses…

Here are my top 5 coffee filter tips:

Photography – use it to create a softer flash

Camera flashes can often give off quite a harsh light. Try covering the flash with a coffee filter and it should give off a calmer, kinder glow on the subject and make for more flattering picture.

Tumbledryer – freshen your sheets

Put a few drops of fabric softener on a coffee filter and put it in with your drying! It can work just as well as the ones you buy in the supermarket.

Cork disasters – use it to trap the bits!

I’ve lost count of the times this has happened to me… You go to open a bottle of wine (normally when people are watching) and the cork snaps. You then try to rescue the situation with a spoon and a jabbing motion until suddenly you’re faced with a much bigger problem – a bottle of wine full of cork bits.

Hoorah for the coffee filter! Pour the wine through the coffee filter and into another container. The filter’s small enough to trap all those pesky little bits.

Microwave – reduce splatter

Try using coffee filters instead of clingfilm when microwaving your food. It can help reduce your incidents of splatter.

Cleaning – Mirrors and shiny surfaces

Coffee filters are great for cleaning shiny surfaces (like mirrors) because they’re lint free and don’t leave any irritating fluffy bits behind.