Did you know that other than making coffee, a good coffee filter has many other uses? Well, we sure as heck didn't. From cleaning your home to preserving food, these little paper filters are surprisingly useful, and you’d do well to keep a box in the house.

1. Consider placing a coffee filter in your cast-iron skillet. The filter will absorb moisture and prevent it from rusting. 

2. Keep your kids’ (and your) hands clean and non-sticky by pushing a popsicle stick through the middle, turning it into a makeshift drip guard.

3. Protect your china by placing a coffee filter between each dish. The filter will prevent each dish from scratching the others, keeping your good dishes in great condition for years.

4. If you break the cork while opening a wine bottle, you can filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Clean glass surfaces and chrome. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows and other glossy surfaces sparkling.

6. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in a phone book. The filters will quicken the process up by absorbing the liquids in the flower.

7. You can use your coffee filter to polish leather shoes. The waxy side of the filter is great for removing scuffs.

8. Weigh chopped foods. If your recipe calls for a certain amount of chopped ingredient, place it in a coffee filter and put it on a kitchen scale.

9. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. By lining a plant pot with a coffee filter, you prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

10. If you’re going to eat tacos, but want to avoid the mess, hold them with a coffee filter and enjoy your Mexican delight.

11. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers and prevent splatter. Best of all, they’re disposable. 

12. Frying something? Use coffee filters to absorb excess grease by lining a plate with them, then place the fried food on it.

13. Serving light snacks? You can use coffee filters as bowls, saving you a lot of time on cleanup afterwards.

14. Do you like sewing or making embroideries? Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing when embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

15. To get rid of unpleasant smells in your shoes, closet, or fridge, put some baking soda in a coffee filter and place the filter in the offending spot overnight.

16. If you want to make clear soup stock, use a filter to separate the liquid from the other ingredients.

17. Want to freshen up clothes that have been in storage for a long time? Put them in the drier with a coffee filter that was soaked with a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

18. No spoon rest? Use a coffee filter while cooking, and then use it to clean up small counter spills.

19. Coffee filters can be turned into tea bags. Simply fill them with your choice of leaves and fold them.

20. Painting your nails but ran out of cotton balls? Coffee filters make for the perfect replacement.

21. Use them to sprout seeds.  Simply dampen the coffee filter, put the seeds inside, fold it and place it into a zip-lock plastic bag until they sprout.

22. If you tend to get cut while shaving, you can use a coffee filter to absorb the blood. They’re more absorbent than tissue paper and more durable than toilet paper.

23. Hate it when your sandwiches get soggy? Place a coffee filter in the same bag and enjoy a fresh, delicious sandwich.