Coffee filters have a rich history of use and are popular means to filter coffee. Mrs. Melitta Bentz, a German housewife made the first coffee filter using a simple blotting paper. Coffee filter lends an amazing aroma to the coffee, and makes it healthy by preventing harmful oily components from mixing in the coffee. Coffee filters, especially the ones made with paper and cotton cloth have many alternate uses. For the rich aroma they lend to the coffee, paper filters have become an integral part of every household kitchen. They are easy to use, disposable, environmental friendly and are also quite cheap. I am sure, you must be having that extra unused box of paper coffee filters in your house. One point I would like to mention is that some paper coffee filters have an expiry date. And, even if there is not any mention of expiry date, with time the coffee filters tend to get old and lose their effectiveness. Thus you need to use the coffee filter someway or the other before they run past the expiry date. There are plenty of alternative and amazing uses for coffee filters. Best Alternative Uses of Coffee Filters Cleaner: You can use a paper coffee filter to clean many things. It can effectively be used to clean greasy streaks on mirrors and window glasses. The coffee filter paper is lint free, thus it wouldn't leave any residue behind after the cleaning is done. To augment the cleaning process you can use a pinch of vinegar or water with the coffee filter. You just need to spray some water on the area that has to be cleaned and then wipe it with the paper coffee filter. You can also clean the glass table tops, television and monitor screen, eye glasses, lenses of the camera, CDs and DVDs in a similar way. This is the most common use of a coffee filter (besides its use as a 'coffee filter'!) While using the microwave for cooking food, cover the food utensil with a coffee filter. This will keep your microwave clean as the cover in the form of a coffee filter will prevent the food from splattering. You can use a wet cotton cloth to clean the insides of a microwave. The edges of the filter can clean some unreachable areas too. Fold a paper coffee filter and use the edges to remove the accumulated dirt that gets stuck in the edges of the windows and doors. People also use paper coffee filters to clean cable splitters. Holder: Paper coffee filters can also be used as holders. You can simply use the coffee filters to safeguard your tiny earrings or other accessories which generally tend to get misplaced. The paper of a good quality coffee filter is generally strong enough to hold the accessories and is also long-lasting. To hold dry food items like popcorn, you can use a large size cone-shaped coffee filter. To absorb the oil from fried food, a large size coffee filter comes in handy, as a spread. The quality of the paper makes it an excellent absorbent. Other Uses: It can also be used as a bloating paper owing to this property. The cone-shaped coffee filter can make a good tissue for holding an ice cream cone. The naturally cone-shaped coffee filter makes it an ideal tissue for a cone. It can also be used to get rid of the messy smell in your sneakers. Dry your shoes and in a paper coffee filter place some baking soda. Wrap it tightly and place it in the shoes. This will help in keeping the shoes fresh smelling. Creative Uses: It also has plenty of creative uses. A variety of crafts can be made using coffee filters. Coffee filter flowers are popular among children as they are fun to make. Some people also make tea bags from these filters by making a pouch using the paper. These tiny paper bags can also be used to keep tiny and fragile accessories. Sometimes a bottle has a loose lid. You can use a coffee filter paper to tighten the fitting of the bottle or for that matter any jar. You can make use of a coffee filter for many other purposes. But keep in mind that these are just the alternative uses of coffee filters. You should make use of a coffee filter for the above-mentioned purposes only if you have a huge stock of filters available or have accidentally bought wrong sized filters. The primary and ideal use of a coffee filter is filtering the coffee.