The Unexpected Kitchen Item That Replaces Paper Towels In A Pinch

Even the best-organized among us can run out of paper towels at inopportune times. You've probably used toilet paper or paper napkins in a pinch — and know that they're a poor match. Ask Google for alternatives, and you'll get pages and pages of e-commerce listicles on eco-friendly alternatives like Swedish dishcloths. They're great, but only if you already have them on hand. 

Even if you've made the switch, reusable dishcloths aren't for every mess. Cooking oil? More trouble than it's worth: cloths stained with oil can damage your washing machine. Using reusable dishcloths to dry raw meat is a health risk. And personally, I'm not cleaning up cat barf with something that might get mixed in with my dishwashing supplies — kitchen sponges are gross enough already. 

Dana Cowin, @progressive_hedonist on Instagram and former editor-in-chief of Food and Wine, avoids paper towels — but admits they're hard to quit entirely. "Every once in a while, I do use paper towel because of meat and chicken," Cowin explained in a video. "If you guys have a better idea of how to blot those things, let me know." 

The next day, Cowin posted a follow-up video, crediting chef Ali Waks Adams, who goes by @aliwaks on Instagram. "A friend on Instagram suggested I use paper coffee filters to blot instead of paper towels," said Cowin. In the caption, she wrote: "I tried it tonight with steak... and I dare say the coffee filters worked BETTER than paper towels."

You shouldn't believe every towel-related hack you see on social media, but this one seems pretty solid. The coffee filters in Cowin's video did a great job removing moisture from the steak: The dense, absorbent material sucked up the juices without sticking to the meat. Adams commented to say that it was "an old restaurant trick," and added that the filters were "also great for polishing wine glasses."

It makes sense: coffee filters were originally made from blotting paper. While I can't imagine that coffee filters would work as well as paper towels in every situation (like the aforementioned cat vomit), they're probably a decent alternative. The material tends to be stronger and sturdier than, say, toilet paper.

The fact that most filters are unbleached is an eco-friendly plus, and it's better for the environment to use something you already have in your home. But, while you can swap coffee filters for paper towels, coffee expert Jessica Easto told The Takeout that you should never use paper towels as coffee filters. Unbleached coffee filters are common — and even white ones are often bleached with oxygen, an eco-friendly choice. Most paper towels are bleached, though, and often with harmful chemicals. Play it safe and find another alternative.