Ditch the paper and never run out of filters again.

We’ve all been there. You wake up to prep a pot of coffee in a standard auto-drip coffee maker, you reach for the pack of filters and...it’s empty. Not a single stray filter hiding anywhere. You start looking around for something—anything—you could plausibly use as a filter. Anything to keep you from putting on pants to head to the store. Not to be dramatic, but it really is the worst.

Even if you typically use a pour over or French press, you’ll likely find yourself using an auto-drip at some point. If you have guests over and need a larger batch, or when you’re in a vacation rental with an old-school brewer, you can swap the paper filters for cotton.

Here, we answer the questions we usually get about making the switch.

Does a cotton filter work as well as paper?

Yes! In fact, we think it works better. Here’s why.

Organic cotton adds no flavor to your brew, unlike most paper filters. The flavor of the beans takes center stage. Cotton also traps more of the oils from your beans than French press, but less than with paper, which results in a more balanced brew. You’ll taste the difference.

Of course, you can reuse the cotton filters as well. So you’ll save money and keep trash out of landfills.

But isn’t paper compostable too?

Technically, yes, most paper is compostable. But most paper also contains chemicals like bleach that leach into the compost. Even the premium filters may contain chemicals from processing. And of course, every paper filter originated as part of a tree.

For dry paper, you can also recycle, but recycling requires chemicals too. And while both paper and cotton production uses land and water, reusable and compostable cotton keeps more trash off of the ground and out of the water.

What about metal filters?

To reuse is always better than to throw away, so a high-quality metal filter is better than paper in that respect. The trouble is, most metal filters don’t have a tight enough weave to filter out enough oils or other chemical compounds that you don’t want in your cup. And they typically have plastic parts, making them trash that doesn’t compost or recycle when the time comes to replace them.

Basket, #2, #4, or #6—which cotton filter should I use?

This will depend on your machine. Our basket filter is made to fit the standard, 3-6 cup, auto-drip machine with a rounded basket. If your machine has a cone-shaped basket, you’ll want a cone filter. The #2 is the smallest and usually meant for a pour over dripper. Try the #4 for a small machine or the #6 for a larger machine.

Check out these hot brew filter options.

But what if I do run out?

With a cotton filter, you just need to compost the grounds, as usual, rinse the filter clean, then hang it to dry and use it again. You can typically use a CoffeeSock cotton filter for 6 months or more. When oils build up in the filer, simply boil it in water for 10 minutes and drip dry.

You’ll have plenty of advanced warning when you need to reorder, so you really should never be out. Each box comes with two filters, so order your next box when you start the second. Better yet, grab and extra box and put in your travel bag for the next vacation brew machine you encounter.

When you get stay in your PJs and out of the store, you’ll thank us!

Need help figuring out which filter you need?

Email us at coffeesock@coffeesock.com! We’ll help you pick the filter that best for your brew method.

Yes, you can use a cotton filter with your auto-drip machine