Coffee Filter Dryer

I came up with this simple stand to hold a used coffee filter full of grounds while it dries before you compost it or throw it in the garbage. I found that used grounds don't stink as much in the garbage if they're dried first, I imagine it's the same for putting them in a compost container if you' can't take it outside immediately.

when you brew with a chemex you have to remove the filter from the chemex before you can pour the coffee and it can still be quite wet. I didn't have the same problem with an all in one machine, but sometimes I would forget about the filter inside the machine and was worried it might start molding if I ever forgot about it for a longer period of time. with this I can remove the filter from the machine when I pour my coffee and don't have to worry about forgetting about it and having a mess inside the machine.

I gave new life to an old coat hanger that was bent out of shape and the glass container from a bake it yourself Gu cake (which also make nice muesli bowls).

the first step was to come up with a design. I based it of the wire stands that are common for shaving brushes or razors that are a simple bent single wire. For shaving brushes the top of the stand is usually open so you can place the brush in it, but for the coffee dryer I made the top a solid loop to hold the filter and the bottom open to hold onto the container.

The only materials you need for the stand is a wire and something to catch the drips from the filter.

I used an old coat hanger for the wire and a Gu cake glass to catch the drips. You could use any wire you want that's thick enough to hold up the filter, and any small container could be used to catch the drips or you could simply place the stand in a sink while it drips.

For tools I used a thin beer can as a form for the top loop and a small tomato can as a form for the bottom loop. I used a cutting board to help make one of the bends and a leatherman to cut the excess coat hanger off once the stand was formed.

The first step is to undo the coat hanger and get it as straight as possible so you have a long wire.

I chose a small beer can as my form for the top loop since it was slightly smaller than the opening of the chemex so I knew it should hold the filter without it falling through.

I placed the can in the middle of the wire then bent both ends around it to make a loop. it's a bit hard to get a perfect circle but just get it as close as you can. the wire will expand back a bit after the bends but that's ok if you pick a form a bit smaller diameter than you want. If your form isn't smaller then you'll have to try and compress your loop by hand away from the form to get the diameter smaller.

Next I placed my loop on the top of a table and bent the sides down to form the support "tower". try and get the bends roughly evenly spaced to improve the looks of the stand.

The next bends were a bit harder since I had no vice or anything. I used the hole in a cutting board instead. I put the top loop through the hole in the board then bent the long supports at another right angle to make a U shape. The cutting board determines how tall the support tower will be in this case. You could also turn the stand upside down and bend the sides over a table if you have a table with thin enough skirting that the stand will fit around it. Another option would be using two pairs of pliers to do the bend if you have them, I just had my leatherman and didn't even use it for any of the bends, only my hands.

this bend forms the parts that will be the base of the stand.

Next split the two arms of the base so instead of making a U with the top loop they both spread away from it.

Once the arms are spread you can curl them around a form to get them circular. I found using a small clamp helped to keep everything aligned to start the curling, but it's not necessary. My base clipped into a groove on my drip catcher so it needed to be circular and match the diameter relatively well. If you're not clipping it onto the drip catcher you can make the base any shape you want, a square, even a V would likely work. if you make a V or square you can simply place your drip catcher on top of the base.

Once I had a bottom circle that could clip into my base I used my leatherman to cut the excess wire away. The stand was then ready to use!

it's not the most beautiful thing in my kitchen but it's 100% functional. If I had more tools available I could get the bends more accurate and it would look nicer. Having the coat hanger be more straight/flat before I started bending the stand would also have made it much easier to get even bends. I had used it before and it had be bent in many places previously which made getting the circle shapes for the top and bottom loops more difficult.