Paper vs Cloth vs Metal Filters
How filter material changes your cup: paper, cloth and metal coffee filters compared on body, clarity, oils and cafestol, with 2025 measurements from Uppsala University.
Which is better, a paper, cloth or metal coffee filter?
It depends what you want. Paper gives the cleanest, brightest cup and removes the most cafestol, the compound in coffee oil that raises LDL cholesterol. Metal lets oils and fine particles through, for more body but more cafestol. Cloth sits between: fuller than paper, yet in a 2025 study it cut boiled coffee's cafestol from about 940 to 28 mg/L.
The filter is the material that changes your coffee most. Paper, cloth and metal all hold back the grounds, but they let through very different amounts of the coffee’s oils and fine particles. That changes the body, the clarity and even how the coffee affects your cholesterol. This page compares the three.
The short version
- Paper: cleanest and brightest; removes the most oil and cafestol.
- Cloth: fuller than paper; still removes most cafestol.
- Metal: most body and some sediment; lets cafestol through.
- Cafestol is the compound in coffee oil that raises LDL cholesterol.
- You can combine them: add a paper filter to a metal-filter brewer.
How do paper, cloth and metal filters compare?
| Paper | Cloth | Metal mesh | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oils | Held back | More than paper gets through | Pass through |
| Fine particles | Only the finest, under about 10–15 µm | Not measured in these sources | More; some sediment |
| Cup | Clean, bright, sometimes fruitier | Fuller | Full-bodied |
| Cafestol | Lowest | Low | Higher |
| Reuse | Single use | Reusable; needs washing | Reusable; rinse |
| Used in | V60, Chemex, drip machines, AeroPress | The bolsita of the Costa Rican chorreador | French press, Vietnamese and Indian filter coffee, metal AeroPress discs |
Sources: Wikipedia, Coffee filter; AeroPress FAQ; ScienceAlert.
Paper is made of fibres about 20 micrometres wide that let through particles smaller than about 10–15 micrometres, and it removes the oily diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, which metal, nylon and porcelain mesh filters don’t, Wikipedia says. Cloth strains out the grounds like paper but lets more of the oil through. Coffee from paper is said to taste somewhat fruitier than coffee from permanent filters.
How much cafestol gets through each filter?
In 2025, researchers at Uppsala University measured diterpenes in coffee from 14 workplace machines and from methods brewed in the lab, ScienceAlert reports:
| Coffee | Cafestol |
|---|---|
| Paper-filtered drip | Median 11.5 mg/L |
| Boiled, then filtered through fabric | 28 mg/L |
| French press (metal mesh) | Under 90 mg/L |
| Workplace brewing and liquid machines (mostly metal filters) | Median 174 mg/L |
| Boiled, unfiltered | Mean just under 940 mg/L |
Source: Orrje et al., Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2025, as reported by ScienceAlert. The study’s sample sizes were small, and it didn’t account for filter pore size, roast or grind.
Paper doesn’t work mainly by trapping the oil itself: most cafestol stays with the grounds, and paper’s main job is catching the fine particles that carry it, NutritionFacts.org explains. Switching from a metal mesh to paper can cut cafestol by more than 90%, it says, though a high-cafestol coffee raised LDL cholesterol even through paper in one trial.
General guidance only, not medical advice.
Which filter should you choose?
| If you want… | Choose |
|---|---|
| The clearest, brightest cup | Paper |
| Body and texture, and you’re not worried about cholesterol | Metal |
| A middle way, reusable | Cloth |
| Body with less cafestol | A metal-filter brewer with a paper insert, such as an AeroPress with paper |
How do you look after a reusable filter?
Rinse a reusable filter after each use and let it dry, and follow the maker’s care advice. AeroPress’s own metal filters, for example, are food-safe 316 stainless steel, the company says.
Filters and other guides
- Paper filters: shapes, sizes and bleached or unbleached.
- How to choose a brewing method: including which methods are healthiest.
- Ceramic vs glass vs plastic: does the dripper’s material matter?
Questions & answers
Does a metal filter make coffee taste different?
Yes. A metal filter lets the coffee's oils through for a fuller-bodied cup, AeroPress says, while paper keeps them out for a smoother, grit-free one. Metal also passes more fine particles, so expect some sediment.
Are metal coffee filters bad for cholesterol?
They let through more cafestol, which raises LDL cholesterol. A metal mesh filter is presumably as bad as a French press unless you add paper, NutritionFacts.org says; switching to paper can cut more than 90% of cafestol.
Is a cloth coffee filter healthy?
It removes much of the cafestol. In a 2025 Uppsala University study, boiled coffee filtered through fabric fell from just under 940 mg/L of cafestol to 28 mg/L, ScienceAlert reports. Paper-filtered drip coffee had a median of 11.5 mg/L.
How does a paper filter remove cafestol?
Mostly by catching the fine particles that carry it. Researchers found most cafestol stayed with the grounds rather than sticking in the paper itself, NutritionFacts.org reports.
Sources
- How You Make Your Coffee Could Affect Your Cholesterol Levels. ScienceAlert
- Paper-Filtered Coffee and Cholesterol. NutritionFacts.org
- Coffee filter. Wikipedia
- FAQ. AeroPress, Inc.