You've Been Using Your Coffee Filters All Wrong

In this modern day when technology can seemingly solve every problem practically before it happens, it can be difficult to then feel lost in a world full of instances of bad design, like that door that looks like a push but is actually a pull, or the coffee filter that just kind of sticks out of the coffee maker like you're the one doing something wrong. Well, there's relief to be found in the latter case at least: We have been doing something wrong (via Bustle).

It turns out coffee makers actually do know what size coffee filters are made and vice versa, and in order to get a perfectly snug-fitting coffee filter, you just need to fold the perforated edges that you'll see on the bottom, and one side of the filter (via Best Life). But you still have to be asking yourself this question: Why do the coffee filter manufacturers include this seemingly unnecessary extra step?

If you've never thought to read the instructions on the coffee filter box (you're certainly not alone), it turns out this basic origami move has been part of the process all along. The crimped line that fuses the filter to itself along the bottom and one side will reinforce the filter, so when you fold the filter as instructed and fit it into the machine, the thin material is less likely to rupture as the coffee brews (via HuffPost). Clever, no? 

Hopefully the satisfaction of knowing the "why" behind this trick, and of seeing the filter fit perfectly every morning from now on, is enough to outweigh the knowledge that at least some of our design woes are most certainly user error. Also, if you weren't using a coffee filter correctly, you also might be peeling a banana the wrong way, along with a host of other mistakes. Sorry, but don't blame the messenger!