diff --git a/src/common/utilities.js b/src/common/utilities.js
index b9b1817..cd3a023 100644
--- a/src/common/utilities.js
+++ b/src/common/utilities.js
@@ -97,6 +97,33 @@ export function trimAndEllipse(string, stringNum) {
   return string;
 }
 
+export function aggregateFilterPaths(filters) {
+  function insertPath(
+    children = {},
+    [headOfPath, ...remainder],
+    accumulatedPath
+  ) {
+    const childKey = Object.keys(children).find((path) => {
+      const pathLeaf = getPathLeaf(path);
+      return pathLeaf === headOfPath;
+    });
+    accumulatedPath.push(headOfPath);
+    const accumulatedPlusHead = accumulatedPath.join("/");
+    if (!childKey) children[accumulatedPlusHead] = {};
+    if (remainder.length > 0)
+      insertPath(children[accumulatedPlusHead], remainder, accumulatedPath);
+    return children;
+  }
+
+  const allPaths = [];
+  filters.forEach((filterItem) => allPaths.push(filterItem.filter_paths));
+  const aggregatedPaths = allPaths.reduce(
+    (children, path) => insertPath(children, path, []),
+    {}
+  );
+  return aggregatedPaths;
+}
+
 /**
  * From the set of associations, grab a given filter's set of parents,
  * ie. all the elements in the path array before the idx where the filter is located.
@@ -105,59 +132,64 @@ export function trimAndEllipse(string, stringNum) {
  *
  * Returns the list of parents: ex. ['Chemical', 'Tear Gas', ...]
  */
-export function getFilterParents(associations, filter) {
-  for (const a of associations) {
-    const { filter_paths: fp } = a;
-    if (a.id === filter) {
-      return fp.slice(0, fp.length - 1);
-    }
-    const filterIndex = fp.indexOf(filter);
-    if (filterIndex === 0) return [];
-    if (filterIndex > 0) return fp.slice(0, filterIndex);
-  }
-  throw new Error("Attempted to get parents of nonexistent filter");
+export function getFilterAncestors(filter) {
+  const splitFilter = filter.split("/");
+  const ancestors = [];
+  splitFilter.forEach((f, index) => {
+    const accumulatedPath = splitFilter.slice(0, index + 1).join("/");
+    ancestors.push(accumulatedPath);
+  });
+  // // The last element here will be the leaf node aka the filter passed in
+  ancestors.pop();
+  return ancestors;
 }
 
 /**
  * Grabs the second to last element in the paths array for a given existing filter.
  * This is the filter's most immediate ancestor.
  */
-export function getImmediateFilterParent(associations, filter) {
-  const parents = getFilterParents(associations, filter);
-  if (parents.length === 0) return null;
-  return parents[parents.length - 1];
-}
-
-/**
- * Grab a meta filter's siblings, by way of the the `filter_path` hierarcy.
- */
-export function getMetaFilterSiblings(allFilters, filterParent, filterKey) {
-  const idxParent = allFilters
-    .map((f) => {
-      return f.filter_paths.reduceRight((acc, path, idx) => {
-        if (path === filterParent) return f.filter_paths[idx + 1];
-        return acc;
-      }, null);
-    })
-    .filter((metaFilter) => !!metaFilter && metaFilter !== filterKey);
-  return [...new Set(idxParent)];
+export function getImmediateFilterParent(filter) {
+  const ancestors = getFilterAncestors(filter);
+  return ancestors[ancestors.length - 1];
 }
 
 /**
  * Grabs a given filter's siblings: the set of associations that share the same immediate filter parent.
  */
 export function getFilterSiblings(allFilters, filterParent, filterKey) {
-  const isMetaFilter = !allFilters.map((filt) => filt.id).includes(filterKey);
-
-  if (isMetaFilter) {
-    return getMetaFilterSiblings(allFilters, filterParent, filterKey);
+  function findSiblings(filterPathObj, ancestors) {
+    if (ancestors.length === 0 || filterPathObj === {}) return {};
+    const nextAncestor = ancestors.shift();
+    if (Object.keys(filterPathObj).includes(nextAncestor)) {
+      const nextObjToSearch = filterPathObj[nextAncestor];
+      if (ancestors.length === 0) {
+        return nextObjToSearch;
+      } else {
+        return findSiblings(nextObjToSearch, ancestors);
+      }
+    }
   }
+  const aggregatedFilters = aggregateFilterPaths(allFilters);
+  const ancestors = getFilterAncestors(filterKey);
+  const siblings = findSiblings(aggregatedFilters, ancestors);
+  return Object.keys(siblings).filter((sib) => sib !== filterKey);
+}
 
-  return allFilters.reduce((acc, val) => {
-    const valParent = getImmediateFilterParent(allFilters, val.id);
-    if (valParent === filterParent && val.id !== filterKey) acc.push(val.id);
-    return acc;
-  }, []);
+export function addToColoringSet(coloringSet, filters) {
+  const flattenedColoringSet = coloringSet.flatMap((f) => f);
+  const newColoringSet = filters.filter(
+    (k) => flattenedColoringSet.indexOf(k) === -1
+  );
+  return [...coloringSet, newColoringSet];
+}
+
+export function removeFromColoringSet(coloringSet, filters) {
+  const newColoringSets = coloringSet.map((set) =>
+    set.filter((s) => {
+      return !filters.includes(s);
+    })
+  );
+  return newColoringSets.filter((item) => item.length !== 0);
 }
 
 export function getEventCategories(event, categories) {
diff --git a/src/components/Toolbar.js b/src/components/Toolbar.js
index 3435cfa..8844516 100644
--- a/src/components/Toolbar.js
+++ b/src/components/Toolbar.js
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ import {
   trimAndEllipse,
   getImmediateFilterParent,
   getFilterSiblings,
-  getFilterParents,
+  getFilterAncestors,
+  addToColoringSet,
+  removeFromColoringSet,
 } from "../common/utilities.js";
 
 class Toolbar extends React.Component {
@@ -31,32 +33,15 @@ class Toolbar extends React.Component {
   onSelectFilter(key, matchingKeys) {
     const { filters, activeFilters, coloringSet, maxNumOfColors } = this.props;
 
-    const parent = getImmediateFilterParent(filters, key);
+    const parent = getImmediateFilterParent(key);
     const isTurningOff = activeFilters.includes(key);
 
     if (!isTurningOff) {
-      const flattenedColoringSet = coloringSet.flatMap((f) => f);
-      const newColoringSet = matchingKeys.filter(
-        (k) => flattenedColoringSet.indexOf(k) === -1
-      );
-
-      const updatedColoringSet = [...coloringSet, newColoringSet];
-
+      const updatedColoringSet = addToColoringSet(coloringSet, matchingKeys);
       if (updatedColoringSet.length <= maxNumOfColors) {
         this.props.actions.updateColoringSet(updatedColoringSet);
       }
     } else {
-      const newColoringSets = coloringSet.map((set) =>
-        set.filter((s) => {
-          return !matchingKeys.includes(s);
-        })
-      );
-      this.props.actions.updateColoringSet(
-        newColoringSets.filter((item) => item.length !== 0)
-      );
-    }
-
-    if (isTurningOff) {
       if (parent && activeFilters.includes(parent)) {
         const siblings = getFilterSiblings(filters, parent, key);
         let siblingsOff = true;
@@ -68,12 +53,18 @@ class Toolbar extends React.Component {
         }
 
         if (siblingsOff) {
-          const grandparentsOn = getFilterParents(filters, key).filter((filt) =>
+          const grandparentsOn = getFilterAncestors(key).filter((filt) =>
             activeFilters.includes(filt)
           );
           matchingKeys = matchingKeys.concat(grandparentsOn);
         }
       }
+
+      const updatedColoringSet = removeFromColoringSet(
+        coloringSet,
+        matchingKeys
+      );
+      this.props.actions.updateColoringSet(updatedColoringSet);
     }
     this.props.methods.onSelectFilter(matchingKeys);
   }
diff --git a/src/components/controls/FilterListPanel.js b/src/components/controls/FilterListPanel.js
index 0a9ecdd..adb5013 100644
--- a/src/components/controls/FilterListPanel.js
+++ b/src/components/controls/FilterListPanel.js
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@ import React from "react";
 import Checkbox from "../atoms/Checkbox";
 import marked from "marked";
 import copy from "../../common/data/copy.json";
-import { getFilterIdxFromColorSet, getPathLeaf } from "../../common/utilities";
+import {
+  aggregateFilterPaths,
+  getFilterIdxFromColorSet,
+  getPathLeaf,
+} from "../../common/utilities";
 
 /** recursively get an array of node keys to toggle */
 function getFiltersToToggle(filter, activeFilters) {
@@ -19,33 +23,6 @@ function getFiltersToToggle(filter, activeFilters) {
   return childKeys;
 }
 
-function aggregatePaths(filters) {
-  function insertPath(
-    children = {},
-    [headOfPath, ...remainder],
-    accumulatedPath
-  ) {
-    const childKey = Object.keys(children).find((path) => {
-      const pathLeaf = getPathLeaf(path);
-      return pathLeaf === headOfPath;
-    });
-    accumulatedPath.push(headOfPath);
-    const accumulatedPlusHead = accumulatedPath.join("/");
-    if (!childKey) children[accumulatedPlusHead] = {};
-    if (remainder.length > 0)
-      insertPath(children[accumulatedPlusHead], remainder, accumulatedPath);
-    return children;
-  }
-
-  const allPaths = [];
-  filters.forEach((filterItem) => allPaths.push(filterItem.filter_paths));
-  const aggregatedPaths = allPaths.reduce(
-    (children, path) => insertPath(children, path, []),
-    {}
-  );
-  return aggregatedPaths;
-}
-
 function FilterListPanel({
   filters,
   activeFilters,
@@ -91,7 +68,7 @@ function FilterListPanel({
   }
 
   function renderTree(filters) {
-    const aggregatedFilterPaths = aggregatePaths(filters);
+    const aggregatedFilterPaths = aggregateFilterPaths(filters);
 
     return (
       <div>