How to Use Old Coffee Grounds

Coffee is a well-known beverage that is enjoyed in all parts of the world. People often do away with the coffee grounds once they are done brewing the coffee. After going through this article, you may not want to throw away coffee again.

Many people are finding the many uses of the used or old coffee grounds,  and coffee beans around the garden and in your home. If you are someone who doesn’t drink coffee, you might not have enough grounds at home. However, you can visit large coffee stores where coffee is sold out in large quantities; they have enough grounds to give out to you. In this article, I have highlighted 16 things you can use your old coffee grounds for.

1. Fertilize Your Garden

Most of the soil that we have around doesn’t actually have the nutrients they need for adequate growth. Also, as these plants grow, they take up nutrients from the soil for their use and in the process leave the soil deficient in nutrients.

This is the reason most of the garden soil needs to be fertilized so the nutrients needed for plant growth can be added. Some nutrients needed include chromium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron.

The plants growing on the soil can also take up some heavy metals in the soil which can be harmful to the soil. So what is the effect of coffee on your soil? The coffee attracts worms to the soil.

These worms are good for the soil as their activities add nutrients to the soil. If you want to use your coffee as fertilizer for your soil, all you have to do is sprinkle it on the soil around your plants.

2. Compost it for Later Use

Composting is the process or gathering organic materials in a bin, in this case coffee grounds for waste products as soil fertilizer.

If you don’t want to use your coffee immediately as fertilizer for your plants, you can compost it so you can use them later. The process of composting is one that occurs naturally. This is a process that converts food items into dark rich material called humus or compost.

When you add compost to your soil, it helps retain more water and nutrients, and this is beneficial to the plant and the soil. Studies have shown that compost that’s made with items from the kitchen and coffee contains a lot of nutrients when compared to others.

A study was carried out with compost containing a different percentage of coffee; it was found out that the one with the highest percentage of coffee is the best.

3. Repel Insects and Pests

There are some substances found in coffee that are harmful to insects; some substance includes diterpenes and caffeine. Because of the content in coffee, it is good for repelling insects away.

To use your coffee as an insect repellent, all you have to do is bring it out and sprinkle it around the areas where the insects live. You can also prevent insects from affecting your plant by sprinkling some coffee around the plant. This will prevent crawling pests from attacking your plant.

4. Remove Fleas from Your Pet

One of the major problems of keeping flea is the flea infection they have. Flea infection can be very expensive to treat and it takes a time to treat. There are a lot of chemicals out there that can be used to treat fleas, but most of them will later have an adverse effect on the pets.

Luckily for us, coffee is toxic for fleas, which makes it an option for removing flea. Add shampoo to the fur of your pet, then rub the coffee on their body; after this wash off the coffee and shampoo and leave the animal to dry up.

Many people think that coffee has a shining effect on the fur of the animal, but there is no research to back it up. Coffee might not be less effective as other chemicals, but much healthier to use; so after you have tried it and it’s not as effective, you can consult your vet. The coffee should only be used externally.

5. Neutralize Odors

The coffee ground contains nitrogen. Nitrogen can be used to remove foul-smelling gas from the air around. It can be used to remove Sulphur, which is a foul-smelling gas when it is used with carbon.

In short, coffee has the ability to absorb odors in the air. You can place some coffee in your refrigerator so it can absorb various smells coming from food. You can also place your coffee in closets to keep it odor free from socks, shoes, etc.

6. Use it as a Natural Cleaning Scrub

You can use coffee to clean surfaces that are difficult to clean; this is due to the abrasiveness of the coffee grounds. The coffee ground also has some antiviral and antibacterial ability; it can be used to sanitize the surface which is important during the current environment.

If you don’t want to use chemicals to do your cleaning, then using coffee grounds is an option for you. You can use it to scrub your sinks and your cookware. Don’t use the coffee grounds on surfaces that are porous; it can leave brown stains on them.

7. Scour Your Pots and Pans

The texture of coffee grounds is very coarse; this makes it an option to scrub your cooking utensils that are hard to clean. You can also use them to remove oils from your plate. To use the coffee ground, sprinkle it on your plates and pot and then scrub it. Rinse the utensils after scrubbing.

8. Exfoliate Your Skin

The coffee grounds particle can be used as an exfoliating agent. It can help you remove the dead cells in the skin and also remove the dirt on it too. If you want to use the coffee grounds as an exfoliating agent, add the grounds to some water or oil.

Then scrub the mixture on your body or face. You can also use the coffee grounds as a lip exfoliating scrub by adding it to some honey. The coffee grounds can also protect your skin from damage caused by the sun due to the antioxidant content.

The coffee grounds can help you increase the flow of blood, which improves skin health.

9. Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite

Cellulite is a skin condition that makes the skin look lumpy and dimpled. This skin condition affects 80 to 90% of adults. This condition is caused when fat deposits are stored below the connective tissue under your skin.

It is common in the thigh and buttocks region. When substances like caffeine are applied to the surface of the affected area, it may break the fats that are built up there and thus increases the blood flow.

This will cause the cellulite to fade away over time. To use the coffee grounds for this purpose, mix it with oil or water. Apply it on the surface and scrub it for about 10 minutes; do this 2 times a week.

10. Use it as a Natural Dye

If by mistake you have spilled coffee on a white shirt, you will know that it has the ability to stain clothes. When you add water to coffee grounds, it can be used as a natural dye. You can use it to dye color cotton, cellophane, paper, linen, and rayon.

This is an easy way to change the design of your clothes by giving them a false stain look. They can also be used to darken the color of human hair and for painting Easter eggs. Many of the commercial dyes out there have some chemicals that can cause cancer. Using coffee prevents you from this risk.

11. Clean Your Fireplace

Removing ashes from your fireplace can be a very messy task. You can reduce the mess created by sprinkling some coffee grounds on the floor. This will prevent smoke from clouding the area. This will help you remove the ashes on the floor easily, and it will also prevent the spread of the ashes to other areas. It will also bring out some wonderful coffee smell in the area.

12. Meat Tenderizer

The toughness of meat is caused by the proteins and muscle fibers present in the meat. When you tenderize the meat, coffee grounds will make the protein and fibers break will lead to the tenderizing of the meat.

Enzymes, salt, and acids are the common substances used for tenderizing meats. Coffee also contains some enzymes and acids that can cause the meat to soften.

13. Stimulate Hair Growth and Strip Buildup

The styling products that are often used on hair leave some deposits that can affect your hair negatively. Using coffee can help you remove dead skin cells and buildups that are on your skin.

Over the years, studies have shown that caffeine may accelerate the growth of hair and increases blood flow. Before you add shampoo to your hair, massage your hair with some coffee grounds and wash it off after couple of minutes.

14. Rebuild Scratched Furniture

Scratched wooden furniture can easily be scuffed. There are different chemicals that can be used to reduce the scratch on the furniture. You can try to use the coffee grounds before you buy chemicals.

To prepare the mix, add water to the coffee grounds and crush it in a thick paste. Rub the paste you have made on the surface of the furniture for about 10 minutes. You can then wipe off the paste from the furniture; this should help you remove some scratches on the furniture.

15. Grow Mushroom

The mushroom grows only in certain conditions that make growth a bit difficult. Mushroom strives well in a soil that has a substrate in it; you can use coffee to add substrate to your soil.

16. Treat Under-eye Circles

The skin under the eyes is very sensitive, and it has some fat tissues in it. The area is where you will first start seeing the signs of aging. A lot of things cause the appearance of dark circles under the eyes.

Some of them include fragile blood vessels, inadequate skin quality, and poor circulation. Coffee has some antioxidant effects that can reduce the appearance of dark circles.

Conclusion

Coffee grounds, to some people, are a waste, but after reading this article you’ve got some ideas of what you can do with coffee grounds. In this article, I have highlighted 16 things that coffee grounds can help you in different ways.

If you have any comments, please leave them below, I’d love to hear from you. If you’re a coffee lover and a dog lover check this lovely dog feeder out.