You likely don’t realize it, but the used coffee grounds you toss in the trash each morning can be repurposed. It doesn’t matter if you buy premium single-origin beans or full-bodied blends, you can easily get more value out of your soggy coffee grounds. Furthermore, you can likely help the environment while you’re at it! Your used coffee grounds have a lot to offer. Everything from the texture of used coffee grounds to their vast nutrient load! This article provides an array of suggestions for what you can do with your used coffee grounds. We hope it helps you find a meaningful second life for your soggy coffee grounds.
17 Ways to Repurpose Your Used Coffee Grounds
1.) Add Them to Your Compost Pile
Used coffee grounds are warm, moist, and rich with Nitrogen – aka the Holy Trinity of compost perfection! Some people prefer to mix their used grounds directly into their garden, but this method slowly breaks down. Instead, you should add your grounds to a well-rounded compost pile, where the heat of decay helps break them down far faster.
2.) Freshen Your Fridge with Your Used Coffee Grounds
Did you know that coffee grounds absorb odors? If not, you do now! Your grounds can easily rival baking soda when it comes to absorbing the nasty odors found in most fridges. The Nitrogen that makes your grounds a great soil additive also reacts with Sulfur in the air. It pulls the Sulfur out of the air and traps it in the grounds. Furthermore, this deodorizer isn’t limited to refrigerators. It works just about anywhere with nasty smells.
3.) Sidewalk De-Icer
Yes, you read that correctly. The next time you shovel your walkway, make sure to spread your used coffee grounds just like you would salt. The chemical makeup of coffee prevents it from freezing until the temperature is lower and it also helps melt some of the ice. The coarse texture of coffee grounds also provides additional traction on slippery ice.
4.) Enrich Your Blue Blooms with Used Coffee Grounds
If you have flowering plants in your garden that thrive in soil with a lower pH level, then you should consider adding your acidic leftover coffee grounds to the soil. As the grounds break down, they will decrease the pH value of the soil. This, in turn, helps blue-blooming hydrangeas reach their full potential.
5.) Slug Barrier
Slugs hate the acidic nature of coffee grounds, so they will avoid crossing them at all costs. If your garden has a slug problem, you can repurpose your used coffee grounds as a thrifty and effective repellent. While coffee grounds are great at deterring slugs from damaging your garden, you need to be mindful that the grounds will lower the pH of the soil. This can be a problem if you have plants that favor alkaline soils.
6.) Open Up Your Pores with Used Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds have a texture similar to that of sand, so you can use them as an all-natural scrubbing agent. You can either apply the grounds directly to your skin to scrub away dead skin cells and clean out clogged pores or form them into a solidified exfoliating bar. Either way, coffee grounds are great for your skin.
7.) Scrubs Your Pots & Pans
The same characteristics that make coffee grounds a great exfoliant also make them great for scrubbing off hardened food particles from your cooking pots and pans. This method of cleaning is extremely effective and has been around since the days of the pioneers who didn’t have access to steel wool.
8.) Coffee Grounds as a Hand Cleaner
Coffee grounds can remove dead skin cells and soften your facial skin, but they can do a little something different on your hands. Pumice soaps are used to cut through tough dirt and grime from working on heavy machinery. Your coffee grounds make for an affordable and readily available alternative that will leave your hands smelling a little something like morning.
9.) Meat Rub
Coffee is far undervalued in the culinary world. You can find it in everything from barbecue sauces to rich chocolate desserts. However, coffee grounds possess a natural smokey flavor when you use them as a meat rub for meats such as brisket, ribs, or even a delicious cut of steak. This is a great way to extend the life and increase the value of an expensive coffee blend since you can enjoy the flavor of said coffee again. In addition to enhancing the flavor of your favorite cut of meat, the acid in the coffee grounds helps break down the meat and make it more tender.
10.) Beer Brewing
Craft beer fans likely already recognize the coffee-based brew from their favorite brewpub. Many breweries use coffee to make beer. This interesting hybrid usually takes the form of a stout or porter that pairs nicely with lunch on a chilly day. You can also enjoy these next-level brews while reading later in the day since the caffeine will keep you from falling asleep.
11.) Create that Old Fashion Look
During the era of Queen Victoria, British soldiers stained their helmets with coffee grounds and tea to give them a brownish look. Some people pay a lot of money for clothing with a vintage look. You can use your soggy grounds to render the same look and feel for a fraction of the price.
12.) Arts & Crafts
Just as you can use your used coffee grounds to artificially age your clothing, you can do the same for a variety of craft projects. For instance, you can stain modern paper with your grounds to give it that timeless antique look and feel.
13.) Make Your Hair Extra Shiny
If you have darker hair (e.g. dark brown or black), then you can use your coffee grounds to strip away dirt from your hair. Furthermore, the acid-rich grounds will also help soften your locks. Make sure to limit the application of coffee grounds to your hair so that you do not strip away vital nutrients.
14.) Stain Your Furniture
In addition to staining your clothing and craft projects to give them that sought-after antique look, you can also stain wooden furniture with your used coffee grounds to get a deep, rich color. You can either mix your grounds in with water to make a thin, paint-like substance, o you can rub the grounds in and let them sit for an hour or so before cleaning them off for a more natural look. Remember that each type of coffee produces its own unique stain, so you may want to consider trying a variety of different coffee blends before you go all-in on one.
15. Repel Pesky Bugs
Slugs aren’t the only critters that aren’t fond of coffee. While slugs don’t like the acidic nature of coffee grounds, other critters simply don’t like the taste. You can mix your grounds into the soil to repel certain underground pests. You can also spread them across the surface of the dirt to keep insects and even cats out of your garden. As we mentioned earlier, you need to be mindful that coffee grounds are acidic in nature and will decrease the pH level of your garden.
16.) Reduce Stray Dust When Cleaning
If you’re preparing to clean anything dusty (e.g. the floor of your wood-burning fireplace), you can keep the dust down by spreading coffee grounds across the surface. The coffee grounds add moisture to the dry and dusty soot and help keep the soot from spreading in the air.
17.) Feed Your Used Coffee Grounds to the Worms
This may seem counterintuitive seeing how slugs and other garden pests are not fond of coffee grounds. However, worms will devour nutrient-rich coffee grounds! Make sure that you mix them well into the soil and you’ll add a lot of Nitrogen to the soil. Furthermore, the large pieces of gritty coffee grounds will ensure that the local worms will have something to munch on, which, in turn, means your soil will be nicely aerated!
