6 Creative uses for coffee grounds

6 Creative uses for coffee grounds

A coffee every morning at home makes for a lot of wasted coffee grounds. And if your prone for an afternoon cup, you'll be collecting a small pile of grounds heading to landfill.

Coffee grounds have many practical uses around the home and garden and can even help spruce up your beauty routine. Check out the list below of some creative uses for your old coffee grounds that our team have tried and tested. 

1. Fertilise your garden 

The most obvious ways to use coffee grounds are in the garden. The benefit of used coffee grounds as a fertiliser is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention and aeration in the soil. They will also help to attract micro-organisms like the humble earthworm, beneficial to plant growth. 

Contrary to popular belief, used coffee grounds are not acidic. The acid is removed when the coffee is made, and the leftover grounds are just slightly below a neutral pH (6.9).

A neutral pH means they’re perfect for the garden, so work the coffee grounds into the soil. Also leftover diluted coffee works well like this too. 

 

2. Compost your coffee grounds

Composting with coffee is a great way to make use of something that would otherwise end up in  landfill.

Composting coffee grounds helps to add nitrogen to your compost pile and it is as easy as throwing the used coffee grounds onto your compost pile. Used coffee filters can also be composted. Just remember when adding used coffee grounds to your compost pile, that they are considered green compost and will need to be balanced with the addition of some brown compost material.

3. Deter pests

Certain compounds found in coffee, such caffeine and diterpenes, can be highly toxic to particular insects. Because of this, you can use coffee grounds to repel bugs.

Coffee grounds have been found to be effective at deterring mosquitos, fruit flies and beetles. And they may even help to keep other pests away such as the pesky snail and slug!

To use coffee grounds as an insect and pest repellent, simply set out bowls of grounds or sprinkle them around outdoor seating areas. Scatter them around your garden and over your plants. They will help to keep pests away and create barriers for slugs and snails who do not like to crawl over them. 

4. Flea removal

If your a pet owner you are no stranger to the cost of flea treatments, prevention and removal. Well if your a pet owner and a coffee drinker do we have a tip for you.

Fleas don’t like coffee, and you may want to consider coffee grounds as a natural treatment. Simply rub the grounds throughout your pet’s fur after shampooing. Then rinse them off and allow your pet to dry as usual.

Some say doing this may also add smoothness and shine to your pet’s coat, but there is little to no research to support these claims.

Coffee grounds can be less effective than a prescription product. So if your pet has fleas and this treatment does not work, contact your vet to discuss.

Note: coffee grounds should only be used externally, coffee can be toxic to dogs if consumed. 

5. Body/Face Scrub 

The coarse particles in coffee grounds work as an exfoliating agent to help remove dirt and dead cells from the skin. Because of this, they are the perfect home beauty product. 

For a very simple and DIY method just mix a small amount of coffee grounds (to your desired exfoliate grade) with a little bit of water and coconut oil and scrub them into your hands/body/face directly. 

There are heaps of recipes floating around on the internet so get creative and start trying them. 

6. A natural cleaning agent

Coffee grounds are abrasive and can help remove buildup on hard-to-clean surfaces. That pot that will not loose that grime at the bottom, the sink that doesn't shine anymore and the grill that has seen better days. Do not go spending copious amounts of fancy cleaning equipment with harsh chemicals whip out those coffee grounds and get scrubbing. 

They have even been thought to sanitise due to their antibacterial and antiviral properties - read more here.

But do note, be careful not to use them on any kind of porous material, as they can cause brown stains.

Get creative

Most people discard their used coffee grounds after brewing. However, there are many great ways to reuse them, as we have just highlighted. 

 

From compost for the garden, insect repellent, beauty products and cleaning agents there are multiple uses for you to use your old coffee grounds. So jump on to the store and grab a bag, but remember make the most of your grounds and re-use them!

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