5 Overlooked Uses of Coffee

Coffee is an incredibly popular drink around the world and that means there are tonnes of coffee grounds which are generally thrown into the rubbish once the drink has been brewed. These used coffee grounds tend to negatively impact our environment if not reused. They end up clogging our waterways and being wasted, which is a shame because used coffee grounds can be recycled. So here are 5 overlooked uses of coffee as per Sarah.

There are actually lots of practical ways to use coffee grounds around your house and garden, which people might not be aware of. For this post we asked Sarah of CoffeBitz, you can check out her other writings if you like reading coffee equipment reviews. 

Sarah says the next time you make coffee at home, keep the grounds and try out some of these tips for yourself:

• Good for the garden

Instead of throwing away your old coffee grounds you can use them to help your garden grow better. Plants need nutrients from the ground to grow and these are often not present in gardens, or have been used up.

Coffee grounds can be used as fertilizers to help provide your plants with key nutrients including calcium, potassium and iron. You can just use them directly in the garden as fertilizer for your flower beds.

Alternatively, you can add coffee grounds to your composter to help add in more nutrients and improve the quality of your compost so that when it’s ready to use it will add more value to your garden.

• Scare away insects

If you are fed up with all the flying and buzzing creatures which hang around when you are trying to enjoy lunch in the garden, then try using your used coffee grounds as an insect repellent.

Coffee grounds contain caffeine and other elements which can be toxic for certain pests and can be used to repel things like mosquitos and other flies. The best way to use them is to put out bowls of coffee grounds on the floor, or to sprinkle it around the chairs where you are sitting.

• Stop bad smells

We all know how nice coffee smells first thing in the morning but did you know that it also has a property which can remove nasty smells from the air and the environment?

There is nitrogen in coffee grounds which works to remove bad smells from the air – it can get rid of smells such as smelly shoes or rubbish, really easily so make use of it to leave your house smelling fresh and clean again.

If you have pungent leftovers in the fridge try placing a tub of coffee grounds in there to get rid of the smell and a cheap alternative to an air freshener, is to fill an old sock with coffee grounds and hang it up.

You can also use them inside anywhere smelly like your shoe drawer or in your gym bag to help keep the nasty smells at bay. Coffee grounds, used to wash your hands, will disperse the smell from onions and garlic too.

• Clean your oven

If you are struggling to clean your oven or to get your sink shining again, try using coffee grounds as a scouring product. They have an abrasive action which can help to clear hard to clean surfaces such as the grill pan.

Don’t use them to clean anything porous as they will leave a brown stain, but for metal and oven tops they are a really good way of removing stubborn grease and dirt.

You could also use them to scrub all of your kitchen pots and pans and any utensils which are difficult to clean. Use this abrasive scrub to clear stubborn food stuck to pots and pans after cooking, instead of leaving it to soak.

• An effective skin scrub

Another great use for the scouring nature within coffee grounds is as an occasional facial scrub – you need to mix it with some water or oil-product for softness and then apply to the face.

It works well for clearing make-up, daily dirt and sloughing away dead skin cells. You can also use it on your body to remove dead skin and leave your skin feeling soft and renewed.

Conclusion

So these were my 5 Overlooked Uses of Coffee. Many of these uses of coffee have been long forgotten and in our throw away culture it’s all too easy to simply discard the filter and grounds into the garbage and forget about it.

But if you want to improve your garden, or get rid of bad odours then it’s worth giving some of these tips a try, to make better use of your coffee after you have brewed the perfect cup of course.

As a free beauty product you can’t go wrong with using coffee grounds to achieve clear, clean skin and as an added bonus you can also use it as a cleaner around your house as well.

So if you like your fresh coffee, next time you brew a pot why not keep hold of the coffee grounds and experiment with all the different uses this versatile product has. There are only five listed here but there are many other options too. So apart from these 5 overlooked uses of coffee, if you think you can list more, do leave a comment below.

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