10 Ways To Re-use Coffee Grounds

I bet you never thought there could be uses for your old coffee grounds! The usefulness of these grounds may be surprising to you. Next time, don’t throw your used coffee grounds in the trash, rather re-purpose them in one of these resourceful ways. After all, they are totally organic!

Mix Coffee Grounds Into Your Compost

The easiest way to use your excess coffee grounds is to mix them into your compost. They are rich in nitrogen and make a great addition to the compost. The aroma of the coffee also attracts earthworms to you compost pile, which is a definite plus!

Feed To Your Plants

The acidic nature of coffee grounds make them ideal for certain acid loving plants. Mix the grounds with grass clippings or dried leaves to reduce the acidity to some extent. Then spread the mixture around your plants.  They not only add nitrogen to the soil, but potassium as well.

To make this coffee ground mixture a complete fertilizer, you could add lime or wood ash.

Worm Food

Worms, and here I am talking about earthworms, seem to be attracted to the coffee aroma. You can feed the grounds to the worms in your worm farm or compost heap as a supplement to their normal diet. The gritty consistency of the grounds helps them break down other plant matter in their digestive system

Insect Pest Repellent

The coffee grounds can be used to deter unwanted insects like ants in your garden. Dry out the grounds and then sprinkle them around where you don’t want the ants to go. The coffee grounds seem to be effective in deterring snails and slugs as well.

Hand Deodoriser

Dry out the coffee grounds and keep them in a bowl by your sink. After working with foods that leave a smell on your hands, such as garlic, fish or onions, sprinkle some coffee grounds on your hands and rub together. The coffee grounds will remove the smell and also act as an exfoliant.

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Remove Odours From the Fridge

Coffee grounds act a lot like baking soda in the their odour removal capacity First dry out the grounds, then put them in a bowl. Place thebowl in your refrigerator to absorb and remove the odours. They will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge, removing the unpleasant aromas.

The great thing about this is then you can re-use the grounds in your fertilizer or feed to the worms in your worm farm! That’s double recycling! Awesome!

Natural Abrasive

Due to its gritty nature, coffe grounds can be used as a mild abrasive. Sprinkle dried, old coffee grounds onto a damp cloth and use to scrub dirt and old stuck food from counter tops, tiles, or pots. Take care using this method on surfaces that may stain.

Cat Deterrent

Cats are wanderers by nature. Whether they are you own or a neghbours, you may not want them doing their business in certain areas of your garden.

The solution is quite simple! Sprinkle a mixture of coffee grounds and orange peel in the areas where you don’t want them wandering!

Repair Scratched Furniture

Remember to always test this type of use on an inconspicuous area of your furniture before trying on a visible spot!

Make a mixture of 1 tablespoon of  coffee grounds with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Use a cotton swab or ear bud to apply the mixture to the scratch and then wipe dry.

Boost Your Carrot Crop

Here is another  gardening use for your old grounds! Carrot seeds seem to love coffee grounds! Mix dried grounds with your carrot seed and sow them with the seeds. The grounds give the seeds a ready nutrient supply that stimulate growth and boost your carrot crop!