There Are 17 Clever Ways To Reuse Old Coffee Grains

Coffee's benefits extend far beyond their ability to kickstart your day.  

After you've finished your morning brew, check out this list for some great ideas on how to recycle your coffee grounds and make them into something new.

After reading about all the uses for used coffee grounds, you won't be able to bear to dispose of them in the trash ever again.

Quick Tip:

Bags of used coffee are often available for free at your local coffee shop if you find that you aren't drinking enough coffee to make use of the old grounds.

Tips for Recycling Coffee Grounds:

Termite and Pest Control

Protect your plants from ants, snails, and slugs by scattering used coffee grounds around them. The aroma of coffee is off-putting to ants, and the slightly abrasive texture of the coffee grounds can be irritating to soft-bellied pests like slugs and snails.

Some people believe that by adding dried orange peel to old ground, you can scare away small mammals like cats (though Felix can be a tough customer to please). If you've already tried coffee and orange peel with no success, you might want to switch to rosemary oil. )

Also, you can use the liquid that remains after soaking used coffee grounds in water for an entire night as a foliar spray; simply strain out the grounds before using the liquid.

With its antimicrobial properties, the spray will be effective against a wide variety of insects, especially caterpillars. Many pests may be scared away by the coffee's aroma or taste.

Gardening Tip #2: Add Fertilizer

Used coffee is an excellent fertilizer for acid-loving plants like azaleas, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, camellias, roses, and others.  

Spread old grounds with a mixture of dead grass, brown leaves, or dry straw to reduce the acidity, then water the plants as usual.  

To the soil, used coffee grounds contribute nitrogen and potassium (the first and third numbers in the fertilizer formula, N - P - K), as well as a boost of magnesium, which is essential for the health of all plants.

Because of its low phosphorus and calcium content, this fertilizer is not recommended for use in flowering or fruiting plants. To make a full fertilizer out of used coffee grounds, you'll need to add something like lime or wood ash.

Transform Your Garden by Altering the Hydrangeas' Color

The hydrangea is one of the most beautiful plants you can cultivate in your garden, but it comes in a wide range of colors, from deep blue to hot pink. The soil's acidity level determines the hue.

Pink flowers grow best in alkaline soil, while blue hydrangeas thrive in acidic soil. By increasing soil acidity, coffee grounds can help change pink flowers to blue.

Don't Throw It Away Just Yet!

Throw used coffee grounds on the compost pile if you don't plan to use them as fertilizer anytime soon.  

Because of their high nitrogen content, coffee grounds make great "green" matter. Adding old coffee grounds to your compost pile is also a good way to attract helpful worms. Limit the amount of grounds you add to the pile so you don't skew the "green" to "brown" matter ratio.  

For more information, check out Composting 101: The Definitive Guide to Making Garden Rocket Fuel.

Fifth, Coffee for... Carrots

You're in the money if you enjoy both carrots and coffee. Sharing your unused plots of land with your carrots at planting time will earn you some serious carrot love in return.  

If you want to give your carrot seeds a jumpstart in the growth department, mix in some old coffee grounds before planting. Your carrots will grow larger and taste better, and you'll avoid having them eaten by pests.

Sixthly, Cultivate Your Own Funguy

This idea for cultivating oyster mushrooms in a five-gallon bucket of used coffee grounds is just one of the many ingenious projects featured on Five Gallon Ideas.

As you'll need a lot of them, you should probably stop by your neighborhood cafe and pick up some used coffee grounds.

Read on for some more ingenious applications of used coffee grounds in the garden.

Tips for Repurposing Used Coffee Grains:

Retain the Smell of Cooked Meats and Other Foods

In the same way that baking soda can be used to neutralize odors in the fridge and freezer, used coffee grounds can do the same thing.  

You can simply fill a small open container with your used grounds, store it in the back of the refrigerator for a few weeks, and then fill it up again.  

Bonus: once you've deodorized your fridge or freezer, you can toss the old grounds right on the compost pile or use them as fertilizer.

8 - Abrasive by Nature

Scrub stubborn food stains from countertops and dishes with old coffee grounds sprinkled on a rag.  

Although used coffee grounds are abrasive, they won't scratch your kitchen appliances or cabinets. Scrubbing coffee grounds into crevices could cause unsightly discoloration, so be careful.

Nine. A Glorious Golden Color

You've seen the "Beautiful Golden" color I'm talking about if you've ever spilled coffee on a white shirt.  

Instead of worrying about that coffee stain, you can use it to your advantage. You can use wet coffee grounds to color anything from feathers to fabric to Easter eggs.  

Paper can be transformed from plain white to "antique" parchment with the help of used coffee grounds and a little water. Detailed instructions can be found below. There are a wide variety of arts and crafts that this fake parchment can be put to use for, including the creation of some truly stunning presents.

DIY Coffee Wax Candles, No. 10

Why not make some all-natural candles out of your used coffee grounds if you enjoy the aroma?  

You'll need some used coffee grounds, a small paper coffee cup, a paper towel, about a cup of wax candle ends, a wick, scissors, a small sauce pan for melting the wax, a small glass mixing bowl, and a wick for this enjoyable up-cycling project. (To see the tutorial, click here.) )

11. Sweep the Hearth

As much as we'd like to believe otherwise, used coffee grounds just won't cut it. In any case, they'll make it so that clearing out your fireplace is a breeze and a lot less of a mess.  

Lightly sprinkle used coffee grounds over the ashes to weigh them down and stop the massive clouds of smoke that typically result from this laborious task.  

The ashes can be removed with much less effort, and you won't have to clean every flat surface in the room afterward.

The Benefits of Used Coffee Grounds for Your Health and Appearance:

Exfoliating the Skin

Used coffee grounds can be a great source of natural exfoliation for the skin. Used coffee grounds can be reused by mixing them with hot water or an all-natural oil like coconut or sweet almond oil. Then exfoliate your entire body to get rid of the dead skin cells that have accumulated.

13. Facial Revitalization

Coffee also works well as a facial scrub, just as it does for the body.  

Two tablespoons of organic cocoa powder and two tablespoons of used coffee grounds. For the ideal all-natural alpha-hydroxy and antioxidant facial, mix three tablespoons of honey with three tablespoons of whole milk or heavy cream.

Reduces puffiness around the eyes

The anti-inflammatory properties of caffeine make it an effective topical treatment for reducing swelling. Since this is the case, drinking coffee can help reduce under-eye puffiness.

Used coffee grounds, a teaspoon of coconut oil, and a few drops of water can be rubbed gently under the eyes (but not in the eyes) to alleviate puffiness. Sit for five minutes, then wipe away with a damp cloth.

On the other hand, you could try this recipe for Homemade Coffee Under Eye Cream.

Cellulite Therapy, Number 15

There are a wide variety of factors that can contribute to cellulite, such as a poor diet, long periods of inactivity, smoking, or a hereditary predisposition, and just as many purported treatments. Here's one that does the trick: old coffee grounds

Countless cellulite-fighting coffee scrub recipes can be found on the internet. But you can also use a mixture of used coffee grounds and hot water. Scrub the affected areas for 10 minutes twice a week.  

Caffeine's ability to reduce cellulite fat cells was demonstrated in a 2008 study conducted in Sao Paulo.

Soap with Caffeine

Caffeine's anti-inflammatory effects on the skin help reduce under-eye puffiness, its ability to increase blood flow may help boost collagen production, and its ability to draw water out of fatty cells may lessen cellulite's visibility.

You can tell it works because there are so many caffeine-infused soaps on the market today.  

A natural way to get a boost of energy in the morning without resorting to caffeine-containing products is to use your used coffee grounds to make soap. Recipe below.

17 - Caffeine in Coffee for Your Hair

Hair can become weighed down by residue from products used to style it or from conventional shampoo and conditioner. You can revive your hair's natural healthy shine by washing out the buildup with used coffee grounds.  

Just rub some used coffee grounds into your hair before you wash it. The coarse texture is effective at dismantling product buildup without being too harsh on your tresses.

Mark This for Later Use!

Next, find out the 7 benefits of applying coffee grounds topically to your skin and hair.