Uses for Coffee Grounds

Sometimes when we throw something away every day, such as used coffee grounds, it occurs to us that we should find another way to use them before they're disposed of. There are a number of helpful uses around the house for used coffee grounds that will get one more use from a resource and also save it from filling up a dump.

-Coffee grounds are ideal for removing onion, garlic, and other strong scents from hands during cooking. Just rub them onto the fingers, under the nails, and between fingers with a small amount of water and rinse well. Follow by washing hands normally, and the odors will be gone.

-Coffee grounds are acidic, so they are great to mix into the mulch around plants that need acid soils, such as blueberries and holly. The acids will leach into the ground, changing the ph of the soil around the plant, ensuring it will have the environment in which it will thrive.

-Used coffee grounds can be reused for making coffee a second time, if they are spread out and dried well. The resulting coffee may not be as strong, but it will be coffee.

-Place used coffee grounds in a shallow dish and keep in the refrigerator to deodorize and keep it fresh. To avoid messy spills, cover the dish with plastic wrap or tin foil and poke small holes in the top. Change the grounds frequently to keep it fresh and prevent any mildew or molding.

-I like to use coffee grounds to polish and scour my stainless steel pans. They are soft enough not to scratch the surface, but rough enough to remove spots or burned bits. This also works really well on the copper bottoms, helping them to gleam.

-Coffee grounds, being slightly rough and slightly acidic, are also fine for exfoliating skin. They're an especially nice scrub for feet, since they deodorize as well. Rub feet well with grounds and a little water to moisten them, between toes, and especially on rough areas, such as heels. For a particularly moisturizing scrub, mix the grounds well with a good skin conditioning oil, like walnut, apricot, or even olive oil.

-If you have to brush or sweep an area with very fine dust, such as ashes in a fire place, or sawdust in a carpentry shop, sprinkle slightly damp coffee grounds on the area first, and this will help to keep the dust from floating in the air. It's very useful to prevent inhaling this dust and helps to avoid the coughing and sneezing that happens in such situations.

-Rubbing them on wooden items, paper, or even baskets, makes a nice natural stain. They are good for faux aging items, and produce a very pretty dark tan color. Boiling the grounds will produce a very dark liquid for aging and staining cloth and fabric, much like tea dyed colors.

-In the winter, they can be used for extra traction by sprinkling them thickly in the slick and icy places on your driveway and walk. This is better than salt or sand because the grounds will rot in the spring and wash away to feed the yard instead of poison it like salts can.