Coffee is one of the simple pleasures in life. I love it so much I don't even know how to explain it without making myself sound like someone you'd warn your children about. I will talk about coffee, drink coffee, go to bed early just so I can wake up and drink coffee.
Sometimes I even have a little shot of coffee before I go to bed to tide me over before I can have more coffee. I am suspicious of people who do not love coffee as much as I do. I'm REALLY suspicious of tea drinkers. Why stop at tea? Why not be one of those weirdos who drinks hot water with lemon?
So it comes as no surprise that this house produces a lot of coffee grounds. I usually throw them in the compost bin, occasionally I actually (gasp) throw them in the garbage like a regular person and other times I just roll around in them. A few months ago I realized people react weirdly if you smell of pure coffee so I thought I'd try to figure out a few other things I could do with my spent grounds.
From me to you .... 5 uses for coffee grounds.
1. Make a pincushion! (I'm getting the stupid/weird/least useful tip out of the way first)
Apparently dried, used coffee grounds make the perfect pincushion filling because they prevent the pins from getting rusty. I’ve never had a problem with rusty pins, but if you have then I’ve just saved the day for you. And that is why I chose to include this weird little tip.
2. Use it in the fridge to absorb smells instead of using baking soda.
This really and truly works. I’ve tried it and was amazed. Just fill a bowl with old coffee grounds and set it in the refrigerator like you would a box or bowl of baking soda. The other added bonus is when need baking soda it'll be in the cupboard not sitting in the fridge absorbing 2 years worth of smells. This in turn means you won't have to stare at the smell filled bowl of baking soda and contemplate whether you could get away with using it in your cookies.
3. Turn pink hydrangeas blue.
Boost the blue in your hydrangeas by amending the soil with coffee grounds. A lot of sites throw this tip around. What they don't tell you is you need to add a LOT of coffee grounds to turn the soil acidic enough to grow blue hydrangeas. So if that's what you want, every time you make coffee, put your grounds on the hydrangea. Crushed egg shells will help too. But if you really want to change the colour of your hydrangeas use aluminum sulphate like I show you here.
4. Clean your pots and pans.
Out of abrasive scrubbing pads? Coffee grounds in the pan will scrub off most messes.
5. Exfoliate your skin.
This is easily my favourite coffee grounds use and I use it all the time. Mix up some coffee grounds with olive oil until it’s like a paste. Keep it near the sink to clean up after gardening, painting or anything else that gets your hands a mess. It’s also reportedly a great face mask. I've never tried it but I don’t doubt it for a second. The coffee grounds exfoliate your skin while the olive oil leaves your hands feeling soft and moisturized. I’ve always thought salt scrubs were pointless because salt extracts moisture which is the exact opposite of what you want to do for your skin. Coffee grounds also have the added bonus of making your hands smell like coffee.
But not your whole body. That's just weird. Apparently.
Susannah
We save our grounds in a one gal. bucket and about 3 or 4 times a year I spread them under my blueberry bushes. A grower friend gave me this tip. My blueberry bushes are happy!
Mike
Agree with your statements about coffee drinkers. Non-coffee drinkers definitely have a problem. And if visiting a someone who is not a coffee drinker, and they offer you a cup, never, no never, drink it. Whatever it is, it will most definitely NOT be coffee. That's why when they bring it out, it will come with a gallon of creamer and as much sugar. (Since they don't drink it, they always buy the "bargin" brand, and they've had it for about 4 years. Up in the cabinet. Behind the brown sugar) Enjoyed the post!
Erin
So true! I've been offered instant coffee and (gasp!) a coffee "teabag" so I can brew my own cup.
These homes are the ones where I always ask for tea.
Karen
LOL. That is VERY true. I was actually served instant coffee recently by one of them. But if was coffeeish. So I drank it. ~ karen!
Andrea
When I visit my best friend who is not a coffee drinker, we always go to Starbucks the night before and get a cup of coffee and put it in the fridge so I can have coffee! (I was unpacking a couple of boxes from storage the other day and had unearthed my espresso machine and my giant party pot. I looked at my kitchen that now had 5 coffee pots in play n sight and two more in a cabinet and thought - I am one weird-ass Mormon.)
jainegayer
Always try to start the day with a pot of french press Starbucks House blend. I'm really good for nothing until I have my coffee, then the grounds go in my compost bin. I'm actually getting a little nervous right now because I just remembered I needed to stop yesterday and pick up a bag in case I didn't have enough for this morning's coffee fix. S#/?
Sally
I have spied that Jura Una in your kitchen and am incredibly jealous! My current favourite roast, other than a small local place that roasts beans, is the Organica stuff you can get at costco. I always end up coming back to it!
Karen
I love my coffee maker with all of my heart. As a second best my vote is for a small stovetop percolator. ~ karen!
Naomi
Yes! I just found a very nice Coletti Bozeman 12-cup stovetop percolator at my local Goodwill store. My first batch of coffee in that pot was indescribably delicious. 12 cups is a bit much for my single self, so I ended up freezing some of it in ice cube trays to add to my iced coffee which I also love, and also just refrigerated some to warm up later. BTW, I've just discovered your site and am loving it so much; you keep me in stitches, but I also appreciate your style of doing "stuff" which all makes very good sense.
Tim
Your local purveyor of all things bath and body just made a brand new coffee scrub this past week. Coincidence? Must be something in the water (Coffee perhaps!).
Karen
Ha! That'd be Noelle from Art of Doing Stuff advertiser Ellenoire Tim is referring to everyone. :) ~ karen!
Ann
Love my one and only large cup of coffee in the morning first thing. But alas, I am quite sensitive to caffeine and can only have that one cup. And no decaf for me, as I don't care for the process they use to make it. My fav coffee right now is the New Orleans style, half coffee, half chicory. Allows me to have a bigger cup and still keep the jitters away.
I make my coffee with the cold brew method. And then heat up my one big cup each morning. Then the grounds go right out and under my baby evergreens. The slow speed at which they break down and acidify the soil works out perfectly.
I would love to try the coffee/olive oil scrub. But alas, since I produce such little quantities of grounds I can't. But sugar and olive oil work quite well and doesn't pull moisture out of the skin the way salt does.
Kathy
I needed to look up cold brew and found this site, and am now eager to try it. https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/how-make-cold-brew-coffee
Jacquie
I hate the smell and taste of both coffee and tea - my British mum nearly disowned me when I gave tea up aged 6. Struggled on with one cup of coffee a week whilst watching the Sunday afternoon film with my mum but that went when I was about 9. Now I drink hot ribena as my hot drink but wouldn't dream of drinking it cold! I'm such a freak when I think about it. But I can be trusted I assure you even though I hate coffee with a passion.
IRS
*in best Monty Python voice* "She's a witch! Burn her!"
Karen
Hmmmm. I'm not convinced but I'll consider your plea. ~ karen!
Alexandra
I've never been a big coffee drinker, but I did have a basic espresso maker for years (now upgraded to one of those fancy pants big ass coffee machines that do it all, thanks to my best friend who herself has upgraded to a better model!).
I've always used coffee grounds to catch lingering smells in the fridge, and it works great. I also used it to fertilized my potted rose, which was absolutely thriving on it until it froze to death a few years ago. :(
My favourite use by far for used coffee grounds is for exfoliating my whole body. I like mixing it with orange-scented shower gel, and I end up smelling like an Italian bakery. The coffee grounds are the BEST SCRUB EVER. They are effective, yet gentle, and I'm hoping they won't kill marine animals like the little plastic bits do.
But you have to be really really diligent when rinsing off, because the grounds like to hide in nooks and crannies where you might not enjoy them hiding, unless you are in an intimate relationship with a true coffee lover, if you catch my drift.
Alice
"(T)he grounds like to hide in nooks and crannies where you might not enjoy them hiding, unless you are in an intimate relationship with a true coffee lover." LOL: you made me spew coffee!
ronda
hilarious!
Karen
They also contain nitrogen so put some in the bottom of your paper pots for seedlings. I add some warm water to the used grounds and soak white paper to make aged looking paper. Good for Halloween signs and invitations. And fake Victorian love letters. When you have to clean fireplace ashes, first add damp grounds so the dust is less.
SusanR
I opened a 5 pound bag of French Roast from Costco last week and tossed the bag into the recycling bin. The next morning the kitchen smelled wonderful. So, I took some of the beans and put them into each of my house plant pots. Wow! Better than chemical air fresheners.
Top that for weird!
I have two coffee makers, two espresso machines, two stove top espresso makers, a French press and a Chemex coffee pot. I have yet to find an electric coffee pot that makes decent coffee. Recommendations, anyone? It has to be STRONG.
My favorite coffees are Peet's and Whiting's. Do you have Peet's in Canada?
Heather
Susan you need to try an Aeropress next.
Kim from Milwaukee
Now I'm wondering if used coffee grounds would work in litter boxes....thanks for the idea SusanR!
Tina Jeffrey
I'm from Oregon, living in MA. The only coffee I drink is Thundermuck, from Columbia River Coffee Roasters. https://thundermuck.com/ Visiting friends bring me bags and I'll even order it. Love it!
trish
O.K. I feel better having read your "5 uses for coffee" post because I too will think of my morning coffee moment as I hit the hay. It is so important to me to start my morning engines running smoothly...especially after reading a study confirming caffeine to be beneficial before a workout. LOVE that !
I may try #2 and #5 but even though I have experienced rusty pins I doubt I would make a coffee pin cushion.
Thanks for making coffee a priority !
Berry
Let me second the soap suggestion. Grounds make a lovely exfoliating soap.
You can also sniff coffee grounds in between tasting sessions of alcohol or cheeses to reset your taste buds and nose a bit.
Carol
or you could just sniff coffee grounds in between tasting sessions of alcohol...
Debbie
A makeup/perfume store chain leaves out small bowls of coffee beans to sniff to clear the senses between smelling perfumes. It works.
Cynthia Jones
We put a couple of tablespoons in the ashtray of our car, before we use it. so we can smell coffee all day.
Barbara Balkin
Great ideas! I'm curious about #2. I'm switching out my baking soda tomorrow. I hate having to have two boxes of it--one for fridge and one for baking. I'm just not sure you're being serious though. ;) Oh, oh ( see me raising my hand annoyingly?). I have one more to add: painting with extra coffee. Only EXTRA though--don't waste it! We did this a couple weeks ago in an art class I teach--should have seen the looks on their faces.
Sonja Donnelly
How did you paint with coffee? Did you add it to the paint for texture? Or did you use it like crushed charcoal?
Barbara Balkin
We use the already made coffee instead of watercolor. It’s a great lesson in ‘values’. I brought a variety of empty mugs to class and they used those for reference to paint their monochromatic ‘watercolor’. My site has lots more on my blog, http://www.myartkin.com
Hazel
I'm drinking *ahem* hot water with lemon and ginger as I read this, but only to stop myself drinking so much coffee in the morning it was making me twitchy...
I water my blueberries with the dregs of my coffee pots to try to keep the soil acidic (all my hydrangeas are white) and Cindy Crawford was supposed to use coffee grounds to exfoliate her whole body- it's alleged to help reduce cellulite. No idea if it does.
cheryl seals
HAHAHA exfoliate your whole body with coffee grounds for cellulite !!! I think i shall embrace my cellulite rather then plug the drain with coffee grounds my long hair is enough of a problem as it is...SO Here we all rejoice our cellulitus !!
Tina Jeffrey
I always have a dab of coffee left in the morning, I'll add it to my hydrangea tips!
brenda
I just found out about the one where you can wash your face with it and I even brought a bit upstairs last night to do that for the first time but then I forgot to so it's still up there ... for tonight (I now need to bring up some olive oil it looks like) …
I knew about the smell thing because I once got a really really inexpensive art studio (that used to be part of the experimental animal farms in Guelph - that smelled like horse poop) and my friend told me no problem - once someone died in an apartment his Mom owned and she got coffee and it took the smell away … he told me to just buy gallons of coffee. I built a subfloor and put all the coffee between the 2x4's to absorb smelly-poos forever and screwed on the plywood and it worked! I was hoping it would smell like coffee but it kind of just smelled like nothing … didn't complain.
Beth
I make coffee soap. And, yes, I use the soap on my entire body. So, there.
It actually smells really good, and gets your hands soft and clean.
cheryl seals
BETH, Cool i can see where they soap an coffee grounds would be great for a gardener..Alas my soap making skills are mute ! Decided to stop trying to make any...Do you share or sell it ??? hint hint
Beth
add me on facebook; Beth Grunke. I'll be getting back into business soon. (had a stroke recently so was out of commission).
Tina Jeffrey
Thanks, I'll add you!
Muff
Tea drinker exclusively, but I understand the allure of coffee (I have strong bitter receptors and can't handle either beer or coffee, sadly) and wish that it tasted like it smells.
My husband, however, is a coffee drinker - my favourite use of coffee grounds is to rid my house of ants - sprinkle some used coffee grounds at the place where the ants enter the house (or wherever you see them emerging from) and they will take the grounds home to the ant hill and OD on caffeine. Doesn't harm your pets or babies and it makes the house smell nice. I'm going to try your tip for freshening the fridge - I wonder if it affects the milk?
Debbie
Muff - Wow, I think you just explained why I can only drink mild coffee and abhor beer! I love tea and have an wall of tea in the kitchen closet - literally. The back of the door is a floor to ceiling wire rack with teas from all over the world (my husband traveled extensively for work).
Thank you - and let me know if the coffee in the fridge make the fridge smell like coffee.
Muff
Debbie - once I realized it was an issue of bitter receptors I felt much better about not drinking coffee. I am a very boring tea drinker - my preferred tea is a plain old orange pekoe - very dull. I'll let you know about the coffee as deodorizer thing.
Debbie
Muff, I would have a cup of tea with you anytime!
Muff
tried the coffee in the fridge trick this morning - so far, so good - it just smells fresh which is what we are looking for here. The milk in the uncovered milk jug didn't pick up any flavour.
Debbie
Thank you! I may just try this.
cheryl seals
COOL, never heard of the ant thing will be trying this with the coffee grounds ! An as far as making your milk taste like coffee i think that's probably better then having curds in it an Karen drinking it, see one of her posts for that issue ! hehe I also read that coffee grounds an egg shells were good for your tomato plants in the garden....
Robin C.
Great post! I agree with you about not quite trusting a non-coffee drinker! Love the tips too - who knew about amending soil and using to exfoliate?!
maggie van sickle
I guess I am a wierdo cause I like coffee especially a Timmies Latte (large please), Tea but only herbal tea and hot water and lemon. Yum. Just sayin but I agree on coffee ground uses although I have never used them for much except the trash. Maybe my house plants could use a shot of Java grounds.
Della
Coffee is also a great accelerator for new plants that you're trying to get started.the caffeine gives them energy just as much as it does us humans...=)