Zane Todd
We are all more or less familiar with coffee beans’ hundreds of nutritional and health benefits. But what about the stale or leftover coffee grounds?
You may not know that, but the coffee grounds you throw away every morning may have a second life. Whether you buy premium coffee beans or roasted coffee blends, you can maximise your coffee budget and help the environment. Your coffee grounds have a lot to help with short-term changes from textures to nutrient loads.
Before you toss the old coffee beans out, check out this list of all the creative leftover coffee bean hacks you can try at home and find excellent results!
1. Daily Skin Exfoliation Scrub
Using coffee as part of your daily skincare routine is a great way to use up the beans left on the bottom of the coffee jar at the end of the month. So be creative and try your beauty hack; you will be amazed! Coffee is a natural and gentle abrasive with excellent exfoliating properties. And old Coffee Grounds is an amazing facial scrub that gently removes dead skin cells and reveals the fresh, healthy skin underneath.
So you can follow this simple recipe for making coffee exfoliation mix at home. You will only need 4 cups of coconut, olive, or a preferred oil, 6 cups of cold ground coffee and a pair of drop oil or a preferred essential oil. Combine all ingredients well, store them in the airtight container at room temperature or in refrigerators, gently use in different parts of your skin and retain them for several weeks.
2. Kitchen and Stained Surface Cleaning Solution
Alternatively, coffee beans’ slightly abrasive texture and the acidic old substrate are also ideal for cleaning scrubs!. And that’s why the grainy texture of coffee grounds is perfect for scrapping off kitchen utensil stains that are difficult to clean. You can use them to scrape the dishes clean and remove the cake from the pan or frying pan. First, you have to sprinkle the powdered coffee beans directly on your pan or pan and scrub it as usual. After that, rinse well and add a small amount of soap or water to the mix, and the countertop will look brand new! You can also use the rest of the ground coffee to pour the ground coffee into the sink, followed by running liquid soap and boiling water to clean the kitchen sink in one go.
3. Reduced Kitchen and Garbage Odour
When it comes to the kitchen, odours are also a big concern. Both kitchens and refrigerators are sources of bacteria and uncontrollable, unpleasant smells of perishable goods without regular maintenance. You can open the fridge and be greeted by a barrage of unpleasant odours, but nothing is worse than not knowing where exactly it came from! Coffee absorbs these odours well and is easy to use to keep the refrigerator fresh.
To permanently ban those odours, you can put coffee grounds or a few beans in a mug in the fridge. Also, placing a few teaspoons of coffee on the bottom of the trash before putting it in the garbage can reduce the smell of the garbage and keep the fresh kitchen for a longer time.
4. Insects and Pest Repellent
It’s very annoying for mosquitoes and other insects to ruin the experience if you enjoy being outside. You will be amused to know that leftover coffee grounds are a natural pest repellent as well!
Most insects are very susceptible to smell. Coffee grounds are so strong that they are great for fighting off these pests. Coffee grounds are even strongest when burned, so if you want to pest-proof your house and yards, you can significantly benefit from this.
Place a bowl of coffee grounds around the picnic area to keep pests away. If you have an outdoor space at home, sprinkle coffee grounds frequently. It repels mosquitoes and other insects so you and your family can relax.
5. Removed Scratches on Furniture
Do you have furniture with scratches, dents or gauges ruining the overall appearance? Scratches are a natural part of wooden furniture. You may have it repaired by a professional furniture repairer. But why do so when you have a quick and cost-free home remedy?
You can remove scratches from wooden furniture with just a few old coffee grounds! You can apply used coffee grounds with a cotton swab for easy furniture scratch removal. Alternatively, you can mix used coffee grounds, 1/4 cup of warm water, and 1/4 cup of vinegar to create a helpful stain that naturally repairs scratches. Shake the mixture and soak for at least 1 hour before use. Leave the coffee grounds for 10 minutes and finally remove with a clean cotton cloth. This cheap hack should help make your furniture look brand new again!
6. Leftover Grounds as Fertilizer
Coffee is very acidic, and some studies claim that ground coffee affects the soil’s acidity. By sprinkling coffee grounds on your garden topsoil, coffee is rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, and potassium. Some plants, such as roses, grow on more acidic soils. Therefore, used coffee grounds also help attract earthworms by allowing microorganisms beneficial for plant growth. Many people find that coffee powder lowers (or increases acidity) the pH of the soil. This is suitable for acid-fed plants. However, this only applies to unwashed coffee grounds. When rinsing used coffee grounds, they have an almost neutral pH of 6.5 and do not affect the soil’s acidity. To use coffee grounds as fertilizer, just incorporate the coffee grounds into the soil around the plant.
7. Natural Fabric dying Agent
If you’ve ever spilled coffee on a cloth, you know how powerful these stains can be. With coffee, you can use this power to dye your fabrics and clothes naturally! You can dye natural fibres in beautiful shades of brown and brown, and you probably have everything you need at home. This experimental process is ideal for dyeing coffee-dyed clothing or creating custom fabrics for quilts, embroidery and cross-stitch.
Some materials are more acceptable to dyes than others, and what you do from the beginning affects the final product. For example, 100% wool may have a better colour outcome than cotton and can lose some of its colours over time. Starting with a white cloth will result in a more pure tan or brown, but a coloured fabric will add some colour or mud to the final colour. There’s nothing wrong with these things, but it’s a good idea to consider when planning your project. People can also dye their hair with coffee grounds, but they may change colour significantly or not last long.
Last but not the least
Next time you brew yourself a cup of coffee, consider repurposing the grounds using one of the ideas in this article. And for an outstanding coffee brewing, drinking and repurposing experience through and through, don’t forget to purchase high-quality premium coffee roasters!
