As a Beans Coffee Club member, chances are you love coffee and therefore drink a lot of coffee. A question that we are often asked is what can I do with the grounds that left behind after I have enjoyed my brew?
There are several great ways to use used coffee ground, so next time your knock box is full, why not reuse this amazing stuff in one of these 7 creative ways.
1. Help your garden grow
Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen (which worms love!), calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and chromium, making them a great fertilizer for your garden.
Coffee loving (or acid-loving) plants like azaleas, hydrangeas, blueberries, and lilies will thrive from the coffee, as will root crops, like radishes and carrots. Just be careful not to add grounds to areas where you’re growing plants that could be damaged by a boost in soil acidity, like tomatoes.
All that you need to do is spread them around your garden or rake them into the soil between seasons. Once this has been completed all that is left to do is relax with a cup of coffee!
2. Natural pest and insect repellent
Using coffee grounds as a pest and insect repellent is natural, effective and inexpensive.
In your garden scatter coffee grounds in areas to create a barrier for slugs, snails and even ants as they don’t like the acidity compounds of coffee.
If you need to repel mosquitos and other flying bugs then place coffee grounds in bowls nearby or sprinkle them around outdoor seating areas.
Coffee can even scare fleas off your pet! Create a coffee ground wash. Just make sure you do this outside – you don’t want fleas jumping all around your house in a frenzy!
3. A Natural Cleaner
The abrasive texture of coffee grounds makes them ideal for scrubbing hard-to-clean kitchen items such as your sink, cookware, utensils or your grill.
All that you need to do is sprinkle the grounds onto your kitchen item and scrub as usual to scrap away any build up or hard to remove food.
Make sure you rinse thoroughly afterward and avoid using coffee grounds to clean any porous material, as they can cause brown stains.
4. Natural skin exfoliation and cellulite solution
Effectively exfoliate your skin with a paste made from (3tbsp) coarse coffee grounds and (1tbsp) some coconut oil. While you rub this amazing paste over your skin you can will also increase blood flow, which aids in overall skin health.
There are also claims that this amazing paste (if use for 10 minutes twice weekly) can help to break down fat and increase blood flow, which can decrease the appearance of cellulite.
5. Stimulate Hair Growth
We have all seen the adverts for the caffeine shampoos; well there’s truth in their claims, as test-tube studies have found that caffeine does stimulate human hair growth
As with skin exfoliation, exfoliating your scalp with coffee grounds to help remove the build-up and dead skin cells yields positive results as the caffeine increases blood flow and therefore accelerates hair growth.
All that you need to do is massage a handful of coffee grounds into your scalp before you shampoo. Then wash your hair and rinse as normal.
6. Repair Scratched Furniture
If your wooden furniture is scuffed or scratched, then reached for the used coffee grounds, mix them with some water to make a thick paste and rub the paste into the scratch. After 10 minutes, simply wipe away the paste with a cotton rag to reveal the improved wood as the coffee will have buffed out the scratches and stained.
If the scratch is still too light then dab it further with some coffee, until the desired colour is achieved; waiting a few hours between applications.
7 – Wake up and smell the coffee
If you love the smell of coffee then why not make some candles with your coffee ground!?
As the candles burn down, the grounds become exposed to the heat and the smell of coffee fills the air; and what’s some studies suggest that just smelling coffee may help reduce stress, increase positive thoughts, and even increase problem-solving abilities! What is not to love?
Why not up-cycle an old coffee mug to make your candle in!
