5 Things You Can Do With Used Coffee Grounds

If you’re a big coffee drinker (at home) then you have an amazing resource at your disposal: coffee grounds! It’s fascinating what you can do with this ‘waste’ product. Most often my used coffee grounds would be added to our compost pile. I sometimes sprinkle it directly into the soil around plants as a pest repellent. And now, it is a feature ingredient for a series of coffee-based masks and scrubs for my skin and hair that I absolutely love to make and use.

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Utilise coffee in a compost bin

Add used coffee grounds to your compost pile. It has a good source of nitrogen, which is an important building block of proteins, nucleic acids and other constituents; essential for all forms of life. Used coffee also attracts worms and other micro-organisms beneficial for healthy soil.

Coffee as a pest repellent for plants

Sprinkle your used coffee grounds around your potted plants or garden to prevent pests like ants and snails destructing your plants. It is said that the caffeine in the coffee grounds negatively affects these pests and so they avoid soil where the coffee grounds are found. Some people also use coffee grounds as a cat repellent to prevent them using flowers and veggie beds as their litter box!

Read more on how to use used coffee for your compost and garden here.

Coffee as a natural abrasive for cleaning

Sprinkle some used coffee grounds on the kitchen surface or onto the cloth and use to remove any ‘muck’ stuck on surfaces and tiles. Be careful not to get the grinds into any tiny cracks or areas where it could get stuck and leave stains.

Coffee for Skin & Hair

Exfoliate using used coffee grounds. Since it does not dissolve in water, it’s a perfect and natural way to scrub away dead skin cells. Its anti-microbial properties also help to keep the skin clean and protected from any germs. Use your coffee grounds to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Massaging coffee grounds into the skin in a circular motion enhances the effect it has on cellulite – the movement itself helps to increase circulation and improve blood flow, smoothening the skin whilst preparing it to receive nutrients from the other ingredients.

Coffee is also great for the hair, helping to balance the PH levels on the scalp. Scrub some coffee grounds onto the scalp to remove any dead skin cells around the hair shaft. This will stimulate healthy hair growth.

Try out these 5 recipes for DIY skin and hair care.

Coffee Handmade Candles

You clearly love the smell of coffee if you have enough coffee grounds at home! Upcycle your coffee grounds into a candle to have this lasting coffee scent at home. Check out this how to make a coffee candle; you will need a paper cup – so next time you come across a paper cup at a cafe take it home with you! Remember to dispose of the paper cup responsibly – preferably seek biodegradable paper cups that are not lined with petroleum-based plastic linings. If they are compostable – shred it and add it to your compost pile.

Are these enough reasons to keep drinking, I mean, to make use of your coffee grounds?! Begin by storing them properly if you don’t intend on using them immediately and this natural and recycled ingredient could become a hero in your home!