The Use of Used Coffee Grounds

Don’t throw away the used coffee grounds. Use them instead! Most plants will love them, but they also help eliminate odors and can be used in beauty care. Here is a guide about how spent coffee grounds can benefit you. 

The numbers show that we consume more coffee than ever. Yet, only a few recycle their coffee in any form. Recycling coffee capsules, in particular, is challenging for people – since they are a convenience product, most just brew their morning cup of coffee and toss the capsule in the trash.

However, coffee grounds can be recycled 

• around the house, 
• in the garden, 
• and even in the beauty industry. 

In this article, you can learn everything about coffee grounds and their uses – and we also provide answers to what to do if your drain gets clogged due to coffee grounds.

Using coffee grounds around the house

It’s easy to collect damp coffee grounds from your coffee machine, V60, or after brewing in a French press – so why not? Until now, you probably haven’t been aware of all the useful applications of coffee grounds, but you will be now…

Spent coffee grounds for household cleaning

Coffee grounds can primarily serve as a scrubbing agent around the house. Mixing a bit of coffee grounds with lukewarm water creates an excellent stain remover that can eliminate dirt from your clothes. But it’s not just your clothes; for example, you can also use coffee grounds to clean your oven.

Furthermore, if you place damp coffee grounds in the fireplace, they can bind to the ashes and act as a dust collector.

However, the most common use of coffee grounds is for plant care, especially for flowers: feel free to add them to the soil of indoor and outdoor plants!

Spent coffee grounds in the garden

Why are coffee grounds useful in the garden? Some plants love and thrive more abundantly and quickly with it, while it may not benefit other flowers. But coffee grounds can be used to provide better quality soil for your flowers and keep pests away from them.

Coffee grounds nitrogen content: a high-quality acidic soil 

Coffee ground compost is rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, making it an excellent fertilizer. Many plants require acidic soil, and coffee grounds play an important role in acidifying the soil.

Do used coffee grounds have caffeine?

I don’t recommend using fresh coffee as fertilizer since it is too acidic for the flowers. Brew it, dissipate the caffeine and acids, and give the plants the coffee grounds! So, used coffee grounds don’t contain caffeine.

Dried grounds in the garden: Which plants like coffee grounds?

Coffee grounds for flowers! As I mentioned, coffee positively affects humans:

• it stimulates us, 
• boosts metabolism, 
• and provides physical 
• and mental benefits due to various vitamins. 

The same goes for flowers: a bit of coffee grounds in the potting soil, and the flower starts growing (or healing).

It’s not just the nutrients in the grounds but also their properties that can help enhance the soil. They retain moisture well, so plants that require constant water appreciate them.

They can also be helpful for germinating seeds, as young sprouts are typically watered with mist, which would evaporate more quickly from the soil without coffee grounds.

Which plant likes coffee grounds?

Soil acidification is good – but only if the plant likes it. Is it practical for fertilizing thuja or raspberry? Is coffee grounds good for tomatoes? We will tell you what to use it for – and what not to.

They like it:

• forget-me-not
• hibiscus
• iris
• hydrangea
• periwinkle
• caladium
• fern
• lawn
• And generally speaking, evergreens.

They don’t like it:

• lavender
• agave
• rosemary
• tomato
• cactus

Coffee grounds against cats, ants, snails

If you aim to drive away stray garden cats, then using coffee grounds can create an excellent cat repellent – because cats do not like the smell of coffee. Perhaps that’s why so many videos of them knocking over cups to the detriment of laptops.

In the garden (and in the household), it can also be used against ants. It’s great that the effects of coffee grounds can also be enjoyed against various pests and insects. There are two theories about the effect of grounds on ants:

• either due to its strong smell, they lose their “tracks” and can’t find food
• or precisely because of their odor-neutralizing effect, they become ineffective

One thing is certain: if you experience a spring ant invasion, it’s worth using coffee grounds – and it can also serve well against snails.

It’s easy to neutralize odors with waste coffee grounds

As we mentioned before, coffee is an excellent odor-neutralizer. This property can come in handy both outdoors and indoors. It can be used in the garden against cat or dog urine smells, and indoors, it can eliminate musty odors. Moreover, you can even deodorize your shoes with it.

When I’m filtering coffee, sometimes I leave the V60 and the grounds on the kitchen counter for a while – but the trash also smells less since it’s filled with coffee.

It’s no coincidence that coffee is placed on shelves in drugstores and perfumeries for odor neutralization.

Using leftover coffee grounds in the beauty industry

The best way to utilize coffee grounds is when it benefits our beauty. Grounds have positive effects on hair, face, and skin.

Brewed coffee grounds for hair

Substances found in coffee assist in hair growth and make it more voluminous. Many shampoos advertise as containing caffeine – which is naturally present in coffee.

Cleaning the scalp with coffee grounds is easy, but rinse your hair thoroughly with water afterward.

Spent coffee grounds for the skin

Coffee grounds make an excellent skin exfoliator. Its coarseness easily removes dead skin cells, so it might be worth massaging yourself with coffee grounds (adding a little oil).

It’s also effective against cellulite, as it dilates blood vessels, thereby promoting blood circulation and nutrient supply to the body.

Waste coffee grounds for the face

It’s important not to use coffee grounds directly as a skin exfoliator for your face – instead, add them to your usual homemade facial mask. This way, their effects will be gentler.

Coffee residue in the drain: How to get rid of it?

It’s often said that coffee grounds can help clean drains – however, based on our experience and experts’ opinions, this is not true.

Cleaning the drain after coffee grounds is, therefore, inevitable – it does more harm than good, as it can easily accumulate on the sides of pipes and contribute to blockages.