Don't throw away your coffee grounds - learn these alternative ways to use them around your home and garden
How many of us regularly consume coffee? It is one of the most popular drinks in the world, with an unmistakable aroma and taste, and often without the energy boost of a coffee you just can't work. After preparing it, however, we usually throw away the grounds, which instead could come in handy in many different ways.
From personal care, to do-it-yourself and natural home cleaning remedies to some practical use in the garden, these organic scraps can be used in many different ways. Thanks to the grainy consistency, in fact, they are an abrasive substance useful both in cleaning and as an exfoliant for the skin, including the scalp. They also contain caffeine and antioxidants that stimulate blood flow and reduce some imperfections and signs of ageing. And several other substances inside them are useful to enrich the soil of pots and flower beds, as well as to repel insects.
Then discover many different reasons to never throw coffee grounds in the rubbish.
In house cleaning and in the kitchen
Against bad smells
Coffee grounds are able to absorb and eliminate bad smells in the kitchen, because they are rich in nitrogen, which is able to combine with coal, thus eliminating foul-smelling sulfur gases from the air. So if you need to eliminate bad smells from the fridge or freezer, you can place a bowl of coffee grounds inside them.
Or it is possible to slip the coffee grounds into old socks or stockings, closing them with a knot and then inserting them in sneakers, in the gym bag, in some drawer that contains clothes or objects that can give off bad smells, even under the seat. car or any other point where there is a need to deodorize the environment.
They are also useful when you need to get rid of the intense smell of garlic or onions from your hands after cooking: just rub the coffee grounds directly on your hands.
As a scrub to descale dirty surfaces in the kitchen
Thanks to their grainy texture, the coffee grounds are abrasive enough to allow you to remove the most difficult dirt deposits on different surfaces, and at the same time help to disinfect them a little due to their antibacterial properties. So try to use them on the walls of the sink in the kitchen or perhaps to thoroughly clean pans (without non-stick coating) or grills used in the kitchen, such as those of the ovens.
To do this you can sprinkle the surfaces with the grounds and then pass cloths or sponges, or pour them on the latter and then rub the objects to be cleaned. However, remember that on porous surfaces they can leave brown streaks.
In cleaning fireplaces and wood stoves
You know the cloud of fine ash that rises every time we have to eliminate ash and coal from the combustion chambers of fireplaces and wood-burning stoves, and which inevitably settles not only on us but also on some surface in the surroundings? You can reduce to almost eliminate this annoying phenomenon by simply sprinkling some crumbled coffee grounds on top of the ash before taking it away with shovels and brooms.
For scratches on dark wooden furniture
It is inevitable that with prolonged use on furniture a series of scratches will appear, and there are several natural methods to minimize or eliminate them. in the case of dark wood furniture you can try with coffee grounds. You simply have to create a rather thick paste by adding a little water, and then rub it with the help of a cotton swab directly on the scratch. After leaving it to act for 5 or 10 minutes, it can be removed with a cotton cloth. This remedy allows you to gently smooth the surface as well as to camouflage the scratch by covering it with a dark halo. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat the operation after a few hours, to get the desired color.
IN THE KITCHEN:
To make meat more tender
If for the preparation of some dish you need to make raw meat softer, you can use coffee grounds. You will only have to rub them on the meat two hours before cooking, and the salts and enzymes inside them will make it more tender, while the acid component will enhance the flavor.
There are those who then resort to another method, which consists in preparing a coffee with the used grounds, using it as a liquid in which to marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking.
Personal care
Creativo
A natural exfoliant
Coffee grounds contain caffeine, which has remarkable antioxidant properties that help protect the skin against damage from the sun's rays, and some studies have also shown that it can stimulate blood flow, with beneficial consequences for skin health.
In particular, then, the grainy texture of coffee grounds makes them ideal exfoliants. To remove the dead cells, then, all you have to do is mix a tablespoon of crumbled coffee grounds together with the amount of shower gel you usually use, rubbing on the body with slow and gentle movements. If, on the other hand, you would like to take advantage of this massage also to moisturize the skin, you could use coconut oil instead of the shower gel.
For the lips, on the other hand, you can mix a small amount of coffee grounds with a hint of honey, and here is your homemade scrub.
As a remedy for cellulite
Cellulite is a skin imperfection due to a degenerative disorder of the subcutaneous adipose tissue, which manifests itself on the skin with the so-called "orange peel" phenomenon, which affects most women and does not spare even men. Topical application of caffeine can help reduce fat and stimulate blood flow, so as to make cellulite less evident. Again, a massage with coconut oil and coffee grounds for 10 minutes a couple of times a week can be a good remedy.
For the hair
Sometimes the use of shampoos and other hair care products can leave residues on the scalp and on the lengths that end up weighing down the hair, making it less voluminous and less shiny. For this, it can be useful to exfoliate the scalp to eliminate dead cells, and to do this, you can occasionally massage a little crumbled coffee grounds, before proceeding with the usual hair washing.
Furthermore, the results of some studies have noted that the caffeine present in substances such as coffee grounds can promote hair growth, also thanks to the aforementioned ability to stimulate subcutaneous blood flow.
Against dark circles
The reasons that lead to the appearance of dark circles and swelling around the eyes can be many, but the anti-inflammatory capacity of coffee grounds, or rather of the caffeine contained within them, combined with that of promoting the stimulation of blood flow are also advantageous in attenuating this blemish. In addition, their antioxidant properties are also useful against the signs of aging, because they fight free radicals.
Then prepare a paste by mixing the coffee grounds with coconut oil and apply this mixture under the eyes, leaving it to act for 10 minutes before rinsing. You can use this remedy every day or even more infrequently.
In the garden
Creativo
Fertiliser
The presence of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium and chromium in coffee grounds makes them an ideal additive component for the soil we use in pots and in the garden: crumbling some on the ground around the plants, and then watering to make them penetrate the substrate, you will enrich the soil with nutrients.
In some studies, it has also been found that coffee grounds can help absorb heavy metals as well as attract worms, whose humus is very useful for the soil.
For composting
Since it's never good to go overboard with fertilizer feeds, when you don't have to use coffee grounds that way you can simply add them to your compost pile so that those minerals and nutrients in them end up in the compost you use later.
As a repellent for insects and parasites
Caffeine and also the diterpenes contained in coffee grounds can be very toxic to insects, so scattering these kitchen scraps on the ground or keeping them in bowls on windowsills or wherever needed is an ecological method to repel mosquitoes, fruit flies and beetles. The ground coffee grounds barrier is also effective against snails.
BONUS: As a natural dye
If you want to try to dye a fabric in a natural way, perhaps a t-shirt ruined by a coffee stain that you cannot remove, you can use coffee grounds.
Just dissolve them again in water, filter it when it has reached an intense color, and use the liquid as a natural dye for cotton and linen fabrics, but also synthetic rayon fibers. It is an idea to also color balls to knit or crochet, but in that case, after having dyed the material, it is good to wash it by hand with cold water and a drop of mild soap.
And if for some creative work you need to give an antique look to some sheets of paper, that liquid itself is the ideal way to dye it. In a similar way, moreover, coffee grounds are used to color Easter eggs, and there are even those who use them to darken their hair color.
