What can I do with Old Coffee Grounds?

You don’t have to be a recycling nut to love the versatility of old coffee grounds. These little wonders of nature are ripe with functionality and they smell great too. Here are a few ways you might want to put them to use around your house.

Start off your day with yesterday’s coffee grounds. When the old coffee grounds are rubbed through wet hair and rinsed thoroughly they give your hair shine and softness. If you’re a brunette they will bring out your natural highlights. Once you’ve done your hair, you can take a few coffee grounds and gently rub them on your face and rinse for a peppy exfoliation treatment.

Fight stinky freezer funk by mixing old grounds with a split and cleaned vanilla bean or a few drops of vanilla extract. Put that mixture into an open container and place it close to the back of your freezer. You can also keep some handy near the sink. When you’re cleaning up after cutting onions or garlic rub your hands with old coffee grounds to remove strong odors. Coffee grounds act as an abrasive cleaner when applied directly to the surface and rubbing until clean. They can stain some surfaces, so be careful.

Rubbing coffee grounds through your pet’s fur, after bathing, can help to repel fleas. The word is they help repel ants too. Try making a circle of old coffee grounds around an ant hill. You can also mix in some old coffee grounds to your soil before adding bait worms to keep them kicking a little longer.

Gardeners have always loved old coffee grounds for the nutrients they bring to garden and potted plants. You can mix dry old coffee grounds with garden soil or top soil before putting your seeds into the ground or in your planters. This acts like the pick-me-up we all get from coffee, especially if the plants thrive in acidic soil like hydrangeas. Once you see the first little seedlings start to push their way through, add more coffee grounds to the perimeter of your garden. Rumor has it they will repel snails and slugs.

Finally, remember that old coffee grounds are great for compost heaps and the environment. But when there are so many great uses for them who would want to toss them into the compost heap? Go on and add some mojo to your hair, keep your freezer smelling great, treat your hydrangeas to a little java, and give Fido a little relief.