Instead of dumping your used coffee grounds into the bin, put them to work around the house. Here are 20 creative ways to use coffee grounds in your home and garden.
1. Deodorise your hands, fridge, closet or car. Put dried grounds in an old margarine tub with holes poked in the top or in a cheesecloth sachet to absorb odours. Keep grounds in a can near the sink and scrub your hands with them to get rid of fish, onion or garlic smells when cooking.
2. Repair scratches and dings in dark wood furniture. Dip a Q-tip into wet grounds and apply to the damaged area; repeated swabbing will darken the colour.
3. Remove grease and grime from stain-resistant pots, pans and tools. Place a few teaspoons of the slightly abrasive grounds on a rag, scrub the object and rinse thoroughly.
4. Contain fireplace ashes. Sprinkle damp grounds over ashes before sweeping them up to minimise the dust.
5. Make your own pin cushions. Fill a scrap of a closely woven wool with grounds and tie off with a rubber band. The oil in the grounds keeps pins from rusting.
6. Fertilise plants. Work coffee grounds into the soil of flower beds containing roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen, camellias and other acid-loving plants. Bonus: the grounds can help you grow the bluest hydrangeas—increasing the acidity of the soil helps them absorb aluminium, which creates a vibrant blue bloom.
7. Tenderise meat. Add a tablespoon of fresh coffee grounds to meat marinades. Besides tenderising, it also gives the meat a mild smokiness.
8. Dye paper, fabric and Easter eggs. A soupy mix of grounds and water will give paper an antique parchment look or colour fabric or eggs brown.
9. Repel insects. Mound grounds into a ring to create a protective border around plants, or sprinkle old grounds in places you don’t want ants, slugs or snails.
