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8 Super Cool Reasons to Save Coffee Grounds (You Probably Don’t Know!)

2.6.17

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leftover coffee ground uses

 

If you are anything like me, each day you have leftover coffee grounds you toss in the trash. Now that I have Keurig, I always have a few pods a day full of coffee grounds.

I shared all my favorite coffees for Keurigs last week, and as you can see, I drink a lot of coffee. I always try to save my grounds though.

After reading this post, you will want to save all those leftover grounds too.

These super cold reasons to save coffee grounds are inspired by the chemistry that is sitting around the coffee waste.

P.S – for more cool chemist tips, follow us on instagram 

 Cool Reasons to Save Leftover Coffee Grounds

Super Cool Things You Can Do With Leftover Coffee Grounds

 

 

First, let’s talk chemicals.

What Chemicals Are Found in Coffee Grounds

After a cup of coffee is brewed, there is an abundant amount of substances left in the grounds. Most research shows a high level of carbon and a small amount of Nitrogen. This article from Cornell about composting states it can be a 20:1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen.

You might be wondering why people say it is a good source of Nitrogen then?

Well, even though it has high levels of carbon, it also has a high Nitrogen content in comparison. So, it is the perfect combination of both.

When coffee is brewed, all the hydrophobic compounds are left behind in the grounds like oils, fatty acids, and cellulose. Also left behind are lignin, phenolics, and essential oils.

This chemical analysis from Food Bioprocess Technol shows the complete compounds in spent coffee.

Coffee grounds are typically acidic to begin with and the pH will rise overtime as it decomposes. New coffee grounds are only slightly acidic.

As you can imagine, all the chemical compounds in coffee grounds makes them pretty awesome for use in the garden. Not only are coffee grounds a great source of carbon and nitrogen, they also possess disease fighting properties like certain fungi and bacteria’s.

But, that isn’t all leftover coffee can be used for. There are many cool reasons to save your leftover coffee.

Use it for plant food.

Leftover coffee grounds not only help nourish the soil, but they feed plants too. If you have Chemistry Hacks for Home & Outdoors, you can use it for that awesome slow release plant food. Or you can use it like I do to feed roses.

Either way, small amounts on top of the soil of your plants every few weeks will give the plant some added nutrients.

Use it as an anti-fungal or anti-bacterial for soil.

Like mentioned above, coffee has been tested to fight fungal and bacterial disease that can plaque plants. Again, you can just put it right onto the soil to get these benefits.

Hybrid Tea Roses from chemistrycachet.com

Repel certain insects and ants.

This has multiple uses for the soil. Not only can it feed the plants, work as an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial, but it can also deter certain insects from your flower beds like ants and slugs. They are turned off by the chemicals and acidity. Always use fresh coffee grounds that have just been used since the pH does increase over a period of time as it decomposes.

Use it to exfoliate your hands.

With essential oils, fatty acids, and cellulose leftover in coffee grounds, this makes it great to exfoliate with. To exfoliate, set out your coffee grounds to dry, then use about a tablespoon of the grounds in your hand, rub around with some warm water, then rinse.

Make a sugar scrub.

Remember this coffee chocolate scrub? I make this all the time with coffee grounds! It smells so good and is great for all over your skin.

If you want to buy one, this is my absolute favorite! Smells so wonderful and works great!

Deodorize the air.

One of my favorite things to do with leftover coffee is to absorb bad odors in the air. It works really well for areas like the refrigerator or kitchen. I keep a bowl out and dump the grounds into it. It will work for a few days soaking up odor. If I have something that really smells bad in the kitchen, I will set out multiple bowls of coffee grounds.

Plus it just smells good on it’s own : )

 

Soak up grease on pans and pots.

Coffee grounds do such a good job of absorbing materials like greasy substances. One of my favorite ways to do this is after using a baking sheet to cook chicken in the oven. All that stuck on grease and chicken fat is lingering on the pan. I drain the fat to throw away, then sprinkle coffee grounds all over the pan. Scrub and rinse! It really helps clean, scrub, and absorb.

Use it as a stain.

Not only are coffee grounds beneficial, but they also have a nice dark brown color which will stain certain surfaces.

One way we have done this is staining paper to age it. I have some regular printer paper I printed out a label on. I added some water to coffee grounds, letting it sit for a few minutes until it was nice and brown. I just dipped the paper in there and let it dry. It looked brown and aged!

Use coffee stain for wood too.

Homemade Wood Stain With Leftover Coffee Grounds Recipe:

  • 1 cup coffee grounds
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • Coffee filter

Directions:

  1. Take about 1 cup of coffee grounds and add about 1 cup of boiling water to it. Let it sit about 30-45 minutes, then strain it out with a coffee filter.
  2. On a piece of wood that you have sanded down, take a paint brush into the coffee and start brushing! I use thin even strokes over the surface.
  3. Let it soak in. Then repeat a few times.

This gives a very light brown color, but brings out all the natural lines in the wood.

Next time you make coffee, save your grounds to use for these serious cool tips! Coffee is a perfect example of how awesome chemistry is and makes your life better too : )


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Alexis

Alexis is an investigative chemist sharing her expertise in cleaning, skincare, gardening, and home hacks. She personally tests out products like the best skincare products or home products then shares not only the science behind how it works, but also her personal results. She is the mom of two living in Texas with her husband. Find her on Instagram for fantastic videos, tips, and behind the scenes.

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Filed Under: Coffee, Garden, Patio/Container Tagged With: coffee grounds, science

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Comments

  1. Jessica says

    February 6, 2017 at 6:13 am

    How awesome is this?! Didn’t know you could do so many things with it. I love the way coffee grounds smell and always hate throwing so much away.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 6, 2017 at 6:16 am

      They do smell so wonderful! I love how many cool things you can do with them. Hope you can find a new one to try πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Pamela says

    February 6, 2017 at 9:01 am

    I have a coffee scrub I use all the time but it can be SO messy! I love how many things you can do with coffee! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 6, 2017 at 10:34 am

      It’s awesome how many cool things you can reuse them for πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Emily @ Martinis & Bikinis says

    February 6, 2017 at 11:39 am

    So many great benefits! I especially like that it’s good for soil and helps to repel bugs. We need to start making use of it in our garden.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 6, 2017 at 2:24 pm

      It really does so many awesome things in the garden!

      Reply
  4. Laurie S says

    February 6, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    Happy Monday – wow, who knew you could do so much with coffee grinds! I use it as fertilizer on my roses (w egg shells) and on my azaleas. The compost bin worms love it. Never thought of it as a deodorizer – probably should put some in my oven after I “charred” the BBQ sauce on the ribs last night… oops… sending email to hubby! I love your chemistry tips!!!

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 7, 2017 at 6:02 am

      Thanks Laurie! There are so many fun uses for it! I am so glad you enjoy all our chemistry tips! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Sheri says

    February 7, 2017 at 8:19 am

    Wow never knew coffee grounds could be used in so many ways. I use them in my flower beds and roses. But never knew about scrubs or deodorizers Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 7, 2017 at 9:13 am

      There are so many fun ways to use them! I really love using it for a deodorizer in the kitchen!

      Reply
  6. Laura says

    February 7, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    This is such a helpful post! We recently switched from a Keurig to a regular coffee pot, and just the other day I thought, “I wonder if there is some way I could actually use these coffee grounds instead of throwing them away every morning!” Well now I know! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 8, 2017 at 6:01 am

      Thanks Laura!! I hope you can do some fun new things with all those coffee grounds now πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Natalie says

    February 10, 2017 at 2:08 am

    I haven’t heard some of these! Thanks for sharing these!

    Natalie

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      February 10, 2017 at 6:09 am

      Thanks Natalie!

      Reply
  8. Randy says

    March 27, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    All my coffee grounds go into my compost. The finished compost goes into my garden beds and provides nutrients and tilth. My soil started out very alkaline, but over the years with coffee grounds and other materials, I have perfect pH and my vegetables thrive.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      March 28, 2017 at 7:11 am

      Coffee grounds have such an amazing chemistry! They are great for compost! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  9. Margie Smith says

    July 22, 2022 at 12:33 am

    I noticed my instant coffee mugs did not stain the cup. But the tea bag mugs were always stained. I have brown hair. Started to get some white hairs scattered in. Did not want to dye it but it started to look dingy. I soaked a tea bag for an hour. After washing my hair, my final rinse was with the tea. After a few times, I don’t notice grey hairs. I only left it in perhaps 30 seconds before rinsing it out.
    My husband is pleased. He did not want me dying my hair.
    I also use tea bags on my eyes. Great for styes, blood shot eyes, pinkeye, even sun burned eye. I even used it on cats & dogs. Cheaper & much faster than going to the vet.

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      July 23, 2022 at 3:49 pm

      Tea bags are great and have so many uses! We have a post on using leftover tea bags. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply

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