Uses for Used Coffee Grounds

Don't throw away your used coffee grounds. Try these ideas instead to get more uses out of your grounds.

In the spirit of making the most of what you have, here are some ideas for getting more use out of your used coffee grounds.

Garden

Used coffee grounds are particularly good for plants that love acidic soil. They can improve soil texture and drainage and contain nitrogen as well as trace amounts of various other elements. Used coffee grounds are better than unused coffee grounds for your garden as unused grounds are more acidic and contain much of the caffeine.

·        Soil Booster – Mix used coffee grounds in with your top soil or sprinkle directly on top of the soil around the plants. This is especially good for acid-loving plants, such as blueberries and hydrangeas. Be cautious with plants that do not love acidic soil.

·        Compost Pile – Coffee grounds can be added to your compost pile.

·        Pest Deterrent – Coffee grounds are said to help deter certain pests such as slugs, mosquitos, fleas, and wasps. Sprinkling on top of the soil is the best way to use it to deter pests.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

We couldn’t find the recipe we originally used when we first tried this, but there were many things we would do differently anyway, so we searched for a couple of other options. We used vodka with the batch we made, but we would definitely try this with rum, as in the All Recipes option. Just a note: we dried the coffee grounds at a very low temperature in the oven before using in order to not dilute the recipe.

·        Cocktail Green - Coffee Liqueur

·        All Recipes - Coffee Grounds Liqueur

Mosquito Repellant

Dried coffee grounds can be used to repel mosquitos. Light a pile of dried coffee grounds in a fire safe dish. The smoke from the smoldering grounds helps to deter mosquitos.

Coffee Logs

Turn your used coffee grounds into logs to burn in your fireplace or campfire. These reportedly burn hotter than traditional dried wood. Some instructions use coffee grounds, wax, and molasses. Others use sawdust and coffee grounds or shredded paper and coffee grounds and create bricks by mixing them together with water, pressing out the water, and drying them thoroughly. The process for the latter seems a bit more involved than the recipe that uses wax, but it is good to have multiple options. We searched for instructions for several options and are posting them below:

·        Coffee and Sawdust Logs – YouTube This is a great video of how one YouTuber makes logs from sawdust, wood dust, coffee grounds, and water. The video is under 15 minutes and gives great detail.

·        Coffee, Sawdust, and Paper Logs – YouTube This video is super short, but gives you the basic idea of how to make the logs.

·        Coffee and Wax Logs This site shows you how to make a coffee log out of used coffee grounds, wax, and molasses.

·        Coffee and Wax or Cooking Grease Logs This page gives instructions similar to the one above, but gives an extra option for using used cooking grease in place of the wax.

·        Coffee and Egg Carton Mini Logs  This article gives you instructions for making mini coffee logs without wax using paper egg cartons.

Coffee Soap

You can use used coffee grounds in your next batch of homemade soap to add exfoliating properties to your bar. We found this recipe that looks promising. We can’t wait to try it!

Hearts Content Farmhouse Coffee Soap Recipe

Have fun experimenting with different ways to get more use out of your coffee grounds!