Used Coffee Grinds...so many uses...
Okay, a compost bin isn't just great for the environment, it can help you keep track of your healthy---er, or in this case---not so healthy eating habits. This morning, all I had in my compost pail were one coffee filter after another full of coffee grinds. Hmm...where are the leafy green tops and vegetable peels? Note to self: eat more veggies.
Anyway, I have been using coffee grinds for a myriad of uses for a while now. Some of my favorite ideas:
1. Exfolient. Grab a spoonful of coffee grinds and some liquid soap and furiously rub the mixture all over our hands. It scrubs off the dead skin and the residual caffeine plumps the skin (in theory at least...). My hands feel really soft after I do this.
2. Bar Soap. Melt olive oil glycerin soap in the microwave and stir in fresh coffee grinds. Pour into molds and slice. Scrubby soap!
3. Deodorizer. I don't know why, but a bowl of coffee grinds in the fridge is a great way to deodorize the fridge. Any idea why?
Also, in larger quantities, good for the garden as mulch.
Posted by: John | November 16, 2007 at 12:48 PM
i am so going to put a bowl of coffee grinds into my fridge right now. my roommate and i eat alot of fruit and veggies, and lately our fridge hasn't been smelling too lovely. thanks for the tip!
Posted by: shelby k | November 16, 2007 at 01:07 PM
I don't know about the science, but coffee if often used as a "palate cleanser," when you're testing perfumes or other smelly stuff, they have you smell coffee in between to clear the nose!
Posted by: Amy | November 16, 2007 at 03:22 PM
Have you thought about using a re-usable washable coffee filter? It would save all those paper ones I see in your compost bucket!
http://www.thenaturalabode.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=4864
this one looks good
Posted by: Rebekka | November 16, 2007 at 10:39 PM
Hello, I'm from Portugal. Here we also use to fertilize the plants in pots.
Posted by: Maria | November 17, 2007 at 09:41 AM
I like your new house VERY much! I am keen to hear about our loving roof- just be careful up there!
Posted by: Kim | November 17, 2007 at 10:01 AM
used coffee grounds are wonderful for your lawn (if you have one). worms really like to eat them, so if you toss them on your lawn, the earth worms will burrow up to the surface to eat them. the burrows they make stay until the winter, so they aerate your lawn and create channels for water to go through, in addition to being great fertilizer!
of course, used coffee grounds are great in a vermicomposter too. it seems worms love a good caffeine fix as much as we do! :)
Posted by: katie | November 17, 2007 at 11:10 AM
"Note to self: eat more veggies."
hah...don't we all.
Posted by: akrok | November 18, 2007 at 02:18 AM
I add a squirt of dr. bronner's peppermint soap to coffee grouds for an even more invigorating hand scrub.
Once a week, I mix coffee grounds with cetaphyl face cleanser--a great exfoliator and my face is soft soft soft
Posted by: Dawn | November 18, 2007 at 01:55 PM
I think the deodorizing is because of the exchange of moisture and odors. Moisture and smells go together- think of how dogs' noses are kept wet to help their sense of smell. Coffee grounds absorb liquid easily, such as the moist odors in a fridge. That is my basic scientific reasoning for ya!
Posted by: Ilana | November 20, 2007 at 04:53 PM
Great idea! I will have to try making some of the soap - and hopefully the scent will caffeinate me, too!
Posted by: Tammy | November 20, 2007 at 08:35 PM
If some readers don't drink as much coffee as you do, they may be able to pick up giant bags of grounds at their local Starbucks.
Here in St. Louis, the Sbux by me stores used grounds in big bags by their front door. I am using them as mulch! It smells great when it rains!
Posted by: allison | November 21, 2007 at 05:51 PM
I use coffee grinds mixed with a drop of olive oil as a facial scrub...extra moisture and it makes you glow!
Also, helps reduce cellulite...rub on the thighs in the shower.
Posted by: Layla | December 10, 2007 at 03:06 AM
I always put my coffee grinds in the sink and flush them down - the tiny coffee grains clean the plumps on their way to the canalization. Since I´m doing that daily my sink has never been plugged!
Posted by: diane | January 24, 2008 at 06:18 AM
Forgot to empty the used coffee grounds basket of my automatic coffee maker and went away for a long weekend. Came back and the grounds were crawling with tiny, skinny white worms. What are they? We live in a semi-tropical climate.
Posted by: Gabriella Cooper | August 05, 2008 at 01:18 PM
I mix coffe grinds with Petroleum Jelly and Rub the mixture on my legs. Makes them smooth and soft to ther touch. Ladies love it.
Posted by: Mel Sukokee | December 08, 2008 at 02:16 PM