What To Do With Old Coffee Grounds – Uncover Some Amazing Uses!

This article will tell you what to do with old coffee grounds and help you to reduce your household waste and save some money!

As a thrifty Scotsman, this is something that I excel at!

If you are a woman, you will love the skin care solution and the ideas for making your own fully customized skin care tailored for your own skin. If you are a man, you will love how your lady’s skin looks, without her forking out a fortune!

Keep reading for the details!

What To Do With Old Coffee Grounds

Saving your coffee grounds is a great idea as there are a lot of uses, multiple different uses in different areas and aspects of life that will save from unnecessary waste.

Some great uses that I personally use are skin care and beauty products for my Cambodian girlfriend, composting our organic garden and using as a fertilizer for our houseplants and a lot more.

Always make good use of your old coffee ground as you have the twin benefits of saving money and saving the environment by reducing household waste.

Let’s get to the details and talk about what to do with old coffee grounds, but first let’s talk about storing your used coffee grounds.

Read: Can I reuse coffee grounds? 

How To Store Used Coffee Grounds

The best way to store them is to keep them in an airtight container and keep them in your fridge. This technique will prevent mold from forming.

Alternatively, you can keep them in an open box and let them dry.

Both methods work equally well.

Make Coffee Candles

As a coffee lover I just love the rich aroma of coffee as it fills the air.

Save your coffee grounds and the used grounds from your coffee pods and the chances are the aromatic oils that you regular use to make candles will be a thing of the past.

As your homemade coffee candle burns, your used coffee burns, releasing the coffee aromas.

This is great as burning coffee is great for repelling insects and mosquitos.

Although, much more effective than used coffee grounds for this is fresh coffee grounds of an Italian roast.

Deodorize Everything In Your Home!

Old and new coffee grounds are great at absorbing odors, all odors, good and bad.

This is the very reason why you absolutely must store your fresh coffee grounds in an airtight container.

Using old grounds to absorb funky odors is easy. Place your coffee grounds or coffee beans and put them in a shallow open jar.

Place the jar where you need it, like the back of your fridge or freezer.

This won’t fill your fridge or freezer with great aromas but will absorb the bad smells.

What To Do With Old Coffee Grounds In The Garden

Using coffee grounds in the garden is one of the most popular ways of making great use of your used coffee grinds.

But,

be careful of making your soil too acidic. Alkaline soil is better, much better.

Let’s get into the details of using your coffee grinds as a fertilizer for your plants and vegetables.

There are multiple methods and techniques. Let’s talk about those.

Read: Reusing coffee grounds

How To Use Coffee Grounds As Fertilizer

You have many ways of turning your coffee grounds into an amazing fertilizer.

As a huge plus point, organic fertilizer is much healthier for your soil and for your plants.

Add Your Coffee Grounds To Your Soil

You can use your coffee grounds in your soil in two main ways. Both of which add nutrients and nitrogen to your soil.

The first way is to brew your old grounds and pour the cooled down coffee into your garden.

A much better way, in my opinion and experience, is to let your coffee grounds dry out and sprinkle them liberally in your garden. This will cause a slow release of the nutrients and nitrogen into your soil. Your coffee grounds help to retain moisture and release it into your soil.

Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda to aid the pH of your soil.

Make A Liquid Fertilizer

Making a liquid fertilizer is easy and very convenient; simply use your leftover coffee grounds and brew coffee with them. You must let it cool down before you water your plants.

Pour liberally without flooding your plants. As a bonus, you still have your coffee grounds. Let them dry and then use them in your soil. They will still have some nutrients and nitrogen. Even if they are fully depleted, the grounds will serve for maintaining moisture.

Read: Can you reuse coffee grounds?

Used Coffee Grounds For Plants – More Techniques

There are some of my favorite methods and I use them in my organic garden to great effect and as bonus, I reduce my waste further and do my little bit for the environment.

Make Compost

Making compost is easy, effortless and very satisfying. As a bonus, it is an entirely natural way to reduce household food waste and coffee waste.

You can add coffee to your compost mix to add nitrogen and nutrients. Slowly and steadily your food waste will break down and produce nutrient-rich compost that you can add to your garden, plant pots and flower beds.

Make sure your compost pile is no more than 20% coffee grounds.

Start A Worm Farm

Starting a worm farm can be done in conjunction with your compost pile. Be sure to feed your worms your food scraps and your coffee grounds.

Your worms will eat them, poop them out and create what is known as worm castings, which is essentially worm dung and is rich in nutrient and excellent for your soil.

Worms are coffee lovers. They love eating coffee grounds.

Use your worm castings to enrich your garden soil.

Repel Slugs, Insects, Rabbits And Cats

Old coffee grounds are great for deterring garden pests like insects, slugs, rabbits and cats.

You can use your old coffee grounds to protect your garden plants from slugs, insects, cats and rabbits.

All you need to do is sprinkle them in your garden liberally. Fresh coffee grounds work much better. Strong Italian roast is even better. Spread liberally so you can deter ants. As a long term solution, whole beans work better as their decay is slower.

How To Reuse Coffee Grounds For Skin

This is just as much for the gentlemen as it is for the ladies, particularly the gentlemen that know how to and love to look after that special woman in their life.

And is a fantastic way of reducing coffee waste and making a customized and specialized skin care that you can tailor for your skin and give it exactly what it needs.

Take A Coffee Ground Bath

This is best achieved by making a bath bomb out of your coffee grounds.

Use a cup or two of coffee grounds and put them in a cheesecloth and make a pouch. Tie or wrap it or use a rubber band.

The caffeine content, nutrients and antioxidants will help to repair cellular damage.

You can, should you want to add some aromatherapy oils too. It’s not a bad idea to fill your bath with water from a vitamin C shower head and help get the benefits from that.

In fact, a vitamin C shower is something all home should have, they are inexpensive and even though they need replaced the health benefits of absorbing vitamin C via the skin and enjoy the benefits for your skin.

Take every advantage you can get and don’t forget to add Epsom salts for an enjoyable relaxing bath and enjoy the benefits of magnesium.

Make A Stimulating Hair Mask

Unless you are using organic hair care products your hair will be full of various chemicals, which is not at all good for the health of your hair.

You make a fully customized hair care for what your hair needs instead of buying a generic product.

You can also enjoy the exfoliating effects for your scalp.

Use a 50% coffee grounds solution, add 25% organic coconut oil, and use 25% organic brown sugar.

Make sure your items used are organic and chemical free as the goal is to remove the chemicals and not add more, to aid the health of your hair.

You can also add whatever vitamins, minerals and amino acids that you deem necessary for your hair. One great addition is L Citrulline, an amino acid that stimulates circulation and will help the health of your hair by rubbing in the solution in your scalp and aiding healthy growth.

Use your hair and scalp scrub twice or thrice per week.

Use Your Used Coffee Grounds For An Exfoliating Body Scrub

Another great home made beauty product that you can make with your leftover coffee grounds is a fully customized body scrub.

You can go all in and make it a cellulite-busting body scrub.

Use 1 cup of spent coffee grounds. Add half a cup of organic coconut oil and half a cup of brown sugar.

To customize and tailor the recipe for your own situation, consider adding cayenne pepper, ginger, vitamin C, vitamin E, the whole array of B complex vitamins, collagen, zinc and L Citrulline.

You may feel a burning sensation, this is a sign your formula is working.

Since your formula may redden your skin for a few hours, due to the L citrulline, your body scrub is best applied at night.

Leave your scrub on for at least an hour to let the nutrients get absorbed by your skin and then wash it off.

Can You Use Used Coffee Grounds For Face Scrub?

Reusing your coffee ground to make a face scrub and healthy natural face mask that is tailored to what your skin needs to get it positively glowing.

Using the base ingredients of coffee grounds (50%) brown sugar (25%) and extra virgin coconut oil (25%) adding a host of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and aromatherapy oil to get the healthiest skin that you can imagine.

It’s a scrub and face mask that is best applied at night as the caffeine will stimulate blood flow and aid the regeneration of new skin.

Besides, your body does the majority of its repair work when you are asleep.

Coffee is a nutritious substance and contains phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium as well as B complex vitamins. The potent antioxidants are what make them great for your skin.

Consider adding Epsom salts for magnesium and relaxing effect.

Collagen, vitamins A, C, D and E are great for your skin. B complex too. L Citrulline is a great ingredient to add.

L Citrulline will result in redness of your skin as it is stimulating blood flow. Rosemary and Valerian are good too.

I love adding shilajit powder, pearl powder and pine pollen to the mix I make for my Cambodian girlfriend as these are high in nutrients, multiple nutrients and in great quantities and are good for her skin. Pearl powder, high in zinc, is how Japanese women have such clear skin.

You will need to study and do your own research as per what your skin needs, your skin type is and what your goal is.

The items I add leave a tingly sensation, which is a good thing as it is a sign that it is working.

Frequently Asked Questions About What To Do With Old Coffee Grounds

Can You Put Coffee Grounds In Plants?

Yes, your coffee grounds contain nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium and B group of minerals and thus using your old coffee grounds to add life to your compost pile and to directly mid in the soil of your houseplants will help them.

Do Ants Like Coffee Grounds?

Reusing coffee grounds to deter ants works well not as a deterrent, but as a means of breaking up their scent trail and overpowering it. Sprinkle coffee ground where the ants nest is and around it and place a layer of whole coffee beans around it. It will work better.

Fresh coffee grounds work better than spent coffee grounds. An Italian roast is best.

Do Coffee Grounds Deter Slugs?

Yes, coffee grounds are recommended by organic farmers as a way of keeping snails and slugs at bay and away from your plants and vegetables.

Are Coffee Grounds Too Much Compost?

Leftover coffee grounds and spent coffee grounds are not too much for your compost. Still, adding too much can be a problem. Use no more than 20% and add a limited amount.

I like to mix mine into my compost pile rather than adding it as a layer.

How Can You Tell If Coffee Grounds Are Old?

Look, sniff and sip!

Examine your coffee grounds visually for signs of mold and while doing so sniff for off or flat smells.

If you see milk or have any rancid scents, you can discard your coffee straight away. If your coffee is fine and passes this test. Brew a small 4 Oz (120 ml) test cup of coffee.

Sniff test your brew. If it smells off, throw away your brewed coffee. If it smells fine, sip and test your coffee. If it tastes fine, enjoy your coffee and consider brewing a larger cup of coffee.

How Do You Store Ground Coffee Long Term?

Storing coffee long term is best done by using coffee containers that are opaque, airtight and have a one-way valve and storing your coffee canister in your freezer.

Should Coffee Beans Be Stored In The Fridge Or Cupboard?

Storing your coffee beans in your fridge has the advantage of helping you to protect your coffee from heat, which accelerates their degradation, thus keeping your coffee in your fridge is better. Be sure to use a professional coffee canister.

Do Worms Like Coffee Grounds?

Earthworms love coffee grounds. They eat them and poop them out deep in your soil, which improves the quality and structure of your soil.

Final Thoughts – What To Do With Old Coffee Grounds

If you have read this far, you know exactly what to do with old coffee grounds to get amazing, skin, a great looking garden and more. The best part, in my opinion, is teaching your kids and family to recycle and reuse their old coffee grounds, food and more and having future generations pick up on the idea and habit.

Join our fun and friendly coffee community and share your own ideas for reusing and recycling your coffee grounds. Find us on Facebook/Meta.

Derek Marshall

Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location