It’s Wednesday and it’s still my week to rule over the blog. I talked about eggshells and their hidden, secretive life as a multitasking material on Monday and while I am the subject of perishables, I have decided to stick to the kitchen and see what else can serve as an excellent multitasker. Thankfully, I had my grandmother on my side to help with the research and development portion for this post and we came up with – coffee grounds. Not really something you’d consider useful.
As with eggshells, coffee grounds (once boiled that is) have no use to the average coffee worshipper other than to throw them out and refill the pot with a new batch. This can’t be further from the truth, because as it turns out everyone’s home is a coffeeholic. Feed it coffee grounds and you will feel the love in an instant.
But what do you mean? Can you speak any vaguer? I know, I know. I’m vague, but honestly, it’s a tough job to pinpoint exactly how coffee grounds help your household, when they seem to function as a biological Swiss knife around the house. Let’s see some of the more popular uses.
Conquer Odours and Smells
Forget about the sickly sweet home deodorizers, which have been proven to be carcinogenic (just to put it out there). What you need is a baking tin and a few pots worth of coffee grounds. Dry them in an oven for several minutes so that all moisture evaporates fully. My grandmother swears by coffee grounds as a swift solution for any smell.
Does your fridge carry the scent of meals past? Fill a cup with the ground and place at the back. You will notice the change overnight. Coffee grounds, much like baking soda, capture scents with ease and neutralizes them.
Smoke can also be exorcised with certain ease. Should smokers pay your home a visit (or live in it), a thin layer of coffee grounds at the ashtray’s bottom makes all the difference, since smoke lingers for hours after the cigarette has been put out.
I can recommend this tip for basically anything that smells off. Your hands? Rub them with coffee grounds. Your carpets? Sprinkle with coffee grounds and leave and sit, though it depends on carpet type. Our carpet cleaners wouldn’t really recommend this method on fine or light-coloured carpets as that could lead to more devastation than help. However, if you have a synthetic, short bristle one, this will work.
Be Your Hidden Gardener
I’m sure to a point, everyone would like named Jesus, just for the kicks of reliving an old cliché as politically incorrect as it is, but if you really want a cheap gardener, coffee grounds will fill the position. Flower growers will know their acid-loving flowers and know that coffee grounds do a great job at stimulating growth.
For novice gardeners, I’m referring to roses, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias. But a gardener needn’t only grow flowers. Carrots greatly benefit from the nutritional value coffee ground provides, so you can be safe in the knowledge your carrots will grow at an accelerated rate.a gardener named Jesus, just for the kicks of reliving an old cliché as politically incorrect as it is, but if you really want a cheap gardener, coffee grounds will fill the position. Flower growers will know their acid-loving flowers and know that coffee grounds do a great job at stimulating growth.
At the same time, coffee grounds keep worms content (valuable for the soil), ants dissatisfied with your home as a prospect for expansion and cats aware that your garden is not their rest room. My grandmother has been using coffee grounds in her garden and the results are brilliant.
Substitute Your Chemical Cleaners
Nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing households marry green cleaning with more modern tools of the trade. Chemical detergents are here to stay, but moderation should be preached, because there is only so much the environment can take before it collapses. In some cases, green cleaning is a superior alternative.
I have seen my grandmother treat grease with coffee grounds. Given their high acidic properties, it’s no wonder they can deconstruct fats. It falls in the same category with white vinegar as a degreaser, which combines two functions in one – eats through grease and neutralizes smells. Excellent for the housewife that doesn’t tolerate kitchen odours.
What’s certainly the oddest application so far has to be the DIY scratch repair for wooden materials. Chances are you will scratch something somewhere and if it’s made from wood, the scratch will be a sight for sore eyes, but it needn’t be. Steep some grounds and apply the liquid on to the area with a bit of the grounds.
Coffee produces hard to remove stains and what you are doing is harnessing stains for the greater good. Leave it soak for a few and then remove. The scratch is now barely noticeable.
In conclusion
I have yet to confirm how well grounds benefit my flowers, but so far, I have confirmed that all tips here do work. If you feel adventurous and desire to feel some spark when you do cleaning chores, a touch of coffee will help you and your house out.
