With most of the world working from home, a mug of coffee or two is perfect for jumpstarting mornings and getting things done. But coffee offers more benefits for your health, wellness, and home. So before you throw out your used coffee grounds and leftover coffee, take a look at these nine other uses of your precious caffeine-loaded drink.
Natural Freshener
Coffee grounds are an excellent natural alternative for expensive air fresheners that may be toxic for you. Store fresh coffee grounds in a container and cover it with a breathable cloth to absorb odors in your fridge, bathroom, and bedroom. Maximize your used coffee grounds to absorb foul odors coming from your trash bin or cat’s litter box.
Compostable Mulch
Show love to your plants by putting used coffee grounds and filters as compostable mulch on their containers and beds. This mulch helps in keeping weeds from growing and pests from destroying your plants. It also adds more fragrance to your home and gives the right amount of nutrients and minerals for your plants to grow happily and healthily.
Cooking and Baking
If you love the flavor of coffee but don’t like drinking it, add it to your desserts and dishes. Create glazes and fillings for doughnuts, cupcakes, muffins, and puff pastries with coffee. Add a layer of fine coffee powder on the surface of your cake to have the right amount of bitterness that blends well with the sweetness.
Rub your steak with coffee to add a smoky flavor to your chunk of meat. The smoky meaty taste will make you feel like having dinner in a countryside barbecue place.
Furniture Polish
Instead of throwing away used coffee grounds and stale brewed coffee, rub it over the surface of your wooden decorations and furniture to add shine to your home. The coffee will also make your home smelling like a quiet coffee shop or your favorite Starbucks branch.
Using leftover coffee as wood polish helps save you money from buying household polishes that can harm the environment. Polishing your wooden pieces also gives you that rustic look similar to the furniture in Discovery Primea’s suites and furniture shop.
Decor
The unique shape of coffee beans add a decorative touch to your coffee-polished-and-stained furniture. Place these coffee beans in a glass bottle or jar and put it on your mantle, shelf, bedside drawer, or your home office desk. You can take a whiff of these coffee beans if you need an extra recharge other than your regular coffee when working.
Hair Treatment
Use brewed coffee as a natural hair treatment. Apply it on your scalp and leave it for 20 minutes before rinsing it off. Using a coffee hair treatment at least once a week is great for reducing hair loss and getting glossy, soft, and nourished hair.
Exfoliator
Not only is coffee great for your hair, but it is also great for your skin. Mix fresh or used coffee grounds with olive oil or your favorite body wash to make a natural gentle skin scrub. Exfoliating with coffee removes dead skin cells and revitalizes your skin, just like how caffeine energizes you every day.
Anti-Cellulite Treatment
The caffeine in your coffee helps in reducing cellulite by improving blood flow. Most anti-cellulite creams contain caffeine, but they can be quite expensive. Save money by using the same coffee scrub to treat the cellulite on your legs, thighs, arms, and belly. Not only is using coffee as an anti-cellulite treatment cheap, but it is also a sustainable way to achieve firmer and glowing skin.
Flea and Tick Removal
The smell of coffee isn’t just fragrant and refreshing, but it is also an effective repellent for fleas. Keep your furry friends happy and healthy by rubbing their fur with leftover coffee after bathing them. Your pets will smell good and have healthier skin and fur without bloodsucking parasites.
The benefits of coffee go beyond refreshment and kick-starting your work day. Coffee offers affordable and renewable alternatives for beauty products, cleaning agents, and self-care items. Keep your leftover coffee and used grounds, and reuse them for these purposes in your home.
