Leftover Coffee Grounds for clever household projects!

If you’re a daily coffee drinker—by the potful or one K-cup at a time—you have leftover coffee grounds. Beyond tossing them in the trash can, there are some pretty amazing ways to put them to good use in the kitchen, garden, closet, for crafts, and even in your beauty routine.

Since coffee grounds are wet after brewing the coffee, you may need to spread them on a baking sheet to dry before using them for some of these hacks. The one place you should never put coffee grounds is down the kitchen sink or garbage disposal. Soggy grounds are heavy and can clog a sink very quickly.

Check out these hacks for using your leftover coffee grounds :

1. Repel Insects in Your Garden

Coffee grounds make for a great repellant in the garden. Mound grounds into a ring to create a protective border around plants that will ward off ants and slugs.

Sprinkle leftover coffee grounds around plants to keep away slugs, snails, and other insects. Some rabbits and cats even shy away from coffee grounds.

2. Fortify Plants

Give seedlings a nitrogen boost by stirring grounds into soil or a watering can. Coffee grounds are a great addition to your compost pile because they help boost the nitrogen component that is needed to break down plant matter. They also help prevent the growth of some molds.

Once you have a nice, loamy pile of compost, add some earthworms for even quicker decomposition. They love the acidic quality of “coffee soil.”

3. Freshen the Fridge
If you love the smell of coffee, use coffee grounds instead of baking soda to absorb odors in the refrigerator. Start with fresh, unbrewed grounds or completely dry used grounds. Find a container with a plastic lid and punch a few holes. The lid will help prevent a mess if the container gets knocked over. Add the grounds and place the container on a shelf in the fridge. Replace every month for maximum freshness. This will neutralize odors left by stale food scraps or spoiled food.

4. Clean Tools and Dishware
Place a few teaspoons of grounds on a thin cleaning rag and use to scour away grease and grime on pots and pans. Finish with a thorough rinsing.

5. Hide Furniture Scratches
Dip a cotton swab into steeped grounds and dab on scratches in dark wood furniture to minimize them. Just test in an inconspicuous area first.

6. Grow Blue Hydrangeas
Work grounds into the soil at the base of mophead hydrangeas to increase the acidity level. This helps the shrubs absorb aluminum, which you can add to the soil to keep the flowers a vibrant blue.

7. Give Paper an Antique Look
Dip paper or sheets of stationery in a soupy mix of grounds and water; allow them to sit a minute or two, then let dry and brush off the grounds.

8. Contain Ashes
Sprinkle damp grounds on fireplace ashes to cut down on airborne dust as you sweep them up.

9. Scrub Away Rough/Dead Skin
Rub a scoop of grounds between palms as an exfoliant to remove dead skin and help eliminate smells from foods like fish and garlic. The caffeine will help brighten skin as well. To make the scrub, mix one and one-half cups coarse sea salt, one cup dry coffee grounds, and one cup coconut oil in a large bowl. Store the scrub in an air-tight jar.

10. Remove Onion and Garlic Odors From Your Hands
Grab about one teaspoon of fresh or used coffee grounds to remove odors from hands after chopping onion and garlic. Dampen your hands and rub well with the coffee grounds and then rinse.

11. Make a Cockroach Trap
Fill a can or jar with an inch or two of moistened coffee grounds, then line the container’s neck with extra-sticky double-sided tape. The scent will draw the roaches into the trap.