Composting & coffee grinds

If you're an experienced composter, you probably already know that adding coffee grinds to your compost heap is a great idea to help make good compost at home. 

  

Many of our volunteers at Shropshire Master Composters also use coffee grinds around the garden for all manner of things from fertilizers, to weed suppressants and slug deterrents.  Its really important that you re-use or compost coffee grinds because coffee already has quite a high environmental effects so it really matters that it doesn’t end up in landfill! Fortunately, coffee grounds have multiple uses and reuses, as well as making good compost.  Here's some ideas from our volunteers.

1, Coffee Grounds as a Beauty Product

· Mix a quarter-cup of used coffee grounds with an egg white for a cheap home made skin-tightening exfoliating facial mask.

· Coffee grounds can add shine to brunette and black hair, improve scalp health, and prevent dandruff. In the shower, rub some used coffee grounds throughout your hair in between shampooing and conditioning.

· To combat cellulite, mix a tablespoon of olive oil with a quarter-cup of moist, warm coffee grounds and apply to the troublesome areas of your body as a scrub. 

2, Coffee Grounds as a Cleaner

· Combat stubborn grease on pots and pans, by scrubbing on some coffee grounds. The grounds are both abrasive and acidic, so give you a cleaning edge.

· Keep your sink drains clean and odor-free by pouring about a half-cup of used coffee grounds down them, immediately followed by at least 5 cups of boiling water to avoid clogging.

3, Coffee Grounds as a Deodorizer

· If your closet smells too much like dirty gym shoes, simply fill the foot of an old pair of stockings with used, dry coffee grounds to make an odor-eating sachet that will last for weeks, or even a whole month.

· Chopping onions and garlic leaves your hands downright pungent for hours? To get rid of stubbornly smelly hands, just scrub them with used coffee grounds then follow up with soap and water - it really works!

4, Coffee Grounds as a Dye

To make your own at-home dye, mix coffee grounds with hot water then leave to soak. Then set the dye with either alum, vinegar, or soda ash.

· If you have brown furniture that is scratched it can be a good touch-up.

· You can also use it to dye such things as clothing, fabric, ribbons, feathers, or paper.