Coffee is very useful for a whole host of different things that you just would not think about. From using as an ant killer to making compost, cleaning drains to cleaning greasy ashtrays, you will be amazed just what ordinary coffee that you have at home can be used for. Here is my top 10 favourites.
1. To get rid of ants put used coffee grounds onto the ant hills, this will have to be done for each hill as the pesky things will move to another home.
2. Kitchen drains tend to get smelly, simply get a cup of coffee grounds and tip down the plughole making sure you tip a kettle of boiling water down slowly & leave to work on the odours
3. For a quick fix on fabrics soak garment in strong black unsugared coffee, this is an inexpensive way to dye clothes brown in an emergency but remember it will not be colour fast.
4. Coffee grounds can be used to clean any stain resistant surface, it has a mild & gentle abrasive element & smells fresh too, particularly good for smelly ashtrays and greasy surfaces.
5. To help plants to flourish add coffee to your soil, this is best done in small amounts of soil so you can add 1 cup of lime to balance acidity if need be, another way is to empty it straight onto your compost pile with other kitchen waste.
6. Fishermen, when transporting maggots & worms put them in a container with moist coffee grounds & they will be easier to pick up when you need them & they also like coffee as much as we do so it will make them live longer too.
7. Coffee can be used as an odour neutraliser if there is a powercut & the food in the freezer defrosts & goes off, simply fill a bowl or two with new or used coffee & leave in the freezer over night.
8. When it comes to cleaning/sweeping out open fires sprinkle some used coffee grounds over the hearth or wherever you have to clean & it will sweep up easier & stop the coal dust from rising up in your room so better for environment.
9. Gardeners if you grow carrots add some coffee to your seeds before sowing, not only does this make the seeds easier to sow, the smell also repels root maggots & other pests allowing for thicker juicy carrots.
10. Many people take exception to neighbours cats using their garden as a toilet, a mixture of used coffee grounds and & orange peel put round plants and in beds you want left alone will provide a pungent smell that cats do not like and so will find someone else's garden to use.
All of the above tips are great ways to use up all the used coffee grounds that would otherwise just be put down the drain or in the bin, why not put it to good use.
