Helpful Housekeeping Hints for Coffee Addicts
Do you love coffee? We drink an average of 162 liters per year, but what happens to the residue in the filter? Coffee grounds are not rubbish, but valuable household and maintenance products.
I used to just throw away the coffee grounds, but they are a valuable raw material for use in the house, in the garden and in cosmetics. As a caffeine junkie myself, I have a fair amount of coffee grounds every day, which I am really happy about now, because ...
Coffee grounds can do that:
Bye bye pests
A little coffee grounds in the potting soil keeps pests away and even repels snails. The same goes for moles. The useful earthworms, on the other hand, love coffee grounds and help promote rotting.
By the way, cold coffee is a great way to fight fruit flies. Simply dilute 100 ml of coffee with water in a ratio of 1:1 and put it in the plant pot. The larvae of the fruit fly will die.
Attention wasp!
Wasps like to join in when you have breakfast on the balcony or terrace. To prevent this from happening, set up a bowl of ground coffee or coffee grounds about three feet from the table. The smell will drive away the flying pests.
Power your plants
Coffee is a great fertiliser. Work two handfuls of dried coffee grounds into the soil for each plant. Alternatively, you can also add it to the compost. It will rot with other green waste into valuable fertiliser and soil. An ideal soil for a blooming garden and juicy vegetables.
Tip: Please make sure that the coffee grounds do not contain any mould spores. Otherwise these can spread in the pot. It is best to dry the coffee grounds first and only then use them as fertiliser.
Odour neutralisator
In many hotels and restaurants you can see bowls of ground coffee or whole coffee beans. This is also handy at home, e.g. in the refrigerator and in the garbage bin, because coffee neutralises unpleasant odours.
It also helps against cooking smells. Simply massage the coffee grounds into the dampened skin. The smell of garlic, onions and fish on your fingers will be a thing of the past.
Get out of your old skin
You can actually take the coffee grounds with you into the bathroom and use it as a peeling for the skin. You can do it on its own or with a little honey or olive oil. Sugar enhances the peeling effect. You can also use the mixture to massage the moistened facial skin. Or you apply the mixture in circular movements to your legs and bottom and rinse it off lukewarm in the shower. The caffeine stimulates the blood circulation and makes the skin look rosy and firm. If you add oil, the skin will also become soft and supple.
Hair Treatment
Coffee grounds are also great as a hair treatment. You will need four tablespoons of coffee grounds for this.
- Mix this with a little water to form a paste.
- Put this mass on your scalp and massage everything in well.
- Leave the conditioner on for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Then rinse everything thoroughly with warm water.
- The caffeine boost as well as the massage and peeling stimulate blood circulation in the scalp, remove dirt and flakes and refine your hair structure.
For the tough jobs
Coffee grounds are an alternative and natural abrasive for cleaning and rinsing. It can also give the grill grate a shine again when it has become matt.
Coffee grounds are particularly useful for cleaning the inside of vases, which are difficult to reach with cloths: Put them in with a little warm water, keep the opening closed and shake the container vigorously. Then rinse. By the way, grains of rice are a good alternative.
Translated from our German headquarter Claudia Dorn-Cuglietta
