Here's Why You Should Sprinkle Coffee Grounds On Your Floors

As coffee fiends, we understand the draw of that morning cuppa. We also understand a want to reuse leftover coffee grounds after they've brought us back to life. Just because they're no longer helpful for java doesn't mean they're immediately a throwaway item. Coffee grounds have myriad uses around the house; from revitalizing your compost bin to homemade facial scrubs, these versatile little beans deserve more kudos. 

There is even a Danish company called Kaffe Bueno that has been finding new ways to reuse coffee grounds on a larger scale. Company co-founder Alejandro Franco told The Zero Waste Coffee Project all about the multifaceted usefulness of used coffee grounds. "Coffee is so ingrained in people's daily lives that they cannot think of it as something else than the beverage," he told the site. "That's why we focus on scientific proof of the efficacy and performance of the product, so that we can show the industry: please forget about the word 'coffee,' you should use our products because they are good, and because you can replace some of your non-natural ingredients with them."

On a much smaller scale, we can use small amounts of leftover coffee in our homes. Coffee grounds are also terrific, as it happens, for deodorizing a room when they're sprinkled on the floor. And not only can reusing these grounds save us money in the long run, but it can also make our homes fresher and cleaner.

Believe it or not, coffee grounds placed... well, on the floor, can make a room smell so much better. Like baking soda, coffee grounds make terrific deodorizers. Since coffee is nitrogen-dense, it can remove even the stinkiest of smells, making it an excellent room freshener. Utilizing its power to freshen up is as simple as dusting some grounds onto the floor for a little while. For example, to refresh a bathroom in a jiffy, sprinkle your used grounds onto the floor. The coffee will start to absorb the smells in your bathroom, similar to putting a box of baking soda in your refrigerator. 

Leave the grounds on the floor and shut the bathroom door behind you. This will keep kiddos and critters out of the mess. After 30 or 45 minutes, sweep or vacuum up the grounds. Now your bathroom will be fresh for guests or just for yourself because you deserve a clean bathroom all the time. To extend the deodorizing elements of your coffee, you could make a satchel. Put a few scoops of coffee grounds in your bathroom into a small, breathable bag and place it somewhere in your bathroom. Behind a bin, in a drawer, or even the medicine cabinet will work. That way, the deodorizer is out of sight yet working its magic like a caffeinated potpourri.

When you have pets, your home inevitably smells like pets. Try as you might, it can be really hard to get pet odors out of your home. Luckily, the odor-busting power of coffee grounds on the floor in pet-trafficked areas of your home can help. Like with the bathroom deodorizing trick, the process is the same in other parts of your home. Wherever your pet spends the most time, powder some grounds on the floor and let it sit so your home smells more coffee shop and less cat cafe. 

However, fellow pet parents, please be mindful that caffeine, and thereby coffee, is toxic for pets. When using this floor hack, be sure your pet is away from the area until all of the coffee is cleaned up. According to VCA, even a few teaspoons of coffee grounds can be dangerous for pets. 

"Due to differing amounts of caffeine, the amount of a product that is needed to be ingested before toxicity is expected varies," per Drs Renee Schmid, Ahna Brutlag, and Lynn Buzhardt at VCA. "For example, a 15-pound Sheltie would need to ingest approximately three teaspoons of instant coffee grounds for mild signs to develop and 10 teaspoons for the potential of severe signs." So, while coffee grounds make for terrific deodorizers from the floor, they also pose some risk to the fuzzy members of your household. Use them but with caution if you have furry friends running around.