Genius Coffee Grounds Hacks For A Fresh-Smelling Home

You probably dispose of coffee grounds every day, and you don't think of them as being useful after you've had your morning cup o' joe. But before you dump those used coffee grounds into the garbage can, consider their capacity to absorb odors, acting as a natural deodorizer for numerous places in your home. Coffee grounds contain caffeine, and the caffeine contains nitrogen. It's this chemical element that provides the power for the carbon found in coffee to absorb sulfur, and the result is the elimination of foul odors in the air.

Coffee grounds can take care of bad smells in your closet, bathroom, and kitchen. They are effective on disagreeable odors emanating from sweaty shoes, spoiled foods, pet accidents, and more. To work as a deodorizer, the used grounds must be dried. Spread them in a thin layer on a shallow baking pan lined with paper towels or newspaper. Set the pan in a sunny, dry spot until the grounds are completely dry. Alternatively, you can spread out the used grounds in a shallow baking pan and heat them in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit until they're dry. Don't use wet grounds for deodorizing purposes. If you see the white or gray telltale signs of mold growth, dispose of the grounds immediately.

Have you ever opened the door of your fridge only to be greeted with a pungent aroma? Although you keep the interior of your refrigerator clean, you sometimes notice lingering odors from spoiled or strong-smelling foods. When an unpleasant scent develops, look no further than the fresh grounds left over from this morning's pot of coffee. If you place dried coffee grounds in the fridge, they will absorb the odors emitted by other foods. 

You could place a small bowl of coffee grounds in the fridge, but it's likely to get knocked over and make a mess. Fortunately, there's a better way. After drying the grounds thoroughly on a paper-lined tray or in a low-temperature oven, pour them into a plastic container with a lid. You may want to recycle an empty lunchmeat or cheese container that has been thoroughly washed and dried to remove any food residue. With the tip of a sharp knife, punch a few small holes in the top of the container. Then, place the covered receptacle full of dry coffee grounds on a shelf in your fridge. The grounds will absorb odors for a couple of weeks or up to a month. At that time, you'll want to empty the container and refill it with fresh, dried coffee grounds.

A microwave oven offers convenience that saves time and effort. But if we get lazy about cleaning the interior regularly, the microwave can develop an unpleasant odor from the drips, spills, and spatters of the foods that we cook in it. Then, of course, there's the occasional accident where we overcook and burn food in the microwave, immediately causing a foul smell that permeates the appliance. Once the burnt smell develops, it's impossible to ignore it.

Due to their odor-absorbing capacity, there are two ways to use leftover coffee grounds for neutralizing smells in the microwave. The first method utilizes dried coffee grounds. Simply place the grounds on a small plate and leave it in the microwave overnight. When you remove them the next morning, the interior of the appliance should emit a more pleasant aroma. The second method is faster. Place 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds in ½ cup of water and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. The result should be a better-smelling microwave.

You might have worked hard to clean and organize your closet only to notice a musty smell when you open the door. It's likely due to the lack of air circulation along with the moisture that's retained in your clothing and shoes. To combat the stale smell, place dried coffee grounds in your closet. 

One method is to fill an old sock with dry grounds and tie off the top to prevent spillage. A thin sock made from a breathable fabric works best. Hang the sock on a hook or a clothes hanger in the closet, and the dry coffee grounds will absorb that musty odor. As an alternative, you can recycle a plastic container with a lid to hold the coffee grounds. Use a sharp knife to punch a few holes in the lid. Then, fill the container with grounds, attach the lid, and stash it in a corner of your closet. Either of these methods will work for about a month. At that time, you should dispose of the old coffee grounds and replace them with a fresh batch.

When the bacteria from sweaty shoes and athletic clothing causes a stinky situation, you can treat the problem with coffee grounds encased in sachets. A sachet is a small bag or packet of scented material used to imbue clothing or linens with a pleasant scent. Typically, sachets are filled with dried flowers, herbs, potpourri, or scented gels and tucked in among the folded clothing in dresser drawers. But if you're trying to get the stink out of shoes and gym bags, you don't want to simply mask the smell with a sweet scent. Instead, you can make sachets filled with dried coffee grounds to absorb the foul odors. 

You might be handy with a needle and thread. If so, you can create sachet bags from small pieces of leftover fabric and fill them with the dry grounds. Linen, cheesecloth, and other porous fabrics work well for this purpose. If sewing is not your thing, you can use an old sock or a pair of pantyhose. Pour the coffee grounds into the foot part of the garment, and tie it off to avoid spilling the contents. With pantyhose, it's best to use a double layer of the sheer fabric, as the coffee dust will seep through a single layer and leave a mess. After you've filled a few DIY sachets with coffee grounds, you can place them in your shoes and gym bag to absorb odors.

Although you clean and disinfect your bathroom weekly to keep the surfaces sparkling, it's possible for disagreeable odors to develop in the moist environment. Fortunately, the nitrogen in coffee grounds is known to neutralize sulfur smells. In fact, the effectiveness of coffee grounds as an odor fighter was demonstrated in a City College of New York project. Chemical engineers at the college used leftover coffee grounds to develop a product that clears the air of the foul odors from raw sewage.

In the bathroom, you can place a small bowl of dry coffee grounds on a shelf or the counter to absorb smells, as long as you're careful to not accidentally knock it over. As an alternative, you could place the dry grounds in a jar with a lid and simply remove the lid for short periods of time whenever you notice a disagreeable odor. At other times, you can replace the lid tightly to prevent spillage and store the jar under the sink. When needed, open the jar and set it out on the counter until the odor dissipates. After about a month, empty the jar and refill it with freshly dried grounds.

In addition to absorbing repugnant odors from the air in your home, coffee grounds produce an appealing scent that most people find pleasant. That's why dried coffee grounds might be just the right ingredient for your next candle-making project. You'll need wax pellets like these from Amazon, or you can reuse the wax remnants of old candles. Additionally, you'll need wicks for DIY candle making, like these from Michaels, along with a few small glass jars or old coffee mugs.

Start by melting the wax in a small, heat-safe pitcher set in a pot of simmering water. Then, wrap the end of a wick around a pencil and drop the base of the wick into a jar or mug. Prop the pencil across the top of the vessel to suspend the wick while you pour in the melted wax. Pour in enough melted wax to fill approximately ¼ of the depth of the jar and sprinkle a layer of dry coffee grounds on top. Repeat the process, layering in the grounds with the wax until the jar is full. As an alternative to this method, you can stir the coffee grounds directly into the melted wax and proceed with pouring the coffee-infused wax into the jar to make your candle. With this method, the coffee grounds are distributed throughout the candle, rather than in layers. Light the candle to remove bad smells and enjoy a lovely scent in your home.

Pet parents everywhere love their fur babies. But unfortunately, cleaning up stinky messes comes with the territory. After you've cleaned up pet urine, feces, or vomit, the smell can linger for a long time. The downside is that if you live in a home with pets, you may adapt to the odor and not even notice it. Then, when company comes, your friends are confronted with the foul smells that you've been ignoring.

As a quick fix for pet odors, you can use your thoroughly dried, leftover coffee grounds to clear the air in your home. Pour them into a shallow bowl and place it on a shelf or table that's out of reach for your furry friends. Leave it overnight to absorb the odors. When pet urine causes stinky carpets, you can treat specific spots with sachets made from dried coffee grounds. To make a sachet, pour the dry grounds into a coffee filter and close the top with a rubber band, a twist tie, or a few staples. Make as many sachets as you need and place them on the carpet directly over the pee-accident spots. Leave the sachets overnight and remove them the next morning. The odor should be eliminated by that time.

If you're crafty and enjoy making table centerpieces with faux flowers, you might save the grounds from this morning's coffee and dry them out. Then, you can use them to fabricate real-looking faux soil for your next creation. In addition to lending an authentic appearance to a floral centerpiece, the coffee grounds will serve as a room deodorizer, absorbing any bad smells in the area. 

To make a centerpiece, pour dried coffee grounds into a clear glass vase or jar until it's approximately ⅔ full. Add pebbles or glass gems, if desired. Next, insert the stems of faux flowers and greenery into the grounds to create a realistic floral display. As an alternative method, you can combine freshly used coffee grounds with Elmer's school glue, available from Amazon. Stir the mixture on a disposable paper plate with a plastic spoon so that you can toss them after completing the project. It's not necessary for the coffee grounds to be dried, but be sure they're not moldy. Use enough coffee grounds for the glue mixture to retain a dark brown color, resembling soil. The result will be a thick, gloppy, substance that you can layer into small flower pots or old coffee mugs. Insert faux plants or flowers on top, and the glue-and-grounds mixture will harden as it dries. Meanwhile, the coffee grounds will remove disagreeable odors from the air in your home.