TikTok's Simple Coffee Grounds Hack Will Combat Sink Odors Quickly

A freshly brewed cup of coffee is such a wonderful smell that many people try to make the scent last in their homes. In fact, coffee is named as one of the best candle scents you should have in your home. A new TikTok trend suggests that a simple coffee grounds hack will eliminate sink odors quickly. However, while it is true that coffee grounds can quickly give your home a temporary nice smell, they will not eliminate the sink's odor completely.

To try out this hack, take a metal spoon and warm it over the stove (a candle flame will also work if you don't have a gas range). Make sure to wear an oven mitt while heating the spoon to not burn yourself. Also never, we repeat, never, place a metal spoon in the microwave to try and heat it. Once the spoon is hot, scoop up some fresh coffee grounds. For best results, use medium to dark roast fresh ground coffee, not used coffee grounds. Gently move the spoon around your sink. The coffee grounds will likely burn against the warm spoon, which will cause steam and leave a nice coffee aroma. When done, let the coffee grounds completely cool before discarding (preferably not down the drain, as coffee grounds can cause clogs).

There are many clever coffee ground hacks for a fresh-smelling home, but none of them will completely eliminate the odors. Coffee grounds are often said to be deodorizing, but this ability is often inflated. While their porous structure and chemical makeup might trap and neutralize certain odor molecules, you'd need much more than a tablespoon to do anything about the stink near your sink. To absorb a material amount of smell, coffee grounds first need to be carbonized, which creates a form of activated charcoal (incidentally, activated charcoal can banish gross odors all over the home, from the garage to the garbage disposal). So while this method can have a fast effect, the smell may mostly just be masked by the coffee's scent. You are essentially adding another smell to the mix, and there is also a chance that this will just make your kitchen smell different, not necessarily better.

There are many other genius tips and tricks to deodorize your smelly kitchen. However, even though some of these tips can actively absorb sink smells, they won't target the source of the odor. The best way to completely eliminate that gross smell from your sink is to determine what's causing it. A partial clog is probably to blame, but bad smells can also come from backed-up sewer gas (ew), which probably indicates a blocked sewer vent or a dry P-trap. No amount of cleaning or scented candles will resolve these issues, so it if your drain is pumping out powerfully unpleasant smells, you'll probably want to keep your coffee in the cupboard and instead call a plumber.