Coffee

Uses for Coffee Filters, Grounds & Empty Containers

COFFEE FILTERS

Cover food in the microwave to avoid food splatters.

Filter cork crumbs from wine.

Drain your oil that you save for reuse through a filter.

Hold a taco or other messy foods with a filter to catch drips.

Use them as a funnel when you can't find one or do not have one.
Especially useful for putting oil in a vehicle.

Clean your glasses with a coffee filter. They are lint free.
Can also dust TV's, mirrors, etc. with them.

Put a filter in a cast iron skillet to absorb moisture when not in use.
This will help stop rusting.

Line a planter that has a hole in bottom with a filter to prevent soil leakage.

Fill a coffee filter with baking soda or 2 TBSP coffee grounds.
Use a twisty tie to seal it closed. Tuck them into shoes, closets, vehicles,
refrigerator, dresser drawers, bathroom closets and anywhere you may
need the deodorize the air.

When packing dishes away, protect them with a filter between
each one to prevent scratching.

Use a filter to apply shoe polish without the lint.

If a glass container breaks and the contents are liquid, filter it to catch the broken glass.

COFFEE GROUNDS

KITCHEN

Place fresh or used (can even keep it in the filter) coffee grounds on a saucer
and put in refrigerator for up to 1 week to control strong odors.

Get rid of the smell of spoiled food after a freezer failure. Fill a couple
of bowls with used or fresh coffee grounds and place them in the freezer overnight.
For a different scent try adding vanilla or cinnamon to the grounds.

A few grounds down the drain will gently scrape the sides of the pipe on the way down.
(DON'T use them if the drain is already slow or stopped up.)

Dry or wet coffee grounds are great to use as a scrub for
pots, pans, ash trays, grills, ovens and such.

Sprinkle your fireplace ashes with wet coffee grounds.
This minimizes the dust and also doesn't pollute your air.

Put dried coffee grounds in a shaker and keep it by the kitchen sink to
deodorize your hands when cooking. Scrub with them and fish, garlic,
onion and other strong odors will disappear.

ALL OVER THE HOUSE USES

Spread used coffee grounds out to dry on a cookie sheet.
Put them into a knee high stocking or panty hose leg and tie it off.
This can be placed under seat in your vehicle, top of closets, etc. to freshen the area.

Steep used grounds in water and use a cotton swab or small paint
brush to cover small scratches on furniture.

Mix coffee grounds into candle wax to make a dense log.
This makes a fire starter log.

Dry your coffee grounds and save them in a can for quick
clean ups when you need a sweeping compound.

Sprinkle unused coffee grounds on carpeting to deodorize.
Leave on for as many hours as possible then vacuum.

HEALTH & BEAUTY

Steep a cup of coffee in hot water, then use as a hair rinse to help cover your gray.

Use a tablespoon of coffee grounds as an exfoliating wash for your face.

Fill a muslin bag or knee high stocking with used grounds. Use as an exfoliator
and scrub yourself with it in the shower. It is a deodorizer as well.

Rub warm, wet coffee grounds onto your skin and cover with plastic wrap
for a few minutes before rinsing to fight cellulite.

A quarter cup of grounds mixed with an egg white makes a toning and
firming facial. Massage it into your skin and allow it to dry, then rinse.
If you have dry skin, follow with a moisturizer.

LAWN, GARDEN & OUTDOORS

Compost the used coffee grounds and filter.

Place a ring of used coffee grounds around a tree, planting or even your home to deter ants.

Coffee grounds help eliminate cutworms. Sprinkle them around the problem area.

Mix them with soil before planting houseplants or making a new garden.
Used grounds contain salts so it is best to mix it with soil before using
on houseplants. It helps to deter mites and other pests.

Use them in a worm bed. Worms love the nitrogen. A cup of used coffee grounds
will keep your bait worms alive and wiggling all day long. Just mix the grounds
into the soil in your bait box before you dump in the worms.

Fertilize evergreens, radishes, blueberries, carrots, rosebushes, rhododendrons,
azaleas, Hydrangeas, strawberries, and camellias. Any acid loving plant can
handle coffee grounds. For the carrots & radishes, mix them together for
planting and mix the grounds with them.

Use damp coffee grounds for "ice melt". Just be sure not to track it inside
if your carpets are not brown. It may dye them. However, it is safe for the
decks, porches and also lawns.

Keep cats out of the garden or any other area by sprinkling used coffee grounds around.

FOR CRAFTING

Steep coffee grounds in hot water, then use it to dye paper for a parchment look.

Water from steeped coffee grounds make tan Easter eggs.

Dye cloth with water from steeped grounds. It will take a lot of grounds, but it works.

Dry coffee grounds and use them for a pin cushion and your pins and needles will not rust.

Take three coffee cans (large size ones) and cut the bottoms out of two of them.
Place can on bottom that you did not cut the bottom out of.
Stack the other two on top of that can, one at a time and tape them together to form a tube. Obtain a towel that matches your bathroom decor.
Glue it to the outside of the cans with strong glue.
You can use the coffee can lid for the top or make a special lid
from one of the bottoms that you cut.
To make a lid with a bottom, drill (or nail) a hole in middle
for a drawer or cabinet pull knob.
Glue the same type of material you used for the cans on the whole surface of the lid.
Screw the knob through the hole you made and through both surfaces of the material.
You can embellish this lid by gluing lace, ribbons, flowers, etc to it.

EMPTY CANS OR CONTAINERS
(PLASTIC AND METAL)

PLASTIC

Use them for storage containers.

Use them to raise melons, pumpkins or squash off the ground.
Push the open end into the ground then put the fruit on or over it.

Take toilet paper camping in a coffee can to keep it dry.

Recycle plastic grocery and newspaper bags in coffee cans. Cut an "X" on the plastic coffee can lid and simply store your bags and remove them easily (through the "X").

Store vegetable peels and other household waste in them for your compost piles.
The smell is reduced by having a lid to cover it.

Place yarn in the container for your crocheting or knitting.

METAL

Spray paint the outside of them to match the holiday you are giving the gift in.
Place breads, cookies, candies, etc inside the can.
Use the plastic lid as the top embellished with a bow and ribbons.

Cut the bottoms out of the cans and place over young plants
in a garden to protect them until they are established.

Punch a couple of holes in the bottoms of coffee cans and string ropes
or twine through them to make stilts.

Puncture a large coffee can liberally on bottom & some holes on sides
near bottom apx 2 inches up. Place a wad of newspaper inside.
Place charcoal brickets on top of the newspaper.
Open your grill and place the can on top. Leave grill open and light the nespaper.
The charcoal should be ready to use fairly soon.
This is similar to the store bought versions of a charcoal chimney.
Use pliars to remove the hot can and dump the coals into the grill.

Use a metal coffee can for draining hot grease from foods when cooking.

Fill half way with sand and use outside as an ashtray to prevent people
from throwing butts onto your lawn. The sand can be sifted and reused over and over.