6 Ways of Using Coffee at Home

Coffee is a product that you can find in most households. While it is true that it is mainly used to prepare the classic drink that gets you out of bed in the morning, it can also be used to solve other issues at home. 5-Minute Crafts will show you what you can do with both freshly ground and already used coffee to get rid of some problems around the house.

1. To get rid of bad smells

• Spread used coffee grounds on a baking tray while it’s still moist. You should make a thin layer only.
• Bake at 480ºF (250ºC) until the coffee’s dry.
• Once dry, put it in an open jar and place the jar in any room of your house that has unpleasant odors.
• For quicker action, you can also skip the process of baking the dry used coffee if you use regular ground coffee instead. Just take it directly out of the package and place it in a jar.

2. To clean dirty pots

• Choose the pot you need to clean.
• Sprinkle some ground coffee on it and clean as you would normally.
• Be sure to rinse thoroughly afterward.

3. To repair scratches in wooden furniture

• Make a thick paste by mixing ground coffee and water in a bowl.
• Rub the scratched areas with the mixture. You can use a cotton swab or just a clean cloth.
• Let the mix sit for 5 to 10 minutes after applying.
• Wipe off any excess coffee using a clean cloth or a kitchen towel.
• You can apply as much mixture as needed until the scratched or damaged parts of the furniture can no longer be seen. Keep in mind that you need to wait a couple of hours between each treatment.

4. To tenderize meat

• Use the coffee grounds as an ingredient for a dry marinade.
• Sprinkle it on the meat and rub it thoroughly 2 hours before cooking.
• The coffee will cook over the meat and create a dark and crispy crust. You can also reuse the coffee grounds to make a liquid marinade, which you can use to marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 24 hours prior cooking.

5. To keep flowers fresh for longer

• Dissolve approximately ¼ cup of black coffee in ¾ cup of water. It should have a similar color to tea.
• Proceed to water your plants with this or place your flowers in this mixture.
• Before doing this, make sure that your plant will benefit from the acids in the coffee. Not all plants are keen to grow in a low pH. Also try to only use coffee that is made without any kind of additives.

6. To keep mosquitoes and other insects at bay

• Put the freshly ground coffee in a bowl or on a flat surface like a piece of aluminum foil.
• Burn the coffee as if it were any type of incense. You can use a piece of wood that burns slowly to help you light the coffee.
• Place the bowl with the burning coffee in a spot that is out of the wind.
• Alternatively, you can place the beans in a bowl or spread them out in the open.