How to Dispose French Press Grounds (5 Ways You Likely Did Not Think About)

Brewing coffee with a French Press is a convenient and quick way to make a decent cup of coffee. But if you wondering how to dispose of the grounds once you’re done, French Press users will tell you it is the frustrating part of using a French Press.

So, we’re going to make your life easier and show you what to do with the coffee grounds after you’re done with brewing.

These are 5 ways to dispose French Press grounds:

1. Recycling the grounds for the garden
2. Body scrubbing
3. Natural dye for fabric or paper
4. Meat Tenderizer for Tough Meat Cuts
5. Grow Mushrooms in Your Kitchen

Disposing French Press Coffee Grounds

Cleaning your French Press should be easy. Once you’ve poured your cup and enjoyed the brew of your favorite French Press coffee, you head to the kitchen sink. You remove the plunger, stare down at the soggy pile of coffee grounds, and pause. What am I going to do with this, you may be asking? What we discuss in this article may apply also to other similar coffee makers.

For a moment you consider tossing them down the sink. But the guys on your local coffee shop keep telling you this is NOT a good idea! What are you meant to do with the coffee grounds? Use some of these tips for disposing of French Press coffee grounds without the hassles.

Don’t Throw Coffee Grounds Down the Sink

Coffee grounds can’t be disposed of down your sink drain or your garbage disposal. It’s a pity because coffee grounds are great for eliminating odors. And one place that could do with odor elimination is your garbage disposal. Toilets are another place you shouldn’t be disposing of your coffee grounds.

Coffee grounds are a disaster waiting to happen if they end up going down drains and pipes. They cause a buildup in the pipes. We all know what happens when the plumbing clogs up. Save yourself an expensive plumber bill and don’t dispose of coffee grounds down the sink drain.

Okay, the message is loud and clear about where NOT to dispose of French Press coffee grounds. Let’s get talking about HOW you can dispose of used coffee grounds.

1. Recycling Coffee Grounds for the Garden

A popular way of disposing of your wet clump of coffee grounds is to toss them onto your compost heap. Gardeners rave about the benefits of coffee grounds because they contain nitrogen. And, nitrogen gives energy to the bacteria decomposing the organic matter in the compost heap.

Let’s see how else we can use coffee grounds in this area of our home:

• Coffee grounds can amend the soil if it’s dug into the ground. It’s a good idea to keep this ground damp so the coffee grounds can encourage the microbes to grow which feed on the nitrogen adding it as a nutrient to the soil.
• A layer of coffee grounds on the top of the soil together with leaf mulch is an excellent approach to water-wise gardening. This mulch layer will help prevent the ground from drying out too quickly.
• Roses love coffee grounds so when you’re ready to dispose of your coffee grounds simply pour them out around the base of your rose bushes.
• Garden pests don’t like coffee grounds so scatter some coffee grounds around and the pests will stay away.

If you’re living in an apartment without a garden, find someone who does have a garden. They’ll be grateful to have your coffee grounds.

2. Get Body Scrubbing With Coffee Grounds

You’ll be amazed by what you can do with used coffee grounds. Body scrubs are a good way of removing dry skin, improving blood circulation, and smoothing down those cellulite bumps.

On the subject of scrubbing – coffee grounds work for scouring down a sink, scrubbing grease-covered cooking racks, and polishing your cookware. But don’t use them to clean any porous surfaces. You’ll end up with brown stains.

3. A Natural Dye if You Like the Natural Look

Coffee grounds can be used to make a natural dye. Dispose of the French Press coffee grounds into a bowl of water and leave them to soak. The water will turn brown and you can use it to dye fabrics and hide those nasty stains on your favorite white shirt (which has become your favorite brown shirt).

You can get creative with craft paper. Use the coffee grounds dye to create an old-fashioned look. Hide your gray hairs by steeping your hair in this dye and you won’t need to worry about toxic chemicals getting onto your scalp or drying out your hair. It may even help your hair to grow.

4. A Meat Tenderizer for Tough Meat Cuts

What easier way to dispose of French Press coffee grounds than to use them on your meat? Coffee grounds contain acids and other enzymes that help to tenderize the tougher cuts of meat. And, as a bonus, they’ll enhance the meat flavors.

Add the used coffee grounds to your favorite meat rub recipe. Rub into your meat a couple of hours before cooking. The grounds will cook into the meat and a dark, rich crust will form. Another option is to add used coffee grounds to your meat marinade. Let the meat sit in the marinade for up to 24 hours and cook. Your meat will be tender and tasty.

5. Grow Mushrooms in Your Kitchen

If you like adding mushrooms to your meal here’s a way to make sure you don’t run out of mushrooms. Mushrooms grow in damp, porous, and sterile soil. This is known as a substrate. You can achieve the same kind of substrate with used coffee grounds and sawdust. You’ll need a bucket, some mushroom spawn, and cellophane.

Mix the used coffee grounds, sawdust, and mushroom spawn. Toss this mix into the bucket and poke some holes into the bucket above the substrate level. Cover the top of the bucket with the cellophane. You’ll need to spray a light mist of water every few days to keep the substrate moist. Within two to three weeks you’ll start to see the first signs of mushrooms growing.

Clean Your French Press the Easy Way

We’ve shown you what to do with disposed of French Press coffee grounds. But, how do you take the used coffee grounds out of your French Press without making a monumental mess during the process? Or, breaking your French Press because you were shaking it too hard to dislodge the last of the coffee grounds.

For some reason, when you try to dispose of coffee grounds, they end up on every surface and in the sink. Or, if you were tossing them in the garbage can, they end up on the floor. And, you’re still left with stubborn coffee grounds stuck to the bottom of your French Press.

Let’s talk about some of the easy ways of cleaning your French Press so you can dispose of the used coffee grounds for whatever purpose you’re going to use them for.

• Swirl the water: Remove the plunger and add enough water to cover the used coffee grounds. Gently move the French Press in a swirling motion so the water and the coffee grounds blend. While swirling, toss the water out into a container for later use, straight onto the compost heap, or in the garden.
• A rubber spatula: This nifty kitchen gadget can be used to scrape the coffee grounds out of your French Press without scratching the inside of the cylinder. Simply scrape the coffee grounds into a container or straight into the garden or compost pile.
• Paper towel or newspaper: Line the sinkhole with a paper towel or newspaper. Swirl some water in the French Press and then pour it out over the paper. You can then wrap up the paper and coffee grounds and toss them into the garbage can. Or add to the compost heap. The paper will disintegrate into the compost.
• Sink mesh strainers: Place a mesh strainer designed for sinks. Swirl the French Press under the tap and pour down the sink. The mesh strainer will catch all the coffee grounds so all you have to do is lift it out and toss the coffee grounds out.

Cleaning a French Press and disposing of the coffee grounds shouldn’t be a hassle. It’s about getting smart and using simple modifications to make the job easy. If you look for an easy-to-clean French Press, we recommend you check out the French Press from Simpli Press (this is an affiliate link). The way Simpli Press works makes cleaning it a breeze.

A Final Word

You bought a French Press because you wanted a convenient and quick way to make your favorite coffee brew every day. The last thing you want are hassles and disposing of coffee grounds could turn into a problem. But with some improvisation and creativity, you can dispose of used coffee grounds and put them to further good use.