Why You Should Be Keeping Coffee Grounds Outside Doors And Windows

We've discussed unexpected ways to use coffee grounds in your garden and why you might want to reconsider using them as a de-icer. Of the things you should and shouldn't do with those spent coffee grounds, we love the fact that they do help keep all sorts of critters at bay — and that's what using them outside your doors and windows can help with as well. And, while ants may be the most common bug people can use coffee grounds to keep from entering the house, some others which may be deterred from making their way indoors include beetles, mites, and fleas.

There are some fantastic tips online about how to use coffee grounds for battling bugs that want to come inside your home, but some suggestions work better than others. You could put the grounds in a salt shaker and set it outside the door, but that may not work as well as sprinkling the coffee grounds themselves across the threshold. We'll explain why one way is better than the other in a moment. Aside from doors and windows, make sure you have enough coffee grounds saved up to put around the foundation of your home. Ants and other bugs will happily find their way through cracks and into your basement, from where they will soon spread into the rest of your house, so coffee grounds there can help as well.

First, let's cover why bugs don't like coffee grounds. There are a few reasons. It begins with the smell of coffee — to bugs, that's a strong scent that disrupts their ability to follow their own scent trails and find food. The acidity in coffee, that thing that makes your tummy gurgle with your morning cup of joe, is another thing they dislike. Lastly, many bugs don't like the texture of the coarse and abrasive grounds as they crawl over them. For all of these reasons, you should sprinkle your coffee grounds rather than keep them in a container by the door or window. Containers with open lids will offer the deterring smell, but you'll miss out on the other benefits. Hopefully, it will keep out the most dangerous types of ant, too.

You don't have to wait until you see ants or other bugs entering your home to use this tip though. Proactivity will benefit you. Grab those spent coffee grounds from the pot every morning and spread them around your house until you've covered the entire area. Remember, most bugs are great climbers, so you want to sprinkle coffee grounds around the windowsills outside as well. It doesn't matter what kind of coffee you use, whether it's dark or light roast, so don't hesitate to use up those grounds.