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Used coffee grounds have a number of uses that not only can save you money, but reduce the need for certain chemicals that are bad for our environment. For avid coffee drinkers, coffee grounds are something that are around and available, and can be put to much better use than just throwing away. Here are 22 of the best uses for used coffee grounds:

Deodorizer. Put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer alone or with a drop of vanilla, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells such as garlic or onions. Make a used coffee grounds sachet for your closet. Fill old nylons or cheesecloth with dry used coffee grounds.

Plant food. Rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, and evergreen prefer acidic soils and will appreciate your nitrogen releasing coffee leftovers. Increase your garden's carrot and radish harvest by mixing seeds with dry coffee grounds before planting the seeds. Also, add used coffee grounds to the pots of indoor plants.

Compost. Put them in the compost heap. You can throw in the coffee filter with the grounds. Tea bags can go directly to compost as well after removing the staples.

Insect repellant. Sprinkle old grounds around the foundation of your house or other places you don't want ants (including the ant hills themselves). The grounds will cause the ants to move on and stay away. This also works for snails and slugs.

Dye. Steep the grounds in hot water to make a brown dye for fabric, Easter eggs, or imitation parchment paper.

Furniture scratch cover-up. Steep some grounds in a little hot water and apply a bit of the liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.

Cleaning product. Coffee grounds are slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects such as grills, ovens, pots, and pans.

Kitty repellent. To keep kitty from using the garden as a large-scale litter box, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.

Flea dip. After shampooing your pooch, apply coffee grounds and work down to his skin. Rinse. This keeps fleas away, and leaves the dog's hair soft.

Fireplace dust inhibitor. Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.

Hair treatment. Coffee grounds soften and add shine to hair. When washing your hair, rub coffee grounds through wet hair and rinse. For brown and red hair, coffee grounds add highlights.

Spa treatment. Use coffee grounds as an exfoliant for skin. Pat on skin, massage in, and rinse or fill

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