Why You Should Put A Jar Of Coffee Grounds In Your Freezer When Leaving For Vacation

Have you ever gone on a vacation to find that the power went out while you were away? If so, you know the nightmare of opening a freezer full of spoiled food and some foul scents. Although there are many ways to prepare for extended stays away from home, one useful trick is to add a jar of coffee grounds to your freezer before leaving. Doing so can help prevent the odor that can occur when your power goes out and your food spoils, keeping your freezer smelling fresh until you arrive home. You can use coffee grounds to remove odors after the damage is done, but it's best to use them preemptively if you know that you'll be away for a while. You may want to do this for a better-smelling fridge as well.

To use this hack, simply add some coffee grounds to a jar and place it in the freezer. If you don't have a jar on hand, a cookie sheet or saucer can serve as a good alternative. This hack will only take you a minute or two but can be well worth it if you're going to be away from home for an extended amount of time. Once you return home, your freezer should smell fresh since the coffee grounds will have absorbed the odor. After removing the spoiled food, you may need to leave the coffee grounds for a while longer. Later, do some basic cleaning to remove the slight coffee smell that remains. 

So why does coffee work so well for eliminating odors in the freezer? Although some people love the smell of coffee itself, coffee does a great job of removing odor because it contains both carbon and nitrogen. The carbon in coffee can help remove sulfur from the air through a process known as adsorption, while nitrogen helps it do so more effectively. Coffee grounds don't just cover up foul odors but absorb them.

Remember that you don't need to use new coffee grounds to experience the benefits of this hack. You can use either fresh or used coffee grounds to get rid of bad odors. However, you'll want to dry your used coffee grounds before placing them in the fridge or freezer. Also, be aware that you'll need to replace coffee grounds with a fresh batch if you keep them in your freezer for a long time. They'll lose their effectiveness after some time has passed.