How Coffee Beans Can Help You After Chopping Onions

There might be few things more annoying than that lingering onion smell that sticks around on your hands long after you've finished working with the pungent ingredient. No matter how many times you wash your hands, that stubborn onion smell can still persist, sometimes for hours after you've finished cooking. But never fear — there is a way to defeat the lingering onion scent, without having to buy fancy soaps or special products. In fact, one of the best ways to get rid of the onion smell is to use something that you probably already have in your home: coffee beans.

According to Eldorado Coffee, rubbing coffee grounds on your hands after cooking can help eradicate unwanted scents that stay on your skin after food preparation. Simply keep a small container of coffee grounds by the sink and use it to scrub your hands after chopping onions. Then, wash your hands normally with soap and water, and voilà — the persistent onion smell will be gone.

But the uses of coffee grounds are not just limited to onions. Coffee beans can be used to get rid of many strong cooking smells, including garlic and fish, according to Kitchn. A full bowl of freshly ground coffee beans can even be placed inside enclosed spaces like refrigerators to absorb bad smells and deodorize the area, leaving the whole fridge smelling fresh and clean no matter what strong-smelling food items you might have inside. 

According to Apartment Therapy, once the odors have been absorbed, the used grounds, along with the bad smells, can simply be thrown away or used as fertilizer, proving there's no limit to just how useful coffee grounds can be around the house.

So the next time you are chopping up onions or handling any other strong ingredient, you don't have to worry about washing your hands until they are raw or buying an overpriced scent-heavy soap. If you have a handful of coffee beans at the ready, and your hands — and your home — will be back to smelling fresh in no time.