I enjoy French Press coffee, but cleaning up the grounds is annoying, especially if your drains can’t handle the grounds, like with septic tanks or if they clog easily. The grounds stick to the filter, so you have to rinse them off anyways.
Start out by adding enough water to cover the plunger. Then when you pull the plunger out, the water will rinse off most of the grounds stuck to the filter and leave them in the carafe.
Now you can swirl the water and grounds in the carafe and dump them in a strainer. A cheap reusable permanent coffee filter basket ($6 USD) works much better than any kitchen strainer. From there, you can shake that out into the trash or compost, minimizing mess and the amount of ground going down the drain
Edit: guys, for those saying they dump them down the toilet, that doesn’t help for buildings with a septic tank. If you live in such a building, DON’T DO THAT
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I rinse the grounds from the plunger into the main carafe, then add enough water to swirl them and toss the grounds in my plants outside.
I scoop most of the grounds out into a paper towel abs throw them away. The few that are left rinse away.
This is actually a decent idea. Adopted.
You never put your grounds down the sink. No plumbing can handle it. Eventually you will get a plugged sink.
Brilliant hack! No more battling stubborn coffee sludge—just a smooth, mess-free cleanup. Bonus points for saving your drain and composting the grounds!
It’s just coffee grounds. I use my hand to rake it out into the trash or compost and then rinse off what’s left. It’s not that bad.
Why are you putting coffee grounds down the drain at all????
Bonus tip : I discovered that adding a drop of dish soap to the press along with filling it up with hot water then pushing the plunger a half dozen times is a fun and effective way to clean everything once the bulk of the grounds are out.
I put some water in the bottom if there’s no left over coffee, swish around and throw a paper towel then dump it in my trash. It works for me!
Use those grounds for your garden and for pest control!
Just took a used yogurt container, drilled holes in the bottom, and rinse the carafe into there. Leave it on the counter in a shallow container until I’ve filled it then dump the grounds in the garden. Easy peasy.
If you are going to use a filter anyways, just do pour over coffee to begin with. It’s arguably better tasting, better for you, and easier to cleanup.
No drains can handle grounds. Don’t pour mud down your drains. Use a spatchula to scrape it out and compost it.
I flush my used grind down the toilet that is used the most, or put them in the garden. Either one works great
You can also add more water, slosh it around to get all the grounds in suspension, and dump them down the toilet. It handles worse.
Get thee an Aeropress.
They make compostable filter bags. I use those and add them to my compost. But you can just toss them in the trash.
Hey yourself an aeropress
I used to use a spoon to scoop out the grains into the compost. My friend looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “you use a spoon?” As she stuck her hand in and manually stopped out the grains and then washed her hand. That is how I’m currently cleaning most of the coffee grains from my french press. It works pretty A-OK.
I throw them in my plant soil.
One more reason why I love my aeropress
Much better method, let the coffee brew without the plunger, the grounds will float to the top, use 2 spoons to remove the grinds straight to trash then plunge.
This has the added benefits of making plunging easier and giving a cleaner cup.
If your toilet can’t handle coffee grounds how are you shitting?!…
add water and dump it in the toilet
Get a fine mesh strainer.
Add water to French press, swirl and dump into strainer.
Invert strainer over trash can or compost bin.
No mess, no fuss
What do coffee grounds do to a septic tank?
Just get an aeropress.
I add a half carafe of water, insert the plunger a few inches, invert the press over the sink and press the plunger the rest of the way in. Using the air trapped in the carafe to flush the water out -gives you a nice manageable cake of grounds to slide into the compost bucket.
Ymmv.
I recently started using a Hario Switch instead. Much easier to clean and the filter full of grounds goes right in the trash.
Just get one of these : OXO Good Grips Coffee Grounds Cleaning Scoop
https://a.co/d/aenD6Yi
You can scoop out basically all the grounds, then rinse the carafe and you’re done.
Had one for about 5 years of daily use and no scratches to the glass and no loss of functionality.
What’s wrong with your kitchen compost? You can’t scoop stuff out with a spoon?
This is why I love my aero press. Once in done just open the cap and eject a puck of used coffee grounds out where ever you dispose of it. Maybe a knife to scrape off the little bit that sticks to the plunger.
I rinse mine with water and swirl it and toss it in my counter compost bin. Then I feed my garden soil with it, and any Earth I see that wants some love.
It kills me to know how many people throw their grounds in the trash can.