"Coffee Grounds" Topic

Do you collect coffee grounds for use in wargaming?

During my times of drying used tea leaves, I had a terrible time figuring out how to dry coffee grounds without making a terrible mess.

A friend asked why I insisted on doing this with used coffee grounds?

Oh …

Save mine for the roses. I have seen it used as a basing material.

At least it smells nicer than other materials… ;-)

I'd have to drink (and brew) coffee for that to be an option.

No.

A 50lb bag of sand costs about 5 USD. No drying necessary.

Not routinely, but I do on occasion if a project warrants it

No, I don't drink coffee. However I do make use of used tea leaves and grounds (there are teas that are cut finely enough they resemble coffee grounds).

No.

Don't drink coffee, and I wouldn't save the grounds if I did.

I use coffee grounds extensively. I drink a lot of coffee and they have a nice texture and color. Despite the nay sayers I have had no problems with bugs, mold, or critters in years of using them.

Yes.

No, but I want to.

Only to make coffee.

Wife uses them for the gardening, I wouldn't waste my time anyway….

I used colored sand mixtures on my bases -- no painting required. No need for coffee grounds, nor tea leaves. Cheers!

I once used coffee grounds on bases, but SWMBO now
demands that coffee grounds go into the compost bucket…

Why, Yes!

It is the gamer's choice
link

I'm with Cormac, I buy sand.

Specifically lizard sand (it's very fine).

If I need scale rocks etc., I have a lifetime's supply of stuff from Geek Gamers and WWS.

The only natural stuff I use now is dry oregano for cam nets (with mesh bandage), and beech seeds for forest/woodland scatter.

Has anyone experienced mold, criters or decompostion using organic materials?

I use reddish sand, from the North Shore of Lake Superior, for my figure bases (example: the green sand mixture is store-bought). I also use blackish sand, from a river site, near an iron mine processing site. Both of these sands have micro-organisms present, when I pick them up.

For safety purposes, I wash them with dish soap and hot water, first. Then, I spread them across a dedicated cookie sheet. I bake them at 300 F, for 30 minutes, to kill off any lingering micro-organisms which might be present. After that, I use Wood Glue to adhere them to figure bases. I've been doing this for 10+ years, without issue.

I think if you choose to use organic materials, you would be wise to sterilize them, first. If possible, bake them at 230-300 F, for 30 minutes.

If baking at a temperature above the boiling point of water is not feasible, perhaps soaking them in either isopropyl alcohol, or hydrogen peroxide, for several hours, might be an option? A third option would be to seal them with some sort of transparent glue, or spray coating, to avoid mold or fungus, if concerned. Cheers!

Being from the ancient times,
I recall when most flocking was made of saw dust. I have been using coffee and tea for more than 40 years. The only microbial problems I have had in that time, is some fungus on a rushed job, and that was in the supple bin, not on the model. Using full twigs, or seeds is far more likely to present issues. Dryness is the key. I lived in a desert for quite a few years and just setting things out to dry was more than enough. To kill things, all you really need is 170 degrees F inside the item. So for damp times a oven pre-heated to say 190 F will do. The longer the better. Also spreading things out and air movement help to dry things. Oh, and a slow cooker or powered crock pot does this well too. I have seen mold in many more paint pots then I have seen in these dried scatter materials, and I suspect few people are too worried about the microbes in there paint.