used tealeaves and coffee grounds to reduce smells

I read in some old, Victorian household manuals that a bowl of used tea leaves or coffee grounds would absorb odors in the house, leaving behind a pleasant smell.  

There are lots of variations on this theme.  Some say to dry it first, others say to place them in a bowl of water... etc.  

So I did some experiments.  

It's mostly coffee and the occasional used tea bag.  They are placed in the bowl freshly used.  And yes, they did indeed reduce smells.  However, as they dried, they lost efficacity (about two days).  Adding water did not help them regain their powers.  Changing the bowl daily (like when I make my first coffee of the morning) seems to do the trick.  It's kind of shocking how well this works.

However, having a bowl of what appears like 'compost' in the kitchen (the room with the most smells) encourages people to add compost to the pile.  The moment even a small amount of compost gets added to the coffee/tea bowl, they suddenly loose all power to absorb odors and are now the worlds greatest fly magnet.  That's just a few breadcrumbs.  Fruit added to it seems to release any smells it got rid of earlier and wow!  The FLIES!  

This is my findings after two years of experimenting.  I would love to hear if anyone's been able to reproduce the results.  

I've also wondered if there is some tool for measuring smells that I could use for more experimentation?  

Interesting. I read somewhere that tea leaves could be used like a 'shake and vac' on carpets and rugs to clean/deodorise them. I think you sprinkle them on damp, leave them to dry then brush them off.

Nancy Reading wrote:Interesting. I read somewhere that tea leaves could be used like a 'shake and vac' on carpets and rugs to clean/deodorise them. I think you sprinkle them on damp, leave them to dry then brush them off.

The Victorian manuals have us sprinkling them on the carpet or brickwork damp, then sweeping right away and the leaves gather dust that would otherwise go in the air and resettle elsewhere in the home.

The vacuum idea sounds promising.   Well worth a try.