Tip: Use a Loofah to Wash Dishes

Last week I visited Tara Kolla at her home, also known as Silver Lake Farms in Los Angeles. Her backyard is a half acre or so of paradise where she grows flowers, citrus and herbs for herself, for market and for a wonderful artisanal ice cream company called Carmela. More on Silver Lake Farms and Carmela in a future post.

Today I want to tell you about one of Tara's crops and what she suggests we do with it: loofah.

First of all, let's debunk the big loofah myth: it does not come from the sea. Loofah is a squash plant. It grows as a vine and best grown trellised. The squash is picked, dried and skinned. What remains is what you see above and in bathtubs across the world.

Tara has another idea for loofah, and that is to use it to wash dishes. We got one and have been using it all week. It works beautifully on plates and pans. It also is perfect for weaseling down a wine glass.

If you happen to be in Los Angeles, stop by Tara's stand at the Saturday Silver Lake Farmers' Market to buy one of her organic, untreated backyard loofahs. Or, pick one up wherever fine loofahs are sold and try it out in your kitchen sink.

Comments (22)

Amazing. I had no idea that a loofah was a squash.

I've always wanted to grow loofa. maybe I can convince my sister to grow them (She has a yard!) and then steal some to use for dish sponges.

Tara Kolla also grows the most amazing organic peonies!

whoops, not peonies. ranunculus.

This a great idea. I wonder if it will help me end my addiction to those Dobie sponges.

Hmm, I've recently been trying to come up with a way to get rid of sponges in my kitchen. Anyone have any ideas how effective a loofah is at scrubbing up cooked on food? And how long one would last?

Ugh, no way. Loofahs are natural fibers and will harbor bacteria, not to mention all the food that would get caught in them.

i am totally growing loofah this summer. i found out they came from gourds in a children's book!

wouldn't you just zap them in microwave, like you do regular sponges? Seems like you could.

Wonder how long they last - I literally go through one sponge a month. I have no idea what i'm doing to screw them up so much. Sponges are expensive too.

and oooooh, ranunculus are my new favorite flower. I get some from a farmer's market down near 7th and fig on thursdays. Might have to look her up on saturday.

If you cover something with soap would it have bacteria on it?

I've done this -- my parents bought me this penguin loofah scrubber for Christmas. Works great, and it's not bad for scrubbing the dirt off of veggies, either.

Food bits do tend to get stuck on the inside, but if you rinse it out really well, and as someone said above, zap it in the microwave periodically, I don't think it harbors more gunk or germs than your typical kitchen sponge. Not to mention all that dish soap.

I wonder if you could put it through the dishwasher. I put my sponges on the top rack periodically. Seems like you could do the same with these.

I recently started using a loofah to do the dishes so I could get rid of synthetic sponges. My problem is that the loofah doesn't hold soap at all. I end up using a rag to wash the dishes and the loofah just for scrubbing. (Incidentally--it's GREAT for scrubbing!) I can't imagine it would harbor any more germs than a regular sponge would, and you can always disinfect it in the microwave or by boiling.

I've always heard that loofah's harbor LESS bacteria because they dry out so quickly unlike a regular sponge. I often cut a loofah into 2 inch slices and use them as a place to rest my soap.

We recently started using a Twist Loofah Sponge and have found that it's the best of both worlds. It's true, loofah is awesome for washing dishes and scrubbing counters... but it's nice to have a regular sponge every once and a while too.

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/cleaning/twist-loofah-sponge-030925
http://www.buygreen.com/twistloofahsponges.aspx

Have been using natural sea sponges for cleaning for a number of years...the yellow and grass sponge are naturally resistant to bacteria, mold and mildew. The wool sponges are great for the bath (but too soft for cleaning). I also buy raw loofah in 18" lengths to remove love bugs (you have to live in the south-east to know what those are). I get all of this from the Natural Bath & Body Shop. They have great prices too and their shipping is very inexpensive (less that $2.00 for me).

www.naturalbathandbodyshop.com

Do you have to live in a warm climate to grow them or can those of us in New England start a crop?

Hi everyone! I used to buy loofah shower mits manufactured with a flat loofah surface on one side and terrycloth on the other. They barely lasted 2 months because the loofah always ripped. I started growing organic loofahs last year and have been using the same one in the shower for 6 months and it's still looking and working fine. Depending on when they are harvested, loofahs can be soft or hard. Soft ones hold soap quite well. Ones that stay on the vine longer (the harder ones) don't but they sure exfoliate well! I use loofahs in the kitchen too to clean human dishes as well as the cats' dishes. When they get grubby, I throw them in the washing machine. I find that when I use a loofah to wipe down countertops, I have to dry the surface off with a tea towel. It's a bit more work cleaning countertops this way but it feels good not using anything synthetic. When the loofah is completely worn to a nub, you can compost it. Talk about a zero waste product! I compost the loofah shells too. I just haven't figured out what to do with the millions of seeds I've kept! If you want some, stop by my stand at the farmers' market! Tara - Silver Lake Farms

can you post a photo of a loofah plant? I can't imagine what it looks like growing.

These kind of sponges are used in small towns in Mexico, because they are cheap and will last forever. My grandmother would boil new ones in order to get them to soften up and then cut them in thirds to make them easy to hold. Most latino grocery shops have them.

I didn't like them much for dishes... work well on skin though :)

My parents started growing loofahs in their small backyard garden in Dallas about 3 years ago. They are super easy to grow, and a word of warning: they take over EVERYTHING! We love this though, as they grow very well in the hot-dry Texas summer, completely over the fence, etc. You just leave them on the vine to dry out all fall (but make sure you bring them inside before a frost, or they will rot!).

We've been using them for just about everything, and yes, they make SUPER dish scrubbers! We do what the above reader said, and cut into 2 inch sections. Much less smelly than synthetic sponges b/c they dry out so quickly.

Loofahs are also great if you put them in a cardboard tube (i.e. Pringles can) and fill with liquid glycerin soap, then when it hardens, rip off the tube, slice (with an electric knife) and you have handmade soaps!