Growing Loofah-The ultimate cleaning sponge!

Living in a modern world where we are surrounded by intelligent design there is just no denying that the humble ‘Loofah’ is a gift from God, because I have yet to find the man made kitchen sponge that lives up to its promises of never going sour.

Confusingly, on the internet you will find sales images of Loofah’s alongside sand dollars and sea shells but a sea sponge is not what this is. No ma’am!

You can grow Loofah at home right in your own back yard!

Antibacterial claims - are they true?

When Loofah hit the pages of social media as the next eco friendly trend in kitchen sink cleanliness there were also claims floated regarding Loofah’s being antibacterial and antimicrobial followed by another round of social media posts saying they weren’t - so which is correct?

While some science papers have found no evidence of antibacterial or antimicrobial properties and blame loofa’s open network of cellulose fibres as a potential breeding ground for harbouring debris and promoting bacterial growth. Other articles note the open-pore network, being so efficient at liquid permeation only means the sponges quick drying potential promotes an environment that does not support the growth of bacteria. Of further interest the noted presence of the protective lignin material of loofah sponge supports its resistance to pH fluctuation and microbial corrosion.

The efficient open-pore network of a loofah sponge.

If you want to dive deeper in to the “science research on loofah”, a quick search on google might surprise you to see some of the applications it is being tested in, such as cleaning up waste water and even electricity generation.

After 3 years of using Loofah’s

Getting back to the merits of Loofah’s as an efficient home use cleaning sponge, i think sometimes the good old nose test can tell you as much as you need to know.

As a committed loofah user, who has been using these sponges consistently to clean my dishes for 3 years, there is no persuading me now that the man made alternatives are better. I say this because hand on heart as much as i keep sniffing my sponges (in the early days with suspicion) I have yet to detect even a hint of that familiar fowl sour smell that rapidly arrives with synthetic dish scrubbies we are constantly having to replace no matter how ‘clean’ we keep them.

I can also tell you that i don’t bleach or disinfect my loofah’s, I don’t throw them away after 3-4 weeks as recommended by some internet experts and I use them until they start to fall apart. Like any sponge, I rinse it free of debris and leave it to air dry on my dish rack. On average my dish sponges last a good few months but my large loofah in the shower that i just changed out this summer - it was over 8 months old!!

Tips for growing Loofah

Loofah starts as a vegetable which grows on a vine ( like a cucumber) and can infact be eaten - leaves and all (i am told)- as a wonderful stir fry ingredient if picked young. The vine does require a good amount of space and needs a long warm growing season so a dedicated trellis or fence is a must.

8 loofah vines growing along a fence line

For Missouri ( Zone 5A) growers like me, I get my seeds started indoors in February. A great tip to promote germination is to soak your seeds in water for 24hrs before planting. Seedlings will be happy in large yoghurt pots until ready for transplant. Loofah’s don’t like their roots being disturbed so you want a strong healthy plant before transitioning outside and while most plants thrive in well draining loamy soil of a raised bed, we also successfully grow loofah in our ‘in ground’ clay soil and have found the vines do just as well as long as they get enough water.

Harvesting Goals

If harvesting sponges is your goal then the vegetables must be allowed to fully mature and then dry to a crisp on the vine

Yellow/brown loofah’s are starting to dry. Once dried they can then be peeled revealing the skeleton structure of the vegetable within which is incredibly strong, yet equally soft, gently abrasive and when plunged into a dish of soapy water holds a wonderful lather for washing and cleaning

In the 3 years i’ve been growing and using loofah’s, I no longer purchase shower scrubbies or dish sponges and have given many friends a loofah gift!

I have noticed that my loofah’s perform wash after wash, and last for months on end. This really is the ultimate cleaning sponge!

If you want to get your hands on one of our organically grown Loofah’s head over to our shop where we sell kitchen size and shower size sponges and also seed packets if you would like to grow your own.