I saw a video of using a pringle chip can, put sponge in it. Pour homemade soap in the can. When hard, tear can away and slice soap/sponge into usuable sizes. I bought a bar once and loved it.
NEW EASIER WAY! I was watching another video on this, they soaked the luffa gords after they dried and turned brown. That softened the skin/shell. They then stuck a finger into one end and ran it up one side like a letter opener. Then they peeled off the outside in essentially 1 piece. They would then bang the luffa on a table to knock the seeds out. This was a farm that grew them for sale.
I'm feeling a little jealous cuz when I was a child I used to love to pick up sticks and Peel the bark off. so watching you peel the skin off of the gourd kind of making me wish I had one to peel. To me the dried was best.
Very cool process! Have you tried squeezing them while they're still drying like you did in your other video, then letting them dry out completely and peeling them like in this one? I have a feeling that that would make peeling the skin off an easier process
Im pretty sure its so much fun easy when your whole heart give it all your best to do it yourself without questioning but just do it and give it all thank you so very much for kind sharing 👍👍
8/10/18 - Q: can water be used to remove the skin; how do I keep the gourd long to use on my back and still be able to remove all seeds, finally what do you do about keeping mold away?
I just purchased soap which had a layer of loofah on the bottom of the bar and I really like it. Especially after gardening I like having the loofah on there.
You mentioned that the fresh luffa could be boiled and bleached. When you made them by drying them out, did you notice any difference when using them since the boil/bleach step was skipped? For example in the shower did the goop rehydrate?
Thank you! I'm going to let mine dry. I've always got too much to do during harvest time w/ 2 acres of an organic food forest when I work OT 6 days a week, maintaining bees, chickens, house, processing food, etc. I've seen the soap idea. People are making $ off that. Might try it.
This looks like a great method, I love the thought letting them sit until there is more time in the winter. Although I do enjoy beating them into loofahs.
I scrounge pumpkins in the fall for animals. Some of the ones I scrounged looked like nice pie type, however had inside like a spaghetti squash. The animals preferred these over normal ones. Cut two types in half , poof aways leave the one and go too spaghetti squash type till gone. I'd plant them seeds in special place, might get a bonus surprise.
I just bought a 7” loofah with a cord loop in the corner of it so it will hang in the shower. It was $3.50. Couldn’t help but think of you and your wealth of loofahs! :)
When you peeled the fresh gourd you had to really rinse it well to get the slimy stuff off... when you wet the dried out gourd after peeling, does the slimy stuff not rehydrate and get yucky again or does it just "disappear?"
Great videos! Are luffa 'sponges' approximately the same when peeled fresh and green as when dried? With regard to how soft/hard, durable they are etc. Do they last about the same amount of time with the same/similar use? Do you also need to wash with hose after you peeled the dry ones? (And if you don't have a hose spray/jet, how do you wash them then?)
Hi. First time watching your channel. I am so glad you shared your luffa gourd harvest and even more happy that I found out you live in Missouri and that the luffa will have a long enough growing season and do fairly well in Missouri (which is where I live too). I have seeds but was worried that the growing season would be too short to harvest any fully mature, dried fruit. So glad I stumbled across your site. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Skye! But I actually grew the luffas near birdhouse goards, butternut squash and cucumbers. There's no telling what the seeds would end up producing.
If anyone is here still- help! My uncle grew some a lot of these, they e been sitting in the garage drying for like a year or more! They do NOT CRACK OPEN LIKE THIS! My fingers are killing me just TRYING to crack one! I want to make them into some cute different actual loofah sponges. HOW do I do this???
I’ve seen them sliced abit thinner. Maybe 1/3 the length of what you’ve cut. Them they poured in homage soap. Soap and Luffa in one. Do you mail luffas?
Question: can you root a cutting from a loofah plant? It'd be cool to get a good start like when over wintering peppers...my luffas aren't filled out quite yet and cold is a'comin! I'll probably try to eat the small ones like I've seen done before. My chickens used to pick mine apart when I had them drying on the porch. They wanted the seeds lol
Will they rot if left to dry when green? I am growing ridged luffas, and they are incredibly difficult to peel when fresh. I'm having to cut the skin off with a sharp knife. Also, most of my luffas grew up a wall, but the weight of the luffas is pulling the vine off the wall prematurely. Most are still green and may not be supremely hard.
I have A LOT of luffa flowers that won’t be able to produce anything before the first frost - what can I do with them? Are they edible? I’m excited about all the luffas I will be getting - but don’t want to waste the flowers if there is any beneficial properties to them.
Hi, Do you let them dry on the vine? My vine has a few large loofah, I'm not sure when to harvest. I'm in south africa, so it's midsummer here now. Thank you for the video.
could you sell those at the farmer's market if you had enough of them? Last time I bought one at walmart I paid $4.99 for a much smaller sponge than you have there.
Where did you place them at to dry completely, so you could peel them? I believe the totally dried one is the way to peel them. I am going to have to see if they will grow here in Wisconsin. Thank you very much for all your hard work.
Luffas are beautiful and very useful for us as a family always enjoying using luffas for shower body washing everyday we dont care what colour we just wanted to be able to used and available all the time in store for family like us but Im thinking to try and planted myself in my backyard see if its grow then we see from that because it looks so much fun to grow and pill it out thank you so much for sharing God bless 👍👍
Loofah gourd is eaten as a vegetable in the Philippines when they are still young. But once they get too big and dried that's how we use them as a scrubber. We put them in soups
Great video👍 the puppy was pretty interested in what you were doing LOL🤣 he was going to get that broom! Your video was very informative and very well-spoken keep up the awesome work👍
Heidi Flanders I bought a luffa sponge years ago that had been glued to a wooden handle. After awhile the handle fell off, but I've been using the sponge continuously for a foot scrubber for about 5-6 years at least. I've got luffa about ready to harvest this year and am excited to see how the sponge with work on dishes and as a shower and sink scrubber. The sponge I've been using had never taken on any kind of odor, like those small rectangular ones you but at the store.
Thanks for sharing.. I am going to plant some Luffa this year hopefully it will grow for me.. I will wait for it to dry.. like you did here .. :") Have a great weekend..
