How to Make a Loofah/Luffa Sponge

I've given you a recipe for Muop Tom Xao (Vietnamese Loofah and Shrimp Stir-Fry) so I figured it was time I showed you how to make your own loofah sponge.


My second-youngest uncle's muop (Vietnamese loofah) growing on the vine.


He always leaves one big one to dry out so he can get the seeds to plant for next year.


So while I was chopping down some sugarcane months ago, I spied a loofah that had dried out. This is what it looked like last year in my youngest uncle's loofah on the vine. He's growing the angled loofah this year so I'll have to take photos to show you the difference.

This is a different loofah from a few months back to show you how hard and brittle the outside gets when it dries out. You must use an old, dried out loofah in which the fibers have formed. Loofahs are generally cut before the fibers form so that they're easier for eating. A cut loofah from the store may not have grown fibrous enough and if you leave it out, you'll simply get mush.


When that happens, you can just peel off the outer layer.


To reveal the inside part that we use to scrub in the shower. My uncles use loofah sponges to wash their dishes too.


A close-up.


See? That's what it would have looked like if it had still remained on the vine.


It's not quite ready to go yet. You'll have to shake out all the seeds and cut the loofah into thirds, or however large you want each section to be.


Save the seeds to plant next year's crop.


Soak the loofah sections into warm soapy water. Use a little bit of bleach if you're concerned about cleanliness. I scrubbed and rinsed the loofah until the dirt was gone.


Let them dry out again and you have cleaned loofah ready for use in the shower or kitchen.


And there you have it, how to make your own loofah sponge.


Enjoy!

Other gardening posts.

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1 year ago today, thanh long (Vietnamese dragon fruit) in my youngest uncle's garden.