How to Harvest Loofah
- 1). Pick your loofah when the skin of the luffa seed pod feels like it will be easy to peel. According to the experts at luffa.info, the seed pods become easier to peel as they dry, but they get dark rot spots if allowed to hang for too long or if exposed to rain. The trick is to pick them as soon as they've finished developing, so that they don't rot on the vine. The color of a ripe luffa varies from light green to yellow to brown.
- 2). Cut the luffa from the vine by snipping with a pair of garden trimmers or simply twisting until the fruit is free.
- 3). Loosen the skin and seeds by slamming the seed pod against a hard surface and squeezing it in your hands. This will make the skin and seeds easier to remove.
- 4). Remove the tip of the pod by breaking or cutting it with a small knife. Shake loose seeds from the pods.
- 5). Push in and pull apart the skin of the seed pod. It will peel rather easily if ripe, but some extra crushing will help to loosen it up. The skin will peel back in strips, revealing the loofah fibers beneath.
- 6). Spray the loofah with water to remove the sap color and any other seeds. Shake out any excess water.
- 7). Soak loofahs in a bucket of water with some chlorine bleach if you want to remove any dark spots. This will remove stains and disinfect the loofah, although bleaching is not a requirement. Try using one cup of bleach diluted in a 3-gallon cleaning bucket.
- 8). Allow the loofah to dry in sunlight, rotating as needed to provide exposure to different parts. The loofah will harden as it dries, which is what makes it so great for exfoliation, but storing the loofah before it completely dries can lead to mold.