Handmade Loofah Soap

I promised a post about the outcome of my Loofah harvest.

If you have been following my blog then you know I grew a small loofah garden this past summer. Loofah is a natural sponge. It grows on a vine and in the same family as the gourd. They grow large and dry out in the Fall. Once they skin is hard and dry, you peel it off to reveal a loofah sponge ready to remove seeds, rinse and use. 

My harvest was small. I had many loofahs appear but never reached maturity. I blame it mostly on the size of the trellis I had it to climb. They need a lot of space to spread. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to have an abundance of sponges to share, but it didn’t happen. 

I found a way to share the small harvest of loofahs with friends by cutting them into pieces and making them into soaps (not my friends, my loofahs). For Christmas I was able to give each neighbor a couple homemade loofah soaps and a set of my crochet washcloths as gifts. They also received homemade cookies. 

The process was easy. 

I first had to find a a silicon soap mold which I ordered off ebay. Then headed out to Hobby Lobby for some melt and pour soap. I chose the natural goat milk soap base. I have never made soap before. I could never accept the process of buying soap to make soap. It just doesn’t make since to me. 

But I did it anyway.

I placed a cut of loofah into the molds. Then I melted the soap and added a drop of fragrance. I used some soap fragrance but you can use essential oils just as well. I poured the melted soap over the loofah in the mold. I actually only filled the molds half way as I failed to get enough soap. I refused to buy anymore and made due with what I had. Once the soaps dried, I popped them out of the mold and they were ready for use.

My husband was my guinea pig. He used one for a week in the shower. He said he liked how soft it made his skin and liked the scrubby texture of the loofah. 

I want to grow more loofah this year on a bigger trellis. They were fun to watch grow and attracted lots of friendly bees. 

If you would like to grow loofah this summer, I have a few packs of loofah seeds for sale if you would like to purchase them from my  Etsy shop or contact me via email or contact form. 

The money made from these will go toward my garden fund.

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