Handmade 100% Natural Shower Loofah

Its been a while since I had grown any vegetables in my kitchen garden, the last one I remember was tomatoes. My next door neighbor has a small mango tree in the backyard which has some branches grown beyond their boundaries and falling into my backyard now. As a neighbor we have been sharing lots of good stuff since ages and helped each other in time of need. Isn't this nice in these times where its hard to maintain relations. Anyways...

Its mango season in India and I was trying to spot some mangoes on that tree(like I said we share like family) and guess what I found, a dried Sponge Gourd..How?. I had grown some sponge gourd in last winter and they lasted till March. The vine actually climbed the mango tree and no one noticed that there was a big fruit grown and hidden from us. You know we call it Gilki (Gil (G as in goat) - kee) in india and every alternate week my mom brings it from farmer's market and cook it.

I could not resist but to pluck it, this reminded me of my grand mother (can never thank you enough ma) who used to make loofah using it, in fact I had used it when I was a kid in times when shower gel was not something we knew or  had access to.

TIP: Do you know here in India we make awesome Gilki Bhajiyas (Fritters made using tender Gourds)? I might write an ible someday about it.

So lets see how we can make a 100% natural shower loofah using a dried Sponge Gourd (or luffa or Gilki) fruit. I will try to cover every nifty detailed I learned from my grand mother, you may find it over simplistic.

Step 1: All You Need Is

You will need a properly dried Sponge Gourd  or Luffa Gourd or Gilki (I will use the term gourd moving forward in this ible :)) And...

1. Lots of water
2. A plastic bucket
3. A sharp scissor if you choose to cut.

Making this loofah is simple but requires some processing which I mean natural processing. So lets make some loofah.

Step 2: Bring Out the Inner Beauty

When the gourd is dried properly, all that remains is the dried skin outside and fruit fiber inside. It is easier to peel the skin but we need to be careful so that we don't tear the fiber. It is easy to crush fiber when dried and we don't want to do that. I will show you how to remove the skin nicely (read professionally ;-) )

1. The end of the fruit is hollow and there is no fiber inside. Break the skin using your fingers (See Image 1 & 2).
2. Notice that there are dried seeds inside (Image 3). I am not sure if gourd have a seedless version but if your gourd does not have seeds insides, you will save a step :).
3. Remove the seeds from inside by jerking the gourd upside down. (Image 4). This should remove about 95% of the seeds inside.
4. Now put the gourd on the floor and hammer it lightly with your fist to make cracks in the skin (Image 5).
5. Start peeling off the skin by pulling the skin from the cracks, this way you will not tear any fiber (Image 6 & 7). 
6. The peeled off gourd will result in a fiber loofah (Image 8)...no no no... we are not done yet :).

Some clean up is required before we start using this loofah.

Step 3: Washing the Beauty

Why didn't we just start to use loofah after peeling?

Good Question. We did not use it right after we peeled it off because of following reasons:

1. Dried gourd fiber may still contain some fruit starch (it does actually), the moment you make it wet and use on your body, you will notice a stickiness like oil or gel. 
2. Every gourd is different, some may have a clean fiber and may not have dried skin inside. but most fiber does have skin flakes and seeds stuck inside the fiber.

Want more?? ok here it is

1. If the gourd is over dried or have cracks, it is possible that it may become home for some insects or even spiders (don't be scared, its just a precaution). Safety first. 

So I think now you will agree that it's a good idea to clean the gourd first before you have the luxurious shower loofah. :)

1. Grab a bucket full of warm water or enough water to submerge the fiber (Image 1).
2. Soak the fiber for a minute and then move it inside water clock-wise and anti-clock wise many times, see the dirty water with flakes and few seeds. (Image 2 & 3)
3. Squeeze the fiber and give it a few jerk to remove any seeds or broken fiber pieces stuck inside (Image 4).
4. Repeat this 2-3 times with clean warm water. Then squeeze it to drain access water.
5. Now grab your favorite body wash (Image 5) and pour a little on the fiber (Image 6). I used B&B works Aromatherapy :D
6. Rub it to make foam and leave it for a minute or two (Image 7) .
7. Rinse again in water to remove the body wash and squeeze & jerk it to drain access water. Then leave it on a dry surface (Image 8) (Oh...Please not on your cutting mat :))

Why shower gel here?
Another good question, when we soak the fibre for the first time, it may smell unpleasant (not exactly bad but just unpleasant) when you use if for first time, using gel in this step can make it smell pleasant :).

Alright..almost ready.

Step 4: Just Make It Handy

Now you have the nice and clean fiber ready to use (Image 1). Since I gourd was quite big, about a foot, I decided to cut it into 3 pieces (Image 2&3). The 2 bigger pieces will serve as loofah and the smaller one can be used as a feet scrub or just scrub.

I see lot's fiber inside, why not just slit cut and make few rectangular pieces or nice oval scrubs?
Another awesome question:).

As the question said fiber inside, why waste it ...right? You can cut the fiber into fancy pieces throwing away access fiber but here is what I am trying to emphasize, why waste a natural product, its all natural loofah and all that matters is how you use it. In my opinion and experience, using the loofah this way has few advantages over cutting it fancy pieces or attaching strings to hang

1. No wastage of a natural product.
2. It will keep the fiber intact therefore making it last longer, mine lasted for almost 4 months.
3. It can be multipurpose, if we cut it smaller, it can be used only for specific body parts.

But this is just my opinion :), use it the way you want.

Few maintetance suggestions :

1. When you are done using it in shower, rinse it with water and just put it on a soap dish.
2. If you want to use it for kids , soak it in warm water for few seconds and then use it.

I really appreciate you time in visiting and reading this ible. Please post your comments, feedback or suggestions in the comments section below. And if you like it and think this ible deserves a vote, please do vote.

Thanks