Five All-Natural Fruit and Vegetable Wash Recipes

It’s a fruit wash. It’s a vegetable wash. Yep, it’s a fruit and vegetable wash! 5 natural recipes for removing wax and other nasty residues from your produce.

I love early summer when I can go to the U-Pick strawberry farms and pick my own fruit. But strawberries are one of the worst fruits when it comes to pesticide residue. Other fruits and vegetables can have them too, as well as dirt and bacteria. While you can’t always get rid of it all, here are a couple of ways to wash away some of it.

To Wash or Not To Wash

Some fruits and vegetables can be and should be, washed before you store them. For example, potatoes and oranges should be washed and dried before storing. But some, like strawberries, are better off not touched until you are ready to use them.

Strawberries should not be washed until you’re ready to eat them. Because moisture left on the strawberries will make them get moldy faster.[1]

Strawberries, and others like mushrooms, can get moldy or disintegrate easily when stored wet. So know what you are working with to get the most out of it.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash Recipe 1

Here are a few different recipes that will help you.

• 1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (learn to make your own apple cider vinegar)
• and 1/2 cup distilled water

Simply mix together and decant into a spray bottle. Then spray fruits and veggies to clean. And let sit for 5 minutes or so, then rinse. This will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator. Shake before each use.

To use this as a wash or soak, add 1/2 cup of this mix to a sink of cold water. Soak fruits and veggies for 5-10 minutes, then rinse well. Sit on a towel to dry.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash Recipe 2

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons baking soda
• 1 cup water

Decant the ACV and the baking soda into a spray bottle. Allow them to fizz before adding the water. The foaming action will dissipate, but the solution will still help to clean your produce. This is best used as a spray. It is also best to use right away. Lastly, if you don’t need as much, you can cut the recipe in half as this doesn’t keep as well.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash Recipe 3

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3-4 drops grapefruit essential oil
• 3-4 drops lemon essential oil
• or you can use Thieve’s Oil in place of these two essential oils
• 1 cup distilled water

Decant the ACV into a spray bottle. Add the essential oils and shake well. Add the water and shake again. Spray veggies and fruit and let sit for about 5 minutes. Rinse well. This will keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash Recipe 4

Peel and grate (or chop finely) about 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger. Soak the ginger in warm water for about half an hour. Strain and decant into a spray bottle. Use right away. Rinse well after about 5-10 minutes. If you have any left, make them into ice cubes and store in the freezer. Be sure to label them so you don’t eat them, although it wouldn’t hurt you!

Other Wash Ideas

Hot water.

No, this won’t work for all fruits and veggies, but it will for some. For example, apples that may have vegetable oil or wax on them. Simply run hot water over the fruit or veggie into a bowl. Most waxes are vegetable based and this water can be thrown into your compost. Don’t do it for so long that your fruit or vegetable gets soft, like cucumbers. Just long enough to get the wax off. If it’s softened up, you can wipe the remainder off with an old towel.

Do you have a go-to recipe for fruit and vegetable wash? Share it!

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Sources

1. Marybeth Feutz. How To Wash Strawberries. Accessed April 2019.