Kitchen Kapers: DIY Fruit & Veggie Wash
This DIY Fruit and Veggie Wash is a simple way to naturally (and inexpensively) clean your fruit and vegetables. Just one simple ingredient!
Thank you for being here! This DIY Fruit & Veggie Wash post has far exceeded my expectations, for which I am most grateful! So many have enjoyed, shared and pinned this post! Amazing! If you share this post, please do not alter or change my photos in any way. And please give credit where credit is due. We all work hard. 😉
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Also, please note that I will not be responding to comments on this post. Every question/discussion that has come up for this post has been answered/discussed in the comments section. Thank you for understanding 🙂
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
How to Make DIY Fruit & Veggie Wash
A simple 1 ingredient cleaner!
I have been using this simple 1-ingredient cleaning method to wash my fruit and vegetables for years. It’s as easy as filling a sink with water and vinegar, then adding your fresh produce to soak. Inexpensive, easy and effective!
How do I know my fruit and vegetables are clean?
All you have to do is look at the water. It’s dirty. Brownish and with pieces of wax and debris from the produce.
After soaking, why do some of my fruits and vegetables have a white layer on them?
When you get produce from the market it’s always shiny, and the vinegar from this wash dissolves most of that shiny layer, and what you are seeing is just the remnants of that.
Will my fruits and vegetables taste like vinegar?
No. If you rinse well, there is no vinegar taste. Even in the berries.
Let’s talk about berries.
You can use this cleaning method to wash berries as well. You just can’t let them soak as long as you would apples or oranges. I will only soak mine for about 5 minutes or so. Rinse well.
Fruit and Veggie Wash Tips:
- Ratio: Basic cleaning ratio of 1 cup vinegar to 4 cups water.
- Vinegar: Use regular white household vinegar.
- Soaking: You can make this wash and soak your produce in your clean kitchen sink, or feel free to use a bucket.
- Scrubbing: Feel free to lightly scrub your produce with the vinegar/water solution after it has soaked. This will get rid of any remaining wax and dirt.
- Rinsing: Make sure to rinse your produce well after soaking in the vinegar/water solution.
- Drying: After rinsing, lay your produce out to dry on a clean tea towel.
Clean. Ready to eat fruit and vegetables.
DIY Fruit and Veggie Wash
Ingredients
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 sink filled with lukewarm water
Instructions
- Make sure your sink is very clean. Or if you wish, use a large clean bucket.
- Fill a sink halfway with lukewarm water.
- Add 1 cup of white vinegar.
- Mix.
- Add your fruit. Don't over fill your sink with fruit.
- Soak for about 10 minutes (shorter for berries - about 2 - 5 minutes).
- Rinse well.
- The Result: Clean fruit.
PIN IT!
Love this post? Here are more ideas to help make your life more simple!
Keep your fridge easy to clean with these simple DIY fridge mats made out of placemats!
Here are some great tips to keep your kitchen organized!
And even more kitchen storage tips! Like jar labelling, pantry organization…
Click here for some simple cleaning tips, like how to safely clean your microwave.
Here are 10+ way to use vinegar in your home– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
That’s a good question, and unfortunately I don’t really have an answer. My guess is that this wash helps to remove some residual pesticides on the surface of the fruits, but not all of it. A lot of pesticides end up in the fruit too, so it’s almost impossible to remove them. Every little bit helps, but organic is best.
Jo-Anna
Wow, so simple. I’ve been using a special vegetable wash but it’s very expensive.
I was just thinking… if people thought their sinks were too “dirty” to wash their fruit, they could always buy a dishpan (the plastic tub ones). I use those in my classroom for storing things, but they were made for dishes and come in a couple of sizes (small, large) and are really cheap (a couple of bucks at Walmart)!
I just tried it with apple cider vinegar cause thats all I had… but I’m not seeing any results. Maybe I’ll have to buy the regular vinegar. Can you post a pic of what the sink/fruit look like after next time you do it?! Thanks!
This is information I always wanted to know but never bothered to research how to do. Thanks for sharing. Will be putting this to the test after the next grocery run.
~Dana
http://www.MommyeTime.com
I have been using this for a while now and the best thing is that berries like raspberries and blueberries last so much longer without going moldy. Saves money on fruite wash and wasted fruit.
Can you wash bananas too?
I tried this but the wax is still on my apples. . . .now they look gross and white. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Chelsea
No actually you did it right. That white stuff is just the last bit of wax & gunk to come off your fruit – it means that they’re mostly completely clean. You don’t see that stuff every time you clean your fruit – just some apples have more wax on them than others. You can usually just rub it off with a slightly damp cloth.
Jo-Anna