To use your homemade produce wash, mix the following ingredients (the vinegar will help to melt the salt) and pour them into your spray bottle
- 1 Cup Water
- 1/3 Cup Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Table Salt
- 3 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Once the mixture is ready, you can use it to spray fruit and vegetables that have a hard skin: apples, cucumbers, pears, etc. Let the spray sit on your produce for about two minutes before rubbing and rinsing. For harder to clean vegetables that have more nooks and crannies (think lettuces, broccoli, etc) you’ll need to rock a soak! You can use your pre-made wash, or simply fill your sink with water and vinegar in a 3:1 ratio. Let it all linger for about 30 – 60 minutes before rinsing. The only caveat to this all is delicate produce like raspberries. These will most likely soak in the flavor of vinegar, lemon, and salt … so the best option is to put them in plain water. Let them sit for 30 minutes, then change out the water and soak another 30 minutes.
I may have forgotten to mention the best part about this homemade produce wash! You can also use it to clean off your cutting board and sink after all this washing has been done. Of course you’ll need to be careful about what type of materials you’re washing, but most surfaces should be safe!
this post contains Amazon affiliate links – read more about them here
Loading...
Can bottled lemon juice concentrate be used in place of real lemons?
That’s what I usually use, honestly! From looking at the ingredients, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be acceptable. There’s not much added to it.
Can lime juice also work?
I had to do a little research on this and I’m still not 100%. Lemon is known for its antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties … and lime shares many of the same compounds as lemon, just in different amounts. So, I would think you probably can substitute lime, especially since you’re also using vinegar in the mixture.
Do I need to store this in the fridge?
It couldn’t hurt … but you shouldn’t have to! (I don’t)