Welcome to The Hart Family Luffa Farm! 2019 was our second attempt to grow luffa (aka loofah) sponges in our backyard in Plainfield, IL. Many people thing the artificially colored mesh in store is a loofah, or that the actual sponge comes from the ocean. Nope! It’s a plant in the cucumber family that requires a long growing season. We successfully grew many luffa this year! We started indoors in March, and picked most of them on a snowy day late in October. Enjoy this short YouTube clip of our Luffa journey this year...
Luffa Care
Our luffa are organically grown and hand-washed with Thieves Household Cleaner so you can enjoy them truly clean and toxin-free. Since we chose not to expose them to the dangerous chemicals in bleach, they will vary in color. When you receive your luffa it will be completely dried out and very coarse. As soon as you get it wet, it will regain shape and soften some. They have a very strong structure, so don’t be afraid to handle them. You may choose to use your luffa in the shower, in your kitchen sink, to scrub rough surfaces, or even cut or shred them and make soaps. If you find any seeds inside don’t be alarmed. One luffa has over 200 seeds in it. We did our best to get them all out but may have missed some. The luffa should hold up several months to even over a year. The biggest threat to them is mold. We like to string a rope through ours to hang-dry in between uses. Avoid leaving sit in a humid enclosed shower for extended periods to discourage mold and prolong use.
Luffa Soaps
If you are the lucky recipient of one of our Luffa Soap-On-A-Ropes, congratulations!
The luffa will be coarse until the soap has started to expose it. It’s best used on rougher body parts like elbows, knees, palms of hands, and heals until it’s more exposed and softens when wet. When your soap is gone, you’ll still have your luffa that you can use in the shower, kitchen sink, or even to scrub hard-to-clean messes.
We only use Young Living Essential Oils in our soaps to ensure the highest quality oil with no hidden ingredients. On top of enjoying its wonderful aroma, you can get health and healing benefits from Young Living oils too! For more info click HERE
The luffa will be coarse until the soap has started to expose it. It’s best used on rougher body parts like elbows, knees, palms of hands, and heals until it’s more exposed and softens when wet. When your soap is gone, you’ll still have your luffa that you can use in the shower, kitchen sink, or even to scrub hard-to-clean messes.
We only use Young Living Essential Oils in our soaps to ensure the highest quality oil with no hidden ingredients. On top of enjoying its wonderful aroma, you can get health and healing benefits from Young Living oils too! For more info click HERE
Luffa Seeds
Luffa plants have a long growing season...approximately 250 days. If you are in the Chicagoland area like we are, we suggest starting your luffa seeds indoors no later than February. We plant three seeds per pot, and keep the strongest plant in each pot. We found that about 67% of the pots actually germinated. Therefore, by planting 3 seeds in each pot, you should expect 1 to 2 plants from 3 pots. We got an average of 3 loofah per plant.
You should soak your seeds overnight before planting indoors. They love water and sunshine. An indoor UV light is highly recommended while the plants are indoors before you plant them outdoors in May or June.
The plants cannot handle frost, so do not put them outdoors until the threat of frost is gone.
You should soak your seeds overnight before planting indoors. They love water and sunshine. An indoor UV light is highly recommended while the plants are indoors before you plant them outdoors in May or June.
The plants cannot handle frost, so do not put them outdoors until the threat of frost is gone.
