· By Phoebe Yu
The Farm-to-Shower Journey of your Floofah Loofahs
Have you ever wondered where your eco-friendly claiming loofah comes from? Probably not! But here, we can tell you exactly the journey your lovely little Floofah took to arrive in your kitchens and showers.
The life of your Floofah started in the Southern Region of China as a seed that sprouted and grew into a beautiful loofah vine, also known as the Luffa aegyptiaca in botanical and scientific terms. This plant, with the aid of overhead trellis, warm weather, and well perforated soil, branches intricate and complex vine systems that fuel the development of a cylindrical gourd which matures to become the iconic natural loofah tube or sections.
- Seed-to-Sprout
These loofah tubes are harvested, and depending on their use, are processed in different ways. Considered a delicacy in varying regions of Asia, the gourd is harvested when it is tender; it has a light green color to the skin, and closely resembles a zucchini or cucumber. These young gourds can be prepared in numerous ways including their more popular preparations: steaming, stir frys, soups, and pickling. But, for the Floofah, these gourds are left on the vine until they have fully matured into a green-ish brown skinned, slightly, and light-weight.
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Harvesting
The seeds are extracted from the dried gourds. Each loofah tube contains up to several hundred black seeds that are the size of pumpkin seeds for future planting. Then, the skin is carefully hand peeled, revealing the fibrous flesh that will soon be your Floofah.
Sanitization
The bare fibrous skeleton of the gourd, freshly cored and seeded, is then soaked in a health-grade sanitization solution to rid of any bacteria, bugs, and preserves the fibers for their travels to your doorstep, then properly rinsed of this solution. There are several rounds of rinsing to ensure that there are no traces of the sanitization solution.
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Drying
After this, the fibrous product is left out in the heat (or warm dry place) for anywhere between 24-36 hours. This drying process is what makes your Floofah so perfectly exfoliating yet soft on the skin. This also explains the science behind the softening process of your Floofah– if you prefer your Floofah to be less exfoliating, soaking your shower buddy in some warm water for longer than a couple of minutes will soften the fibers through a rehydration process (similar to how broccoli softens when boiled in water! Loofah (Luffa aegyptiaca is a plant and is no different).
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Processing
These now-dried fibrous cylindrical tubes are sliced and cored to make them unroll into a flat sheet by which they are subsequently flattened with the application of heat. With the flattened sheets of loofah, artisans cut out shapes (such as our signature oval and heart) and then stitch them together with cotton threads and tags to make the beautiful Floofah you know and love!
Once your lovely natural sponge besties have been expertly procured to pure lather-y perfection, they are packaged and shipped directly to the US where they go through final quality checks before getting delivered to your door. Enjoy a mini-spa day at home and make showers something you look forward to!
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BONUS: Everything Else
Simply having an eco-friendly product is not enough… at least not in our books! Floofah is committed to compostability at every step, including our packaging and shipping materials. The minimalistic design of the Floofah ensures full and fast compostability (around 5 weeks in a home-composting environment), shipping envelopes/boxes are made with bamboo (instead of wood pulp) as a rapidly renewable source and quick compostability.
We also believe that everyone deserves personal hygiene in a dignified way. We partner with shower-focused non-profits around the country with Floofah donations so those experiencing housing insecurity can also preserve skin health. Read more about our mission here!
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About the author:
Elaine Owyoung is pursuing her Bachelor's Degree at University of California, Berkeley in the Political Economy program. Inspired by her sister’s work in ecological restoration, Elaine developed an early appreciation for systems-level solutions to environmental and social challenges. As a marketing intern at Floofah, she is passionate the intersection of markets, policy, and social impact; she is motivated by efforts that advance equity at every level, and finds purpose in applying analytical thinking and collaborative problem-solving to initiatives that strengthen communities socially and environmentally.