this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Buy it for Life

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Hello all! Do you recommend any eco friendly loofah alternatives, or anything really to scrub your body in the shower with. The fact that most loofahs are made from unrecyclable plastic concerns me.

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[–] Specific_Skunk@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You could try an actual luffa, which is from a squash-like plant.

[–] doc1429@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Where would I go about getting one in the UK? I live in a flat so I dont have a garden to grow one

[–] YungOnions@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://andkeep.com/pages/search-results-page?q=Loofah

Everything from that website is plastic free and ethically sourced.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Unfortunate they don't ship to the US

[–] Shadow@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] toaster@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago

Problem is it arrives with more plastic packaging than a plastic loofah.

[–] adrinux@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago

Tried to grow them in our greenhouse and failed. (Scotland)

No idea where to buy them, just pointing they're quite hard to grow here.

[–] cerement@slrpnk.net 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

luffas are a type of cucumber, it’s their fibers that form the bathroom sponge – luffas are the original, the “unrecycled plastics” are the alternative

EDIT: as for the buy-it-for-life aspect, they’ll break down over time, but they are compostable and you can just grow new replacements

[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

A friend of mine uses dried sea cucumbers. pretty common in SE Asia I believe.

Edit

Do not use a dried sea cucumber. read thread first.

[–] francisco@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'ma gonna need a better source for that, k !?..

[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] francisco@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have you made simple mistake on your original comment?

That source is about the use of dried luffa, a cucumber like vegetable.

You commented about

dried sea cucumbers

From the Wikipedia article on sea cucumbers, "they are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body ... found on the sea floor worldwide."

Thus me having asked for a source.

[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh. that's crazy. yeah. seems like I did make a mistake. not even a simple one. I need to double check my sources better.

Please accept my appologies.

So please use the dried luffa, not the poor dried sea cucumber. they didn't harm anybody (did not verify source, it's again what I'm assuming).

[–] francisco@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 year ago

No apologies needed. Great that we got here. Cheers

[–] Gojimbo@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

You are thinking of dried Sea Sponge, you can get them in pharmacies and cosmetics stores where I live

[–] Dianoga@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

My partner knit (or crotcheted maybe) a mitten out of hemp. It's held up now for several years and works great.

[–] francisco@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago

This somehow reminds me of the plastic industry ploy to discredit cork stoppers and thus get wine with plastic stoppers. ---- No. No, the production of cork does not require the killing of the cork oak tree.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My loofah is made from some kind of plant that's just been hollowed and dried out. I don't even consider those synthetic pouf things to be loofahs since they aren't really as good at the scrubby scrub as a real one.

[–] StringTheory@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

If you don’t want to use a real luffa made from the luffa gourd, you can use a simple cotton washcloth to scrub. They can last for decades, wash in the laundry with your towels, and biodegrade/compost after a long and useful life.

[–] blueeggsandyam@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I was thinking the same thing recently. I purchased a silicone body scrubber. So far it works fine. It doesn’t lather as much as a luffa but it works for my needs. I think the people talking about luffas aren’t looking at the transportation costs and manufacturing costs. Even if the luffa is eco friendly, it isn’t eco friendly to get it delivered a couple times a year. The first R is reduce.

Avilana® Silicone Body Scrubber with Advanced Hygiene Technology, Gentle Exfoliating Body Scrubber That's Easy to Clean, Lathers Well, Longer Lasting, The Ultimate Loofah Replacement (S1, DARK GRAY) https://a.co/d/02cDt3p