Easy + Effective Vinegar Fruit Wash (3 Simple Methods)

When it comes to feeding our families, ensuring the safety and cleanliness of our food is a top priority, especially with the fruits and vegetables we work oh-so-hard to get our kids to eat daily. 😉 After years of trial and error, I finally found the perfect way to remove any unwanted residues on our produce: a vinegar fruit wash!

Pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables can be a concern when you can’t buy organic (and let’s be honest, even if you can!). But there is a simple home solution to help with this—a homemade fruit and veggie wash is simple to make and can easily remove dirt, bacteria, wax, and pesticides.

Today, I’m showing you three different ways to use the ultimate natural powerhouse (aka vinegar!) to get those fruits and veggies squeaky clean, including a spray recipe and two different veggie wash soaks. I prefer the produce wash soak, but I have friends who love the spray. Choose which works best for you!

Do I need to wash every fruit and vegetable?

In a word, yes. However, some produce has been proven to be more contaminated with pesticides than others. If you want a list of places to really focus your cleaning efforts on, I’d suggest starting with the Dirty Dozen.

2023 Dirty Dozen Produce List

While just about all non-organic produce includes some level of pesticides, this 2023 Dirty Dozen list usually contains the MOST pesticides.

This list includes (in order from the most to the least):

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale/Collard/Mustard greens
4. Peaches
5. Pears
6. Nectarines
7. Apples
8. Grapes
9. Bell and hot peppers
10. Cherries
11. Blueberries
12. Green Beans

Some people will choose to buy organic fruits and vegetables on the dirty dozen list to minimize pesticide exposure and buy regular produce for everything else.

Whether you choose to do that or simply buy regular produce all around (because organic is often VERY expensive for some things), this natural veggie wash can help.

Why can’t I just use water to wash produce?

If you are concerned about washing off extra pesticides or wax coatings found on many fruits and veggies, you’ll need something stronger than tap water.

The acid in the vinegar, along with the citric acid in the lemon essential oil or lemon juice, will help remove pesticides, as well as dirt, bacteria, or wax. You won’t find that with water alone.

Disclaimer: We’re not a professional lab and, unfortunately, can’t show you scientific proof as to exactly how effective these homemade fruit and veggie washes are. However, based on our research on the ingredients we are using, I am comfortable stating that they are more effective than water alone.

Remember, I’m going to show you three different methods to keep your produce clean. Choose whichever works best for your family!

Recipe #1 – Fruit and Vegetable Wash Spray

Ingredients Needed:

• White vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• Water
• Lemon essential oil or lemon juice
• Glass spray 16 oz bottle (I advise against using plastic as both the vinegar and essential oils can corrode the plastic)
• Optional – free printable label (see below)

How to Make the Produce Spray

This homemade produce spray is very easy to make. Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Add the ingredients to a glass spray bottle

Combine vinegar, water, and lemon essential oil in your bottle.

If you don’t have any lemon essential oil, you can substitute lemon juice instead.

Step 2: Shake well

When all three ingredients are added to your bottle, you can gently shake it, and it’s ready to use!

Step 3: Spray your produce

Allow produce to sit for 10-15 minutes on the counter.

Step 4: Rinse in cold water

Then, rinse them in cold water and your fruits and veggies are ready to eat or prepare!

Optional Step – Download your free printable fruit & veggie wash label when you join my email list here:

https://f.convertkit.com/f2e8528968/ff2f96154c.js

Recipe #2 – DIY Fruit & Vegetable Wash Soak

This is a simple produce soak that allows you to keep your foods squeaky clean.

What You’ll Need:

• White vinegar or apple cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but plain white vinegar would also work)
• Water
• Lemon essential oil or lemon juice
• Large mixing bowl

How to Make this Fruit Wash Recipe

Step 1: Mix vinegar and water in a bowl

Fill your bowl with a ratio of 3:1 water to vinegar. You can use apple cider or white vinegar for this recipe.  

Step 2: Add lemon essential oil or lemon juice

Either lemon essential oil or lemon juice works perfectly.

Step 3: Add your fruits or vegetables to the bowl

Make sure all the produce is submerged in the vinegar fruit wash.

Step 4: Allow your produce to soak for 10-15 minutes

Don’t skip this step! It’s crucial!

Step 5: Rinse your produce well

After your produce has soaked, gently pour it into a strainer and rinse well with cold tap water. 

An even better trick would be to find a strainer that fits into your bowl so you can soak your produce in the strainer and then just lift it out of the soak to rinse. Easy peasy!

Recipe #3 – Homemade Fruit and Veggie Wash  

This last method uses baking soda and salt to help you exfoliate off all those potential germs!

What You’ll Need:

• Vinegar
• Salt
• Lemon essential oil or lemon juice
• Baking soda
• Water
• Large mixing bowl

Step-by-Step Directions

Step 1: Combine all ingredients (except water)

Add vinegar, salt, lemon essential oil or lemon juice, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

I prefer making this scrub in a bowl rather than a sink – I’ll explain more below on why.

Step 2: Fill your bowl with water

Fill it with enough water to be able to cover the produce you plan to wash.

Step 3: Stir the vinegar fruit wash

You’ll simply stir until the ingredients are well mixed and the baking soda and salt has dissolved.

Step 4: Add your fruits and vegetables

Allow your produce to soak for 10-15 minutes.

**Note that we are using a bowl for this natural fruit and veggie wash instead of filling the sink.

First, your sink is the dirtiest place in the kitchen, so you’d have to fully scrub it clean before you try to clean your produce in it. Second, you would end up using more vinegar since the volume inside a sink is much larger than just using a mixing bowl – and that’s just a waste.

Plus, you can save your produce wash and use it over and over in a day, and it won’t tie up your sink space.

Step 5: Rinse your produce well

Once your fruit or veggies are well rinsed, either dry them off with a towel or let them air dry on a towel.  For small or delicate fruit like berries, it’s easiest to just let them air dry on a towel.

Keep in mind that the berries can also leave stains, so it’s best to use a towel that you don’t mind getting stained if it gets some fruit juice on it.

Now that you see just how easy it is to make your own homemade fruit and veggie wash, be sure to get some more vinegar next time you are at the store and have your lemon essential oil close by! By doing this, you can keep those fruits and veggies cleaner, with fewer pesticides, and ready to eat!

Which essential oil brand is best?

For the best results, you will want to choose a high-quality essential oil brand that is 100% pure and offers third-party testing for quality control. Read this post for more info on how to choose essential oils that work for you and your family (beyond the brand.)

My favorite essential oil company is Rocky Mountain Oils, followed by Eden’s Garden and Ancient Apothecary by Dr. Axe.

More Posts About Cleaning with Essential Oils:

• How To Make a Simple Homemade Dusting Spray
• Homemade Garbage Disposal Deodorizer with Essential Oils
• DIY Foaming Hand Soap
• Homemade Stinky Shoe Spray with Essential Oils

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