Homemade Fruit and Vegetable Wash – An essential, all-natural, inexpensive recipe for making your own fruit and veggie wash! Wash away pesticides, dirt, germs, and more! 

Homemade Fruit and Veggie Wash - An essential, all natural, inexpensive recipe for making your own fruit and veggie wash! Wash away pesticides, dirt, germs and more! // addapinch.com

Whether the fruits and vegetables come from our garden here on our farm, our local CSA, or the grocery store, I always make sure to wash them as soon as I get them into my kitchen.

For years, I just used plain water, but I had an allergic reaction to pesticides on grapes and learned the hard way that a little bit more than just water was needed for my family.

My homemade fruit and vegetable wash is simple to make and uses all-natural ingredients that you most likely already have at home!

Organic apple cider is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral, making it a great ingredient for this fruit and vegetable wash. It has been shown even to be effective against E. coli. The Journal of Food Science also reported that apple cider vinegar combined with fresh lemon juice has also been helpful in fighting against salmonella.

I keep a spray bottle filled with my fruit and veggie wash in the refrigerator, ready to wash my produce, especially those listed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) as their Dirty Dozen, so it is ready to use in recipes and to grab for snacks!

Once I spray my fruits and vegetables, I let the spray stay on them for about 30 seconds and then rinse them in cold water. I’ve had great luck with that amount of time being long enough to clean the fruits and vegetables but not being so long that it leaves my berries tasting like vinegar. For harder-skinned items like cucumbers or apples, you may consider leaving it a bit longer. I suggest you experiment with the time you feel is the most comfortable for your family.

Here’s my homemade fruit and vegetable wash recipe. I hope you find it as useful for your family as I do for mine!

Homemade Fruit and Vegetable Wash

Combine the following ingredients in a spray bottle and give it a good shake to mix well. Then, spray onto fruits and vegetables and let sit for about 30 seconds and rinse in cold water. Allow to air dry.

  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup water

Store your homemade spray in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

Homemade Fruit and Veggie Wash - An essential, all natural, inexpensive recipe for making your own fruit and veggie wash! Wash away pesticides, dirt, germs and more! // addapinch.com

Welcome to Add A Pinch

About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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18 Comments

  1. I have just ran across this post about your veggie and fruit wash spray. I saw where you had a reaction to the spray on the grapes. I was curious what type of reaction you experienced. I’ve had three reactions and we’re not sure what it’s from. I’m thinking it may have been from a apple I ate. I didn’t wash it but I peeled it. I’d appreciate any info you could share. Thank you, Donna

  2. Thanks for sharing these helpful tip. It is very easy to follow just with the very simple ingredients used in our kitchen. All things we need are apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and water, then we have more healthy fruits and vegetables for family to use.