For years, I used to buy commercially made produce wash. But I always wondered if it actually did any good. Then I read that they weren't really very effective, and you get the produce just as clean by rinsing good with water. However, I wanted something more than just using water to clean the produce. So I went searching for what the best option is to clean fruits and vegetables is, and I found it!

I'm a big fan of Dr. Gregor, who does the NutritionFacts.org site. I love how his information is based on the research that has been done, and he also looks for biases that may skew the outcome and reporting. He has an article and video sharing what the best way to clean your produce is, and it's simply using a salt solution. So that's what I did. 

I bought a reusable spray bottle that would be used just for my produce wash solution. To make it, you use 1 part salt to nine parts water. My bottle is 2 cups (16 ounces), so my solution is made up of 1.5 ounces of salt and the rest up to the 2 cups is water. Then I shake it up so that it mixes together. I leave this sit near the sink, because we eat a lot of produce and use this bottle several times per day.

Using a simple salt water solution to clean your fruits and vegetables is easy, affordable, and offers another layer of cleaning impurities off. According to Dr. Gregor's article, using this will help to remove nearly 100% of the impurities from the produce. Using the salt solution is much more affordable than using a white vinegar solution, which will remove the same amount of impurities. 

I put the produce in the colander, spray it with the salt solution, move the produce around a little, and then rinse and clean it all off under water. Be sure to rinse all the salt solution off the produce, and then dry as you normally would.