Tutorial: Mesh Produce Bags

I came across this great idea from my sister, who discovered that the plastic mesh shower pouf are actually tubes of mesh that can be cut and repurposed into a multitude of things - namely produce bags.

You can readily find these bags at dollar stores, box stores, etc. I don’t actually use these in my shower, but I’m happy to find a way to upcycle a common household provision.

If you have some in your shower that you want to try to repurpose, I’d definitely recommend you soak in a vinegar and water solution to get the soap film off of it. Running it through the washer might be another optino.

If you pull apart the poufs, you’ll see they are just cinched in the middle with a piece of string. Find the middle and snip out the string that holds it all together.

Once you remove that string, this thing will spread out to about 12 feet. Yeah. It’s a long piece of mesh tubing, that you can probably use for a thousand other projects (pot scrubbers some to mind) but Produce is what we though of. It’s lightweight, sturdy, and allows for plenty of air circulation.

• Cut the tubing into 18” pieces.

• Cinch one end, fold it over, and stitch back and forth to close one end.

• The thread some narrow ribbon on the other end to use as a tie and handle.

Then fill with produce. You will probably need to have then tariffed at the grocery store for produce sold by weight. You can easily do that at customer service, or some stores will actually let the cashers do it at their own scales. They’ll weight your empty bag, and give you a number to give each time you check out. The cashier will be able to tariff each time you check out. (Just remember the number they give you.)

Hope you find this useful and inspired to upcycle your poufs for another use.