How to Make a Pot Scrubber

Keep mesh produce bags out of the trash by turning them into pot scrubbers. This simple project takes less than five minutes. Choose from the sew or no-sew version. Both are easy to make, and will produce a durable, no-scratch pot scrubber.

These pot scrubbers are a great way to repurpose a plastic item that usually gets thrown away after one use. And will help to keep wildlife from getting caught in mesh bags. When you finally wear one out and throw it away, it’ll be in a compact form, that won’t pose a hazard.

How to Sew a Pot Scrubber

What You’ll Need:

Mesh produce bags
Thread
Scissors
A sewing machine (This is the machine that I have)

The number of mesh bags you’ll need for this project just depends on how big your bags are. We buy lots of reduced-price produce that comes in small mesh bags capable of holding three to five pieces of produce, so I typically use three bags to make one pot scrubber. If you have mesh bags from big produce purchases, say five pounds of potatoes or onions, you may only need one bag to make a pot scrubber. There’s no right answer here. It just depends on how big/squishy you want your pot scrubber to be.

What You Do:

Cut the labels off the ends of the produce bags and untie any knots.

Spread the bags out to their full width, so they aren’t bunched up. Stack them on top of each other, if you’re using more than one.

Fold the sides of the bags in slightly, to create neat edges for your pot scrubber. If you’re using multiple bags, fold the edges of the bottom bag over the edges of the other bags to contain them.

Then, fold down the top of the mesh bag(s), and keep folding. I usually do two-and-a-half inch folds, but you can make your folds whatever size you’d like.

Stop folding when you get a couple inches from the bottom of the bag(s).

Then, fold the bottom edge in, to eliminate the raw edge.

Hold, or pin, your pot scrubber together, while you stitch around the outer edge. I used polyester thread, so the thread wouldn’t be prone to mold or mildew. And I used a contrasting color, so it would be easy to see while I was sewing. I think red thread would disappear into the mesh weave.

And that’s all there is to it. Whip up a bunch of these in one sitting, and you won’t have any reason to buy pot scrubbers.

How to Make a No-Sew Pot Scrubber

If you don’t sew, or are looking for a simple TV project, these no-sew pot scrubbers are the way to go.

What You’ll Need:

Mesh produce bags
Scissors

You’ll need one mesh bag for the outside of your pot scrubber, and several more to stuff it. I usually use five bags to make one of these scrubbers. But again, it’ll depend on how big your bags are, and how big you want your pot scrubber to be.

What You Do:

Cut the labels off your bags, and untie any knots.

Tie a knot at the very end of one of the mesh bags.

Then, turn the bag inside out, so the knot is on the bottom inside of the bag. This will give you a smooth outside for your pot scrubber.

Open the rest of the bags, and thread them over your hand to fluff them up.

Then, use the bags to stuff the knotted bag.

Twist the bag to form a tight ball.

Then, tie a double knot …

and snip off the excess.

To Use Your Pot Scrubber: Simply hold the knotted end in the palm of your hand, and use the smooth side to scrub your pots and pans.