# Do you wash your bananas?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724 "2017-03-21T22:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/1 "2017-03-21T22:20:31Z")
I don’t and I think people who do are weird. Generally, if it’s a thick skinned fruit or vegetable, I don’t bother with organic or with washing first - unless I’m cutting through the rind/skin. Never heard of someone washing bananas until this weekend and they got the raised eyebrow side-eye from me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/2 "2017-03-21T22:22:37Z")
No, me neither. Since the skin is there to protect the fruit inside and it doesn’t normally get eaten, I don’t see the point. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/3 "2017-03-21T22:27:15Z")
No. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/4 "2017-03-21T22:34:37Z")
I might wash a banana if another banana had squished on it. You want to take a clean banana with you to work, not at banana covered with rotten banana slime. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/5 "2017-03-21T22:37:14Z")
Unless you’re speaking metaphorically, no. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/6 "2017-03-21T23:44:24Z")
(I’ve never heard it called THAT before.) Sorry I couldn’t resist. But no I don’t. I do wash some thick skinned fruit though. I wash the outside of a grapefruit. But that’s because the skin sits directly in the bowl I’m eating from and the juice, which I’ll drink, is inevitably going to go in there. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/7 "2017-03-21T23:55:16Z")
I wash my bananas & here is why: Every time I have bananas in the house, we end up with fruit flies all over the kitchen. Then I read somewhere that bananas have fruit fly eggs on them & if you wash them when you bring them home from the market, the fruit flies eggs will be washed off and no fruit flies will be born. I’ve been doing this for a couple years now & IT WORKS!! I am happily fruit fly free. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/8 "2017-03-22T00:08:56Z")
I don’t know if we’re talking peeled or unpeeled. Unpeeled, I guess the fruit fly thing is sensible if you have that problem. Peeled? Change your meds. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/9 "2017-03-22T00:35:43Z")
I don’t even peel them. Mostly, I eat them in smoothies. I freeze them, and put them in the blender frozen. When I take a banana out of the freezer, I run it under the tap water for a few seconds, just to slightly thaw the outer layer,. Then, the paper-thin outer coating of the peel comes off easily. But sometimes I don’t even bother doing that. And no, I don’t wash them before I freeze them. I don’t wash anything before I eat it. Maybe potatoes, since I never peel them, if they look and feel like they might have earth on them I rinse frozen veggies, to remove any fridge-frost. I have a five-year rule, for anything dropped on the floor or down under the sofa cushions, or forgotten in mousetraps. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/10 "2017-03-22T01:38:07Z")
I don’t but if you want to its no skin off my ------------- never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/11 "2017-03-22T01:46:12Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I don’t even peel them. Mostly, I eat them in smoothies. I freeze them, and put them in the blender frozen. > > When I take a banana out of the freezer, I run it under the tap water for a few seconds, just to slightly thaw the outer layer,. Then, the paper-thin outer coating of the peel comes off easily. But sometimes I don’t even bother doing that. And no, I don’t wash them before I freeze them. > > I don’t wash anything before I eat it. Maybe potatoes, since I never peel them, if they look and feel like they might have earth on them I rinse frozen veggies, to remove any fridge-frost. I have a five-year rule, for anything dropped on the floor or down under the sofa cushions, or forgotten in mousetraps. Wait, just checking. Are you saying you put the banana peel in your smoothie? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/12 "2017-03-22T04:21:54Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Wait, just checking. Are you saying you put the banana peel in your smoothie? Aw, you hadda ask. :rolleyes: We’ve been through this before. And don’t ask about dumpsters. ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/13 "2017-03-22T04:32:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Aw, you hadda ask. :rolleyes: We’ve been through this before. And don’t ask about dumpsters. Or mold. Or green slime. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/14 "2017-03-22T04:37:18Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Wait, just checking. Are you saying you put the banana peel in your smoothie? Just clarifying – Yes, but usually (but not always) I remove the shiny very thin coating on the skin, because in the blender, that often leaves little particles unblended. It makes me feel uneasy to discard edible food, so I try to eat everything, apple cores, cabbage hearts, etc. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/15 "2017-03-22T05:19:06Z")
Wait a sec. Banana peels are edible? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/16 "2017-03-22T06:18:11Z")
Yes! I washed no bananas. I washed no bananas today! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/17 "2017-03-22T06:19:01Z")
No. I don’t wash bananas. I don’t wash bananas [today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd8shcLvHI). D’oh! Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/18 "2017-03-22T07:56:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Wait a sec. Banana peels are edible? :eek: Sure, as in ‘not poisonous’. I find them a bit astringent. Yes, I tried eating one, out of curiosity after watching Kevin Spacey do it in the movie K-PAX. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/19 "2017-03-22T08:25:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure, as in ‘not poisonous’. I find them a bit astringent. > > Yes, I tried eating one, out of curiosity after watching Kevin Spacey do it in the movie K-PAX. I should have figured. I doubt there’s anything that you haven’t tried. 😃 But there must be a reason that even monkeys peel bananas. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724/20 "2017-03-22T09:00:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But there must be a reason that even monkeys peel bananas. 🙂 They need something to leave on the ground, for other monkeys to slip on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-bananas/782724.md?page=2)