Conker washing detergent
Inspired by a post on facebook, we've been out collecting conkers to make our own clothes washing detergent. Just like soap nuts, conkers contain toxic compounds called saponins that act like soap with a lipophilic (fat-attracting) and hydrophilic (water-attracting) component. Better than soap nuts which come from India or Nepal, conkers can be collected about 20 metres from our front door, for free.
You can add conkers (without their green spiny case!) whole in a net bag to the drum, but it needs to be a hot wash. Alternatively (what we do), you can chop 3-4 conkers up and steep in 500ml of hot water from the kettle for 30 minutes. The resulting milky liquid can be added to the drawer or drum as you would regular liquid detergent, and it can be a cold wash. The first soaking can be used for two washes (250ml each), then the same conkers can be soaked a second time for 1-2 hours for a third wash (the whole 500ml this time).
This worked really well, the clothes came out clean. The conkers didn't give any particular scent to the clothes, they just smelt clean and fresh. Now we just need to head out again and collect enough to last us the whole year! To make them last they need to be chopped up and dried in a low oven (this takes at least a couple of hours), then stored in airtight containers. Whole dry conkers would probably store easier but they might be harder to chop up when they're not soft and fresh.
Interestingly, horse chestnut (conker) trees are not native to the UK and were only introduced from Turkey about 500 years ago. They've been planted extensively since then and are now a common sight in parks and greens, but are rarely found in natural woodland.
You can add conkers (without their green spiny case!) whole in a net bag to the drum, but it needs to be a hot wash. Alternatively (what we do), you can chop 3-4 conkers up and steep in 500ml of hot water from the kettle for 30 minutes. The resulting milky liquid can be added to the drawer or drum as you would regular liquid detergent, and it can be a cold wash. The first soaking can be used for two washes (250ml each), then the same conkers can be soaked a second time for 1-2 hours for a third wash (the whole 500ml this time).
This worked really well, the clothes came out clean. The conkers didn't give any particular scent to the clothes, they just smelt clean and fresh. Now we just need to head out again and collect enough to last us the whole year! To make them last they need to be chopped up and dried in a low oven (this takes at least a couple of hours), then stored in airtight containers. Whole dry conkers would probably store easier but they might be harder to chop up when they're not soft and fresh.
Interestingly, horse chestnut (conker) trees are not native to the UK and were only introduced from Turkey about 500 years ago. They've been planted extensively since then and are now a common sight in parks and greens, but are rarely found in natural woodland.
I had no idea that conkers could be used for washing clothes that’s genius - the foraging sounds like fun too !
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