Looking for a natural and economical laundry detergent?
Me too ! Tired of these commercial detergents full of chemicals and super expensive.
Even so-called eco-friendly laundry detergents are full of ingredients with unpronounceable names. Not to mention their price...
Fortunately, I discovered that you could easily make super effective laundry detergent with horse chestnuts.
That's good ! With autumn, you just have to bend down to find chestnuts everywhere.
So here is the super simple recipe for homemade chestnut liquid laundry detergent . Don't worry, it's very easy to do. Watch:
- 5 to 6 chestnuts
- 200ml of water
- 1 blender
- 1 jar
- 1 strainer
1. Pick up some beautiful chestnuts from the ground near you.
2. Put them in the blender to grind them.
3. Put the crushed chestnuts in a jar and add 200 ml of water.
4. Wait about 30 min for the water to look like milk.
5. Filter the mixture with the colander.
6. Use your chestnut detergent like any other detergent.
There you go, you have made your homemade liquid detergent with chestnuts :-)
Easy, fast and 100% free!
Like ash or ivy laundry, it's totally free!
Just bend down to pick up the chestnuts.
In addition, it is zero waste, 100% natural and very effective!
No more allergies! It is the ideal detergent for children's sensitive skin.
My laundry is clean and odor free.
If you want to have a fragrant linen, you can add lavender essential oil or another essential oil you like.
If you live in an area where the water is hard, do not hesitate to also add a little white vinegar to your laundry.
Know that your detergent can easily be stored in the fridge for a week.
The rest of the crushed chestnuts can be composted without worry.
This detergent is really great for everyday laundry for the whole family.
If your laundry is heavily soiled with stubborn stains, it's best to treat the stains before washing with a homemade stain remover like this one.
Chestnuts, like soap nuts, contain saponins.
It is a chemical compound similar to what is found in soap (soap comes from sapo in Latin).
The properties of saponin are identical to those of soap when dissolved in water. Amazing, isn't it?
Know that you can use crushed chestnuts twice to make laundry.
As this chestnut washing powder does not keep for more than a week, it is better to make a small quantity each time.
- If you don't have a blender, wrap 5 to 6 chestnuts in a tea towel. Grab a hammer and smash them to pieces!
- You can also cut them into pieces with a good kitchen knife.
- The smaller the chestnuts you chop, the faster the saponins dissolve in the water. So if you grind them in a blender and use boiling water, you only have to wait 30 min. But if you cut them with a knife or crush them with a hammer, let the chestnuts macerate in water for at least 1 whole night.
- If you are in a hurry and cannot use a blender, there is another quick method:cook the chestnuts cut into pieces in a little water and simmer for 15 minutes. Your laundry is ready. But don't forget to filter your mix!
- You need 60-90ml of detergent per machine. If you do 1-2 machines a week, you need to collect 11 kilos of chestnuts to have enough until next fall. I have already collected enough chestnuts to do laundry for an entire year! Even once dried, they are still effective.
- You can grind and dry the chestnuts (or dry them first and then grind them). Then store the chestnut powder in a dry place because chestnuts are very sensitive to humidity and mould.
- Crushed and dried chestnuts can be stored in a jar. And whenever you want to do laundry, take about 60g to make your homemade liquid laundry detergent.
- You can also put your crushed chestnuts in a small organza bag or in an old nylon pantyhose and put them directly in the machine with your laundry.
- This detergent is perfect for washing colored clothes. If you are washing white linen, it is best to remove some of the shell from the chestnuts. This allows for very white chestnut powder and minimizes the risk of discoloration.
I have also tried soap nuts (from the Sapindus saponaria tree), a plant-based laundry detergent.
Soapnuts have been used in India for generations for washing clothes or making personal hygiene products.
In Europe, soap nuts are increasingly used. To meet this growing demand, India is exporting more and more soapnuts, which has the effect of increasing the price of soapnuts there.
As a result, they become too expensive for many Indians who then turn to chemical detergents that contribute to polluting the water. What a shame!
Not to mention that these nuts are shipped all over the world, which generates a considerable carbon footprint...
It is therefore not a super ecological solution in the long term when we have chestnuts in France.
Chestnuts are found in many regions of France.
Chestnuts fall from the trees throughout the fall.
If you are in an area where you cannot find chestnuts, you can directly buy ready-made chestnut granules for washing.
To make this detergent, you must use horse chestnuts which are NOT EDIBLE.
It is for this reason that you must wash the blender or your knife well after using them to cut the chestnuts.
Horse chestnut is the seed of the common horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).
Edible chestnuts are the fruits of the chestnut tree. The chestnut is a small, slightly flattened and triangular fruit.
The edible chestnut is a round and shiny fruit. Both are in a bug.
When opening the bug, if there is only one fruit, it is a chestnut. If there are several separated by brownish skin, they are chestnuts.
On a walk, to easily differentiate horse chestnuts from chestnuts, just observe the bug of these fruits. This is their spiky envelope.
That of the chestnuts looks like a sea urchin with spikes in the shape of needles that go in all directions.
The chestnut bug has coarser spikes and in fewer numbers.
Have you tried making homemade liquid laundry detergent with chestnuts? Let us know in the comments if it worked for you. We can't wait to read you!
