I have started doing this and it works well for coloured washes, darks AND whites and is completely sustainable, ecological, planet and people friendly. It has been tested on..myself! Note that conkers are NOT edible. They are rich in saponins, which is great for cleaning.
1. Go out and get yourself as many conkers as you can. if you have children they are almost definitely going to be happy to help!
2. If you are going to use some straight away (recommended!) take a handful and put them in a blender with 1 litre of water.
3. Blend until you have a frothy mix. Bear in mind that if your blender is small, you may want to do this in 2 goes, as it grows in size quite a bit with all the froth.
4. Leave to sit for 30 mins to an hour
5. Sieve it, and keep the liquid. I store mine in empty jam jars.
6. Compost the remaining solids. DO NOT EAT. Please note these are horse chestnuts which are inedible and not suitable for human consumption
7. Place about 250 mil of the liquid in your washing machine with the clothes.
8. Hang up washing, have a cup of tea and feel smug that you have saved some money whilst helping the environment.
9. Spread the word! If we all do this, it will save a huge amount of laundry detergent from getting into the environment.
10. If you liked it, dry a load of chestnuts and store them somewhere dry. (Or freeze them) so that you can do this throughout the year.
1. Go out and get yourself as many conkers as you can. if you have children they are almost definitely going to be happy to help!
2. If you are going to use some straight away (recommended!) take a handful and put them in a blender with 1 litre of water.
3. Blend until you have a frothy mix. Bear in mind that if your blender is small, you may want to do this in 2 goes, as it grows in size quite a bit with all the froth.
4. Leave to sit for 30 mins to an hour
5. Sieve it, and keep the liquid. I store mine in empty jam jars.
6. Compost the remaining solids. DO NOT EAT. Please note these are horse chestnuts which are inedible and not suitable for human consumption
7. Place about 250 mil of the liquid in your washing machine with the clothes.
8. Hang up washing, have a cup of tea and feel smug that you have saved some money whilst helping the environment.
9. Spread the word! If we all do this, it will save a huge amount of laundry detergent from getting into the environment.
10. If you liked it, dry a load of chestnuts and store them somewhere dry. (Or freeze them) so that you can do this throughout the year.
