Doing your own laundry using natural products is a gentle and economical alternative to supermarket detergents. In addition to zapping arm-length compositions with harmful ingredients, this allows you to have some control over what you put in them. So, from ingredients to smells, you can indulge yourself without compromising on effectiveness. However, we like it less when home cleaning products are based on a multitude of ingredients that are difficult to find… Fortunately, horse chestnut laundry detergent and its autumnal accents are not part of this category. Intrigued? Grandma will tell you more about this effective and little-known eco-friendly recipe that changes from laundry detergent to flakes of real Marseille soap, black soap or baking soda.
Looking for other zero waste homemade laundry recipes of this type to slip into the dedicated compartment of the washing machine? Try wood ash laundry detergent or natural ivy laundry detergent!
What are the benefits of chestnut laundry detergent?
- In autumn, they are quite easily found on walks in several regions in France. He just bend down to stock up ! Otherwise, you can easily buy chestnut granules for laundry on the internet.
- Like soap nuts, chestnuts contain saponins. However, dissolving them in water gives them the same cleaning qualities as soap. This explains the effectiveness of ecological chestnut laundry detergent!
- In addition, this detergent is very easy to do in no time. Natural, ecological, free and very effective, it is low allergenic and perfect for sensitive skin (delicate epidermis of children, atopic skin, etc.).
- She is perfect for seasonal woolens, colors and dark fabricsespecially black. For light fabrics or white, remove the shell as best you can to avoid possible discoloration linked to this eco-friendly detergent.
What you need to make your own chestnut laundry detergent:
- 5 to 6 chestnuts
- 200 ml of water
- A little white vinegar to add to the laundry or as a softener if the water is very hard
- Some accessories: blender, jar, strainer, laundry detergent container or glass bottle
And so that the laundry smells good?
Adding a few drops of essential oil such as lavender, lavandin, eucalyptus or other essential oil is not a good idea. Essential oils are not not perfumes ! In homemade detergents, they are not very ecological and pollute the water. In addition, they will not be suitable for the whole family (especially pregnant women and babies) and can stain laundry. So you can keep the laundry detergent fragrance and odor free so it smells neutral. Otherwise, opt for a natural fragrance, a product created expressly to add a scent to homemade household products.
The steps:
1) First, gather the ingredients by picking up chestnuts near you.
2) Then grind them carefully in your blender. If your crusher is not ultra powerful, the best thing to do is to remove the shells and cut the chestnuts into large pieces beforehand.
3) Then pour your crushed chestnuts into the water and wait for them to turn into milk. Usually it takes about half an hour!
4) Finally, all that remains is to filter the mixture with a strainer to remove the shavings. If necessary, add the other ingredients at this step and it’s ready. Remember to put the rest of chestnuts crushed in compost.
Laundry detergent is kept in the fridge about a week. This is why it is better to make small quantities each time. Otherwise, it can be used like your usual laundry detergent! So, in terms of dosage, we put it between 60 and 90 ml in the detergent drawer. Then we start the cycle in the washing machine. If, however, you have large stubborn stains to remove, use a stain remover before washing. Liquid black soap will do the job perfectly for removing very dirty laundry.
Good to know:
If you have a large stock of chestnuts, you can crush them and dry them for future times. However, for the laundry to be effective and for the dried chestnuts to keep well, pay attention to your storage area! Keep the chestnut powder in a jar in a dry place to avoid humidity and mold. How much? For your laundry, use about 60g.