Shower ? cleaning yourself clean !
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Very useful additional info right here on the forum: Plants Used As A Soap Substitute http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14348
It is an interesting thread, but we totally missed something very important when we were discussing it; virtually all of those plants can cause de-oxygenation of fresh water, and that can cause huge damage within small areas for fish and invertebrates.
Chestnuts for instance,
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-15148.html
M
Chestnuts for instance,
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-15148.html
M
And the humans releasing hepatitis into it through bodily waste deposited in the cachment area. The crystal clear mountain streams, like the hymalayas,
https://www.vox.com/2015/3/4/8148059/mount-everest-feces-pollution
Good point Toddy. Saponin rich plants are one of the groups used as fishing toxins - so I'm guessing their effect is due to their de-oxygenating properties. The other main fishing toxins tend to be narcotic plants.
But you only use a small amount!
I find an effective way is to grab a handful of fine sand and use as a scrub.
Soap, be it shop bought, home made or saponins from the Flora do not work well in cold water.
I find an effective way is to grab a handful of fine sand and use as a scrub.
Soap, be it shop bought, home made or saponins from the Flora do not work well in cold water.
I find soapwort does. it froths up green and soft and gentle even in very cold water, and it doesn't stain skin or fabrics. I am the canary in the coalmine when it comes to skin irritants, and even I can happily use soapwort. It's effective, and was the favoured plant for washing clothes for centuries. It's known as Bouncing Bet in the UK 
They were busy ladies those washerwomen scrubbing away 
The problems only really start though when folks read modern texts that say they have to dig up the roots
it's not necessary, just take a green leafy stem and crush it up and rub it vigrously in water. It'll froth up no bother at all.
It was (and is sometimes still found) planted outside villages to grow wild so that it was available when needed.
Chestnuts work best I find when grated up, then the blue esculin comes out into the water. It's very effective too, leaves whites very white, but is very toxic to rivers, lochs and burns (okay, lakes and streams )
M
They were busy ladies those washerwomen scrubbing away The problems only really start though when folks read modern texts that say they have to dig up the roots
it's not necessary, just take a green leafy stem and crush it up and rub it vigrously in water. It'll froth up no bother at all.It was (and is sometimes still found) planted outside villages to grow wild so that it was available when needed.
Chestnuts work best I find when grated up, then the blue esculin comes out into the water. It's very effective too, leaves whites very white, but is very toxic to rivers, lochs and burns (okay, lakes and streams
)M
Maybe you are a cleaner person than I am. I always get very 'sooty' fiddling with the fire, or my sooty pots and pans.
Use the fire ashes. They not only warm the water up a bit but they scrub hands clean very well indeed. They'll take off soot and resin too.
Wayland posted about using ashes on greasy pans, how the two combined make 'soap', and it's very effective. Lixivation, if I recall correctly.
I wouldn't use them on anything but hands, muddy feet, and pots though
M
Wayland posted about using ashes on greasy pans, how the two combined make 'soap', and it's very effective. Lixivation, if I recall correctly.
I wouldn't use them on anything but hands, muddy feet, and pots though
M
Wood ash is a superior barrell cleaner, and polishes brass too. A mild abrasive.
Yes, it makes soap. Saponofication?
A friend back in Sweden was one of the first Back to Nature types. They make own soap from Ash, fat and water.
All their clothes have a greyish tint.
His beef was the best I ever had. Old cow hung for 8 weeks. Could turn any Vegan Carnivore!
Yes, it makes soap. Saponofication?
A friend back in Sweden was one of the first Back to Nature types. They make own soap from Ash, fat and water.
All their clothes have a greyish tint.
His beef was the best I ever had. Old cow hung for 8 weeks. Could turn any Vegan Carnivore!
Their clothes shouldn't be grey from soap. Not good, clean made soap anyway. Depends on the fabric too I suppose. Linen, nettle, hemp all wash whiter and whiter, especiaily if exposed to sunshine.
Berry dies do go grey though; they are acid/alkali indicators that way. Soap makes them greyer, while vinegar makes them pink or purple, but they slowly sadden out to grey.
Lixivation is the way that hardwood ashes can be used to make an alkali that will react with the fat or oil to make the soap. Leaching of the hardwood ashes using water.
Saponification is final soapmaking process.
M
Berry dies do go grey though; they are acid/alkali indicators that way. Soap makes them greyer, while vinegar makes them pink or purple, but they slowly sadden out to grey.
Lixivation is the way that hardwood ashes can be used to make an alkali that will react with the fat or oil to make the soap. Leaching of the hardwood ashes using water.
Saponification is final soapmaking process.
M
He did it by boiling hardwood ash in water and then mixing in the fat that is inside the belly and around the kidneys on cows.
He was a cow farmer. Still is I hope.
Multi talented guy, you guys here would love him. Him and his wife.
He was a cow farmer. Still is I hope.
Multi talented guy, you guys here would love him. Him and his wife.
We don't boil the ashes, we let them soak and then slowly let the water percolate through and drain off.
That fat is what we call suet. It's a hard, waxy kind of fat, good for making dumplings and puddings, if one eats meat.
That fat is what we call suet. It's a hard, waxy kind of fat, good for making dumplings and puddings, if one eats meat.
Aye Up,
Didn't an early version of the Honda CRV have a shower hose/head that could be pulled out the back load deck? That could solve a number of buch-craft issues for the OP.
Didn't an early version of the Honda CRV have a shower hose/head that could be pulled out the back load deck? That could solve a number of buch-craft issues for the OP.
What about this? I have used something similar to a weed sprayer for the same purpose. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Litre-Portable-Pressure-Shower-Camping/dp/B01K6NJ70Y
Many local mountain springs are clean water and they are marked along highway 16. They run nonstop so fill every container you have.
Our village water supply is really snow melt with enough rock percolation to be properly mineralized . Very soft sudsy/foamy in the bath.
Across the valley and a bit south. You can see the source from my kitchen window when the clouds lift. I know it's an unusual but ideal situation.
All the bigger tributaries to the Fraser River look pretty murky because of all the rock dust from the glacier sources.
I guess if I filtered it, probably OK (bless my tetanus booster shot). Right now, it's staying cold enough up top
to tighten everything so the rivers are dropping and clearing. Winter is tuning up.
Our village water supply is really snow melt with enough rock percolation to be properly mineralized . Very soft sudsy/foamy in the bath.
Across the valley and a bit south. You can see the source from my kitchen window when the clouds lift. I know it's an unusual but ideal situation.
All the bigger tributaries to the Fraser River look pretty murky because of all the rock dust from the glacier sources.
I guess if I filtered it, probably OK (bless my tetanus booster shot). Right now, it's staying cold enough up top
to tighten everything so the rivers are dropping and clearing. Winter is tuning up.
Ours used to come straight out of a peat bog. The only thing between the bog and us was the Daer Loch, a set of filters.....and when it poured hard up on the Lanark moors the water came through whisky coloured at times.
Now it's filtered ten ways from Sunday, sterile, smells faintly of chlorine and is utterly tasteless
I use rainwater for dyeing now.
M
Now it's filtered ten ways from Sunday, sterile, smells faintly of chlorine and is utterly tasteless
I use rainwater for dyeing now.
M
You do not need to worry about viruses though when purifying water apparently. I do not believe them. Hepatitis comes from shellfish that are improperly cooked. Doing your business 100m away may help, but in some places its hard to get 100m away and iff you do, whoes to say that layer of clay will not just shunt it straight into the water course. And thats before getting to the major slow flowing rivers.
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