I rad somewhere that the Horse chestnut is the 2nd most productive plant, Saponin wise, in the UK. On Saturday I attempted to clean my dirty hands using the leaves from the plant.
Method was, select greenest leaves from tree, break leaf into individual leaflets and roll tightly, stuff about a dozen into pan , cover with cold water and warm gently over fire.
I didn't know how this was going to turn out so I frequently checked the water for bars of soap
. At a temperature which I would estimate at 40/50 degrees, certainly low enough that you could still put your hand into the water, the water took a greenish tinge and felt far more viscous. Removing a leaf from the water and squeezing it out onto hands produced a thickish solution which felt very soap-like. Scrubbing the hands in this produced fewer "bubbles" than expected for a soap but was cleaning never the less. when the leaflett was used as a scrubbing cloth all dirt was removed.
I thought it worked quite well, the odour was not very pleasant but neither was it unpleasant. Perhaps the leaves on the turn were not at their best for this method, I don't know. I will be using it again in the future.
Sorry if this has been "done to death" already, but it was new to me and I thought it worked so well it was worth sharing.
Method was, select greenest leaves from tree, break leaf into individual leaflets and roll tightly, stuff about a dozen into pan , cover with cold water and warm gently over fire.
I didn't know how this was going to turn out so I frequently checked the water for bars of soap
. At a temperature which I would estimate at 40/50 degrees, certainly low enough that you could still put your hand into the water, the water took a greenish tinge and felt far more viscous. Removing a leaf from the water and squeezing it out onto hands produced a thickish solution which felt very soap-like. Scrubbing the hands in this produced fewer "bubbles" than expected for a soap but was cleaning never the less. when the leaflett was used as a scrubbing cloth all dirt was removed.I thought it worked quite well, the odour was not very pleasant but neither was it unpleasant. Perhaps the leaves on the turn were not at their best for this method, I don't know. I will be using it again in the future.
Sorry if this has been "done to death" already, but it was new to me and I thought it worked so well it was worth sharing.
