I Made my Laundry with Wood Ash! My Opinion on Its Effectiveness.

Free laundry is out there and it's easy to do.

My opinion on its effectiveness is more than favorable.

Then ? Shall I take you on a walk to make homemade laundry with ashes?

Laundry, as we know it now, has only existed since the 1930s with the invention of synthetic surfactants.

So I wondered how people were doing before the multinational chemical companies appeared.

One day, during my reading and browsing of all kinds, a few words clicked: "Wash the old-fashioned way with ash lye".

There I said to myself, old woman, but what are we talking about? Ash? Mega yuck!

Bitten by the surprising information I had just unearthed, I plunged into the grimoires to discover how our grandmothers discovered ash lye:

Wood ash lye

Once upon a time there was ash washing

Sensitive souls refrain. It is following rituals of sacrifices on pyres, that they realized that their clothes full of grease and ashes came out much cleaner than usual.

I do not know what prayer they had made to their gods, but the one to facilitate the washing of the laundry was raised!

Nowadays, we no longer wonder if it's witchcraft, we know it's chemistry, so ... we only sacrifice plants to be a good Cinderella.

They all contain potassium, but some more than others. Potash (from the English "pot ash" which means pot ash, thanks Wikipedia!) Is a washing chemical compound, just like soda.

With potash + grease, we obtain liquid or soft soap, such as black soap.

With soda + grease, we obtain solid soap, such as Marseille soap.

But back to our sheep ... no, to our ashes!

Gathering, a treasure hunt

Armed with my new knowledge, I went for a "useful" walk summer latest. Because in our regions, the queen of potash is the fern.

I stuffed my backpack with leaves already very dry that I cut on the spot. You have to leave the roots because it grows back every year.

Perfect for helping light the fireplace or barbecue. It saves buying those damn little chemical cubes or using alcohol or gasoline. Yuck.

Some will find less than others around their homes. But you see, that's what makes up for when you live in Brittany, and even have a town called Fougères. There is less sun, but we are millionaires in ferns, na!

I no longer empty my ashtrays anyhow now: for once smokers will be useful!

The tobacco also contains a lot of potassium, as well as banana peels, corn cobs, buckwheat straw and peels potatoes among others.

Afterwards, it's not always easy to dry them. do not forget wood obviously. And the charcoal from the barbecue and the personal papers that we burned ... come on, everyone to the laundry!

And for those who live in an apartment and who do not smoke? We will have to be strong and courageous ... and ask for alms from friends, relatives, neighbors who do not use their ashes.

How to do

1. Sit in a well-ventilated place, preferably in the garden or on the balcony.

2. Sift the ash with a colander. There should be no charcoal, nails, crate staples, etc.

3. Dose 3 good glasses of ash for 1 liter of water (preferably rain, but hey, we will not quibble), in a 1st bucket or basin.

4. Mix a little, with your hand, it doesn't suck.

5. Leave to macerate between 24 and 48 hours, to extract the potash in the water.

6. Mix four times in the meantime.

7. Filter the preparation in the 2nd bucket putting 2 tea towels in the colander.

8. The liquid obtained should be a little golden and soapy to the touch. It will be more or less depending on the plants that were used. If not, filter again with clean tea towels (avoid paper towels if possible).

9. Then pour the liquid into a bottle very clean.

10. Add a few drops ofoil essential, 10 for 1 liter : essential oil of lavender, rosewood, for example. But this step is optional.

11. Shake to mix. The laundry is ready, it is already foaming. 100 ml for each laundry machine, or even less for recent machines which are very economical.

12. The ashes that you have left in the tea towel, you will put them in your compost or at the foot of the plants, because potash is also a fertilizer.

And at the same time, it will annoy the slugs and snails who do not like ash at all.

Results

And there you have it, your ash detergent is ready :-)

Some put the ash directly into the machine drum. Good either. I have not tried yet. It was valid with the washers of yesteryear, but I'm a little afraid of plugging the holes in my modern machine!

My recommendations

- You can store the ashes indefinitely, but not the laundry.

- Do not use for washing dishes.

- Just like soda, potash dries the skin without saponification (an operation which transforms it into soap by adding oils). So you have to wear gloves if you wash by hand. Just in case, rub your hands with vinegar to reduce the corrosive effect.

- Also avoid washing floors with it if you are not sure to rinse well, especially if you have pets or small children.

- Depending on the quality of the ashes, your laundry may be more or less "corrosive", avoid washing fragile laundry with it.

It's clean and it smells fresh

Question efficiency, no complaints. It will of course be necessary to detach before washing when it is heavy. As with all other detergents, but nothing more.

Here is. All this stuck with me last year, and I can't wait to start the fern walks and barbecues again (I've already stored all my tobacco ashes this winter!).

Savings made

This laundry cost me 0 €. Total pleasure: ecological and free!

The price of my usual laundry: € 10 per month. So € 120 savings per year (knowing that I do one machine per day).

If I want a delicate scent, I choose the dried lavender in the cabinet. It lasts several years.

And it is free when you have it in the garden or on the balcony.

Your turn...

Do you want to do the ash washing? When are you starting? We can't wait to hear from you!

Do you like this trick ? Share it with your friends on Facebook.

Also to discover:

10 uses of wood ash you never thought of.

How I Make My Natural Fabric Softener.


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