Washing with chestnuts

Chestnuts! Maybe they are still there? Maybe you’ve already collected a lot and have a stach in your house for decoration, or for the children to play with? But did you know that you can do a lot more with chestnuts? You can also use chestnuts to wash your hair in a natural and very cheap way! And by this I don’t mean you have to take 2 chestnuts in your hand and rub it over your scalp and hair. No, you have to let the soapnuts soak in water and you can use that water to wash your hair! The same way you wash your hair when you use soap nuts. Just like soap nuts, chestnuts contain saponins. Saponin is a natural cleansing ingredient. And it is definitely a little different from those strongly cleansing, chemically shampoo’s from the store… (So, now you also know what my opinion is about shampoo is..)

Just like all the other no-poo products and recipes, I also recommend this recipe to just give it a try! 

Every hair is different and the results can also be different for everyone.

Chestnut soap

You need this:
  • A good blender! Because the chestnuts are hard.
  • Chestnuts! The White (wild) horse chestnuts work te best. You can’t eat these, you can eat the sweet chestnuts.
  • Approximately 240 ml of hot water.
Chop about 4 to 5 chestnuts in 4 parts. Put the chestnuts in a blender and blend these until they are finely grained. If you don’t have a blender, you can also use a knife or a hammer. If you choose the hammer, it is best to put the chestnuts in a cloth and then let your aggression or any frustration go on it. 
(If you want to make a bigger stock, it is best to put the chestnuts in the blender in phases. You can store the grounded chestnut in a glass jar for example)
 
If the chestnuts are finely grounded you can add boiling water. Let this rest for about 10 minutes and then strain the chestnut residue out.

The water will change into a soapy substance and is immediately ready for use! You can now wash your hair!!
Just wet your hair, divide the soapy water over your scalp and your hair. Let it soak for like 10 minutes and then rinse again!
(Tip: I always like to use a sport bottle to distribute my no-poo mixers that are a little watery)


You can also use this soapy substance to wash your clothes or for personal use in the shower or as a hand soap. Have you ever washed your hair with chestnut soap? Let me know what your experience is.

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2 Replies to “Washing with chestnuts”

  1. I started using chestnuts for washing my clothes and googled to find out if it’s okay to wash your hair and body with it too. I stumbled upon your blog. I have 2 questions:

    [1] Wow, do you really have to wait 10 (!) minutes before rinsing?! Staying under the water is no go (too bad for the environment) but waiting when whet is another no go. How would you solve that problem?
    [2] If I want to use the chestnut soap, I’m not going to make that every time when I’m taking a shower. I do that for the laundry, but that’s only once a week or so. The chestnut soap spoils quickly and freezing is a no go too – takes even longer to defrost than to pour hot water over the crushed nuts. So… how do you solve that? How do you keep this at hand and from spoiling at the same time?

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