Nancy Birtwhistle's guide to creating cleaning products with nature
Our eco queen Nancy Birtwhistle has ditched the chemical cleaners, and switched them for natural things from the garden instead. From using grass to clean her oven tray, to rounding up conkers to wash her clothes, Nancy is live with Craig in our forest to help you harness the cleaning power of mother nature.
1) CONKER LAUNDRY DETERGENT
Required: 10 conkers, cloth bag, hammer or rolling pin, litre measuring jug, boiling water, tea strainer or sieve, 1 litre screw top bottle, hand-held blender.
Method: Freeze your conkers before using them, thaw 10 conkers for a litre of detergent. Slice them in half and add to a measuring jug, pour boiling water and leave to stand for 8 hours or overnight. Use a sieve to strain into a 1 litre bottle and then blitz to a paste. Pour over another 500ml boiling water, strain using a sieve into a bottle & add 5 drops of essential oil.
2) IVY DETERGENT
Required: 30g english ivy leaves (not young leaves, choose older, darker ones), 3 tbsp washing soda, netting bag that will keep the leaves in place in your washing machine.
Method: Wash your ivy leaves in cold water, roll up the leaves and cut into thin shreds with scissors. English ivy is rich in saponin, a natural detergent and foaming agent. Cutting the ivy releases the natural detergent from the veins in the leaves. Pop leaves onto the bag and put in the washing machine for your load. Add washing soda to the detergent drawer, this will soften the water. After the wash, remove the ivy bag and put them in the compost bin.
3) USE GRASS TO CLEAN OVEN AND BARBECUE RACKS
Required: Grass
Method: Place your grubby shelf or rack into the grass, the method works best if your oven shelf is slightly warm and the grass is long and slightly damp. Bury the shelf into the grass, leave the shelves for 24 hours then wipe clean with a dry cloth.
4) WALNUTS FOR SCRATCHED WOOD
Required: Walnuts
Method: Take a whole walnut, break it into half and use the raw side to rub the scratch and you will see the scratch fill and disappear. Any greasy marks left on the wood cab be polished off with a soft cloth.