I am known as The Watercress Queen online, has been teaching people for the last four years how to wash their clothes using conkers.
Although everyone loved the idea, many people found it too difficult to be able to prepare the conkers themselves, and if they did many did not prepare enough to last the whole year till the next conker season.
Many , many people asked if they could buy some ready to use, it seemed sensible to see if it could be turned in to a saleable product, without moving away from our core principles.
Working out how to chop and dry conkers in bulk, took a few experiments to get right. Now with my son Robbie we have perfected our methods, and love working together intensively during 6 weeks of autumn to ‘gather the harvest’ and prepare them for sale.
New Forest Aquaponics cic has now launched Washkers - conkers for washing your clothes.
How do you use them?
It takes just 40 grams of the chopped and dried conkers soaked in 500 ml of hot water for 30 minutes to provide two washes worth of liquid to go directly in the drum of your washing machine. That same 40 grams can be soaked a further 2 times - the 2nd soaking using all the water, the 3rd for a lightly soiled wash.
What amazing value is that - 40 grams providing 4 washes! A kilo bag lasts a very long time, and is good for the planet.
The packaging of course is upcycled cotton bags, giving abandoned textiles a 2nd use, and when you have finished using the bag for as many things as you can think of it can be composted at home.
Available direct from the New Forest Aquaponics website, not only do you get detailed instructions but the product assessment report which shows the positive and negative CO2 and plastic impacts from the manufacture of the washers.
Every year Lucie personally grows 30 new horse chestnut trees , to make sure future generations can use them and will care for them in the long term., eventually growing a forest of horse chestnut trees.
we would love everyone to be making their own, but if you cant please think about supporting our community and the work we are doing in the waterside and wider New Forest
Find them on https://newforestaquaponics.com/rengerative-shopping-support/#!/Washkers-conkers-for-washing-your-clothes/p/421141597/category=154863771
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