Phosphates- the short version
Phosphate mining began in Florida in the 1880's. Phosphates are in many of our foods... for instance they are used to make sodas but they are also in most livestock food supplements especially for the commercial poultry industry (chicken and turkey). So, they end up on our table one way or another...
This is sort of strange because they also dominate our kitchen sink, washing machine and bath tub. Phosphates are heavily used in detergents... consumer laundry detergents and dish washing detergents at the top of that list. Basically, phosphates took over the worlds soap industry by the early 1900’s and still dominate it today.
Soap prior to Phosphates
In merry old England (and later N. America) commercial laundry was a big business in cities. Typically, women were hired to scrub laundry on washboards using large tubs, vats, streams, ponds etc.
In England long ago these women were affectionately known as “Bouncing Bets”. As it happens there was a plant native to europe that was used to make soap commercially or grown by individual families. Of course, it was later transplanted to N. America where it grows wild to this day. This plant has a high content of Saponins (soap).
Here in the US many people also grow this colorful flowering plant in their flower gardens though its history is long forgotten. I saw it for sale last spring at lowes in the garden department. Its seed can easily be purchased or ordered on the net or from garden centers everywhere.
This plant is “Bouncing Bet” aka “Saponaria officinalis” aka “Soapwort”.
I have never used soapwort soap but I know a couple of people personally who have. It's a very gentle, fine for even the most delicate clothes as well as our skin, yet powerful.
Somewhere in one of my books are two ways to process soapwort. One to produce powder, the other a liquid form. I couldn't find it tonight... So, from the net…
Links to make your own...
https://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-organic-soap-using-soapwort.html
https://forageporage.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/my-friend-soapwort/
https://www.motherearthliving.com/natural-health/saponaria-officinalis-growing-soapwort
If you can't make your own you can also buy soapwort powder but it is pricey.
https://www.herbco.com/p-287-soapwort-root-powder.aspx
https://www.amazon.com/Soapwort-Root-Powder-Wildcrafted-officinalis/dp/B0032K0Z1O
When I first leaned of soapwort I went searching for it growing wild. It took me about a week driving dozens of miles of back roads... I found it growing in a few places... one location was on the side of road under a power line. 1st pic…
Too funny... After my triumphant search I stopped to check on my dad. I found soapwort growing in my elderly mother’s flower bed!
2nd pic…
It blooms profusely in midsummer, the colors range from white to pale blue to purple to pink and any combination thereof.
North America has another plant genus loaded with saponins (soap)… Yucca. Yucca grows all over the continental US and as far north as the arctic circle. There are more than dozen species.
The most common species I see in the southeast is Yucca filamentosa aka Adams Needle. 2 pics…
Medicinal properties… Saponins also have steroid like property… meaning, if I had a badly sprained ankle I would crawl to the first plant I could find that contained saponins… I would pound the roots into pulp, make a poultice and tie it on my ankle. It would reduce swelling and some of the pain.
There is another reason Adams Needle got its name. The tips of its long leaves are extremely hard, like a needle. They will cut you bad enough to bring the blood. The edges of the leaves have tough thread like cords. It’s needle and thread readymade, perfect for stitching up clothes or wounds.
Edited to add... A very young adams needle, you can see the white threads peeling off the edges of the leaves.
Phosphate mining began in Florida in the 1880's. Phosphates are in many of our foods... for instance they are used to make sodas but they are also in most livestock food supplements especially for the commercial poultry industry (chicken and turkey). So, they end up on our table one way or another...
This is sort of strange because they also dominate our kitchen sink, washing machine and bath tub. Phosphates are heavily used in detergents... consumer laundry detergents and dish washing detergents at the top of that list. Basically, phosphates took over the worlds soap industry by the early 1900’s and still dominate it today.
Soap prior to Phosphates
In merry old England (and later N. America) commercial laundry was a big business in cities. Typically, women were hired to scrub laundry on washboards using large tubs, vats, streams, ponds etc.
In England long ago these women were affectionately known as “Bouncing Bets”. As it happens there was a plant native to europe that was used to make soap commercially or grown by individual families. Of course, it was later transplanted to N. America where it grows wild to this day. This plant has a high content of Saponins (soap).
Here in the US many people also grow this colorful flowering plant in their flower gardens though its history is long forgotten. I saw it for sale last spring at lowes in the garden department. Its seed can easily be purchased or ordered on the net or from garden centers everywhere.
This plant is “Bouncing Bet” aka “Saponaria officinalis” aka “Soapwort”.
I have never used soapwort soap but I know a couple of people personally who have. It's a very gentle, fine for even the most delicate clothes as well as our skin, yet powerful.
Somewhere in one of my books are two ways to process soapwort. One to produce powder, the other a liquid form. I couldn't find it tonight... So, from the net…
Links to make your own...
https://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-organic-soap-using-soapwort.html
https://forageporage.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/my-friend-soapwort/
https://www.motherearthliving.com/natural-health/saponaria-officinalis-growing-soapwort
If you can't make your own you can also buy soapwort powder but it is pricey.
https://www.herbco.com/p-287-soapwort-root-powder.aspx
https://www.amazon.com/Soapwort-Root-Powder-Wildcrafted-officinalis/dp/B0032K0Z1O
When I first leaned of soapwort I went searching for it growing wild. It took me about a week driving dozens of miles of back roads... I found it growing in a few places... one location was on the side of road under a power line. 1st pic…
Too funny... After my triumphant search I stopped to check on my dad. I found soapwort growing in my elderly mother’s flower bed!
2nd pic…It blooms profusely in midsummer, the colors range from white to pale blue to purple to pink and any combination thereof.
North America has another plant genus loaded with saponins (soap)… Yucca. Yucca grows all over the continental US and as far north as the arctic circle. There are more than dozen species.
The most common species I see in the southeast is Yucca filamentosa aka Adams Needle. 2 pics…
Medicinal properties… Saponins also have steroid like property… meaning, if I had a badly sprained ankle I would crawl to the first plant I could find that contained saponins… I would pound the roots into pulp, make a poultice and tie it on my ankle. It would reduce swelling and some of the pain.
There is another reason Adams Needle got its name. The tips of its long leaves are extremely hard, like a needle. They will cut you bad enough to bring the blood. The edges of the leaves have tough thread like cords. It’s needle and thread readymade, perfect for stitching up clothes or wounds.
Edited to add... A very young adams needle, you can see the white threads peeling off the edges of the leaves.
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