Great British Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle has revealed how to make 'free' detergent in your kitchen using conkers, the seeds of the horse chestnut tree. The Sunday Times bestselling author shared the method on her Instagram page as the conker season begins in September and October.
How to make the conker detergent
To make the detergent, series five winner Nancy suggests putting the conkers in the freezer first, as this helps to stop the cleaning product separating further down the line. After the conkers are frozen, they can be taken out of the freezer and sliced to remove their outer shells.
Once cut into chunks, add the conkers to a jug, fill it up with boiling kettle water, and leave to soak. The soaked liquid can then be strained into a bottle through a sieve, so you're just left with the conker pieces in the jug. Next, add more boiling water to the conker chunks before blitzing them with a hand blender into a pulp.
Finishing and using the detergent
When no more chunks can be seen, pour this liquid back through the sieve into the bottle and add a few drops of perfume if desired. You will then be left with a natural detergent ready to use, and the leftover conker mulch can be put onto the compost pile outside. Nancy states that for every litre of detergent you want to make, you need around 10 conkers.
When washing your clothes, pour 50ml of the natural washing product into a detergent cap and place this into the drum. The baker then suggests selecting a cold cycle at 20 degrees to wash your garments in.
Why freeze the conkers first
Nancy, from Hull in East Riding of Yorkshire, said: "As we enter in autumn, we are also entering the conker season. So, it is time to make free detergent. Now just a little tip if you freeze your conkers before using them, they are much easier to work with. And also, the detergent once it is made doesn't freeze all that well. Well, it freezes but it separates and it does not look all that nice. So, I tend to freeze my conkers and then use them as I need them."
