So last year I did this.
I'm doing it again this year.
I've made washing powder out of conkers.
I've got loads of it in the fridge already and I'm going to show you exactly how I've done it.
I'd like to say it's completely free but it's pretty much free.
So what you need to do is you need to go and get yourself loads of conkers and glass jars.
Getting the kids involved.
You bash the conkers up so that they break into lots of pieces.
So they're getting their little hammers out, bashing them apart.
Before anyone comes to me for the kids using their hammers, they literally just had a little turn.
But obviously they can't bash them hard enough to do it so no one comes for me for that.
Alright, then you just literally... I've got all of them in here all bashed up.
Now you boil your kettle.
So I did this last year because the baby has got really, really bad eczema.
And it's completely natural.
There's no added chemicals and things like that.
It's literally just conkers and water.
Conkers have a natural stain remover in them called saponins.
Which you find in all of your normal laundry detergent.
Obviously everything else added in there, all the chemicals are not added in.
So I found that our clothes, one, smelt great.
Two were lovely and clean.
And three helped remove the stains as well.
So when you add the water in, you leave it to sit for like an hour or so.
And then it makes this frothy solution that I'll show you as we go through.
So just literally just wait for the kettle to boil.
Right, so I've put the boiling water in from the kettle.
Just enough, obviously not quite as much in this jar, just enough to cover it all.
So they can soak.
You can see all the bubbles slowly starting to come up to the top.
And then that's what happens.
So I'll come back in about an hour and see what's happening.
Oh, there you go.
Look, you can see it here.
Look, all coming out.
So I'll give it about an hour and see.
I'll come back and show you.
Right, it's probably been about half an hour.
As you can see, it's gone like a cloudy solution.
You can use a sieve.
I just hold the lid over and just pour it out.
All those bubbles on the top there, look.
That's because of all of the saffonins.
This is why you need so many jars.
So I've filled that jar up.
And then I'll re-boil the kettle and fill them up again.
And I'll probably do that probably about five or six times.
Obviously you have to leave it longer each time as you go along just so that the solution is diluted enough.
But once you've done it, you can put that in the fridge.
And then just use it as and when you need to.
Just pop it straight in the washing machine like you would do any other normal laundry detergent.
And then I'll just pop my softener in.
And happy days.
The washing comes out lovely.
