Birch Leaf Soap

It seems so easy.

Collect the young birth leaves, put in a plastic bag, add cold water ...wait...then add hot water...wait...shake it up...voila, you will release the saponin.

I would assume one could simmer the leaves as well then wisk up the saponin.

I will try to post a vid below.

Haha! I like the end where he says (with a disgusted look) that "now there's no excuse for you to stink when you're on a hike."

Thanks a lot for this post- I have a white birch I just noticed in the woods behind my house. I'll make use of it!

reply to post by InTheLight


Good post.

Birch is a very usefull tree.

The outer bark is great fire lighting material, you can peel of the loose pieces and they will even burn when wet due to the high turpentine content.

You can also tap the tree for its sap a certain time of year. It is a sweet syrop that has antiparasitic, antiseptic and anti inflammatory properties.

Kudos to the Birch tree!

reply to post by InTheLight


Wow soap as well?
The birch tree is awesome and has helped us get to where we are today IMO.
For millenia there was no better known glue than birch tar,which is easy to extract from birch bark if you put it in a container over a fire.
It is what countless peoples of the past used to glue spear and arrow heads with,which helped us become good hunters.
The stuff is still awesome today I think.

Does not come off clothes though-But maybe it would if you used birch soap on it??

So what do you do after shaking it? It isn't very clear to me going off the video.

Do you have to filter out the water and separate the soap solution?
I'd of thought mashing the leaves and repeatedly soaking would work better...

The whole idea is to release the saponin from the leaves, so either from shaking in warm water or, yes, mashing leaves with water in a container. Then how soap works is that you want to create lots of lather, the lather is what adheres to the dirt on your body, leave it on your skin for a little bit, then wipe it off (dirt is wiped off with the lather too), or rinse it off - you can also go jump in a lake (LOL). I also saw a video where an Aussie just grabbed a bunch of saponin-rich leaves (native to his land) and added water, then just mashed it all up in his hands.

This bushman recommends tapping birch trees for both a water source (nature's energy drink) and, if you wish, to boil it down into a syrup.



youtu.be...

www.sapworld.ca...

"Contents of birch sap :

Mg 11 mg/l
Mn 1.2 mg/l
Na 0.2 mg/l
Ca 70 mg/l
K 120 mg/l
Fe 0.1 mg/l
Zn 1.5 mg/l
P 6.4 mg/l
Fructose 0.5 g/100 ml
Glucose 0.3 g/100 ml
Dry solid content 0.7 - 1.5 %
pH 5.5 - 7.5

100 g Koivu™ birch sap contains:

Energy : 10 kJ
Fat: < 0.1 g
Protein: < 0.1 g
Carbohydrate: 0.62 g
fruit acids (malic 100-600, succinc 10-300, phosphoric 10-50, citric 5-20 mg/l)
free amino acids: 25-700 mg/l "

Three hemolytic dammarane triterpenes, esterified with malonate at C-3 and acetate at C-12, were isolated from the leaves of Betula pendula. Their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic means. Former reports on the presence of saponins in birch leaf extracts could not be confirmed. The hemolytic activity of the extracts, which was ascribed to saponins, is caused by the dammarane esters instead.

Source

originally posted by: Manawydan

Three hemolytic dammarane triterpenes, esterified with malonate at C-3 and acetate at C-12, were isolated from the leaves of Betula pendula. Their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic means. Former reports on the presence of saponins in birch leaf extracts could not be confirmed. The hemolytic activity of the extracts, which was ascribed to saponins, is caused by the dammarane esters instead.

Source

Interesting that the extracts resemble saponin activity because a later study (link below) finds the extracts also act to lighten the skin as well as acting as an anti-oxidant.

www.sciencedirect.com...

Additionally, many botanical sites do list saponins as a component of the bark and leaves - having an astringent activity on the skin, so I am not sure why the study you posted dismisses others' findings.

www.botanical-online.com...

From my Medicines from the Earth book, by Professor of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, Northestern University, page 148:

Leaf: Contains: Saponins, tannin, traces of essential oil, bitter principle, glycosides / Effect: Slightly diuretic, weakly disinfectant.

Why did so many scientists find saponins in their studies and the scientists from your study did not? Something is odd here.

It may be that the time of gathering is of the utmost importance.

"Gather in spring and early summer, not later than 1-2 months after leafing (April-June). Dry in shade, below 40 degrees C.

Alternatively, saponification of an ester through the use of heated water then mashing up the birch leaves may plan a larger role.

www.murov.info/orglab/10-e5.pdf

Surely if you're a survivalist you should be using John Birch leaf soap?

originally posted by: MongolianPaellaFish
Surely if you're a survivalist you should be using John Birch leaf soap?

I am not there yet, but when a survival situation happens...most surely.

a reply to: InTheLight

hmmm wow neat

originally posted by: bigpatato
a reply to: InTheLight

hmmm wow neat

Yeah, I thought is was really neat too.