A thrifty mum makes her own laundry detergent using conkers - and saves up to £60 a month.<br /><br />Kara Woodhouse, 29, shared the tip on social media and says that anyone with access to a horse chestnut tree can save money on their washing powder<br /><br />The mum-of-two collects the conkers from September to December, which she uses to make laundry detergent throughout the year. <br /><br />Kara, who lives in Cambridge, would normal approximately spend £30 every two weeks on washing products which means she saves up to £60 a month. <br /><br />A video shows Kara and her children Loui, four, and Connie, three, all getting involved in the production of the washing powder.<br /><br />The key ingredient in the conkers is saponins - a cleansing chemical used by the horse chestnut seed to deter pesky insects.<br /><br />Kara said: "I saw a video last year about how conkers hold saponins like washing detergent, so I looked into Google to see how it worked."<br /><br />To make the detergent, the stay-at-home mum bashes the conkers with a hammer and put them in a glass jar that she fills with boiling water.<br /><br />After she let it rest for 30 minutes, she strains the liquid out into another jar and store in the fridge until needed. <br /><br />Kara was inspired to make her own natural detergent after her son Loui, who suffers from eczema, reacted badly to store-bought options.<br /><br />She said: "My son has bad eczema so I would normally use washing detergent aimed for babies.<br /><br />"But when I saw the conkers thing, I thought well it’s natural so it’s worth a try and thankfully it helped a lot."
