SOAPWORT LEAF

Saponaria officinalis

Soapwort is a pretty little wild flower of the Carnation family that commonly grows in wet meadows and ditches. It is native to Europe and Britain. It came to the United States with the first settlers, who may have used it as a soap plant. It quickly spread and naturalised in its new habitat. Soapwort contains saponins, which in conjunction with water create a soft, gentle lather when. This property was widely used in times gone by, not just as a ready soap supply for washing clothes, but also as a particularly gentle natural shampoo for dry, easily breaking hair. Sheep farmers in the Alps also used it to wash their sheep prior to sheering. Today Soapwort is used in some cosmetics, such as soaps and shampoos, and as a particularly gentle agent for restoring old and fragile textiles.

Traditional
This herb is no longer used internally in herbal medicine due to the poisonous nature of saponins, which can destroy red blood cells. In the past it was used as an expectorant, laxative and cholagogue. It was also used for syphilis and other venereal diseases. Externally it may be used as a shampoo for fragile hair or as a wash for bruises and afflictions of the skin. Do not use during pregnancy.

Magical
Soapwort is not noted for any particular magical uses, but it could be employed as cleansing herb to add to a ritual bath or to wash ceremonial apparel.