Yucca Root Powder
Yucca Root Powder
- Allow 7 to 14 days
Country of Origin may differ from what is shown above.
Yucca root powder is the milled root of Yucca schidigera, a desert plant whose root is unusually high in saponins, the plant compounds that foam in water. Whisk it into warm water and it lathers on its own, which is why it has such a long history in soap making and hair washing. Sold for soap making and other external use, not as a food.
Key Benefits
- Foams on its own: the saponins in the root raise a soft, creamy lather with nothing else added.
- For soap and hair rinses: the strained liquid works as a simple wash for hair and skin.
- A soap maker's additive: a spoonful stirred in at trace gives cold process bars a fuller lather.
- Milled fine: it wets out and foams quickly instead of sitting in lumps.
- Long traditional use: desert peoples pounded yucca root for washing hair, skin and cloth long before bar soap existed.
- External use only: this is sold as a soap making and cosmetic ingredient, not for eating or drinking.
For a simple wash, whisk or blend about a tablespoon of the powder into two cups of warm water until it foams, then strain it through muslin. Use it within a day or two, since a plain water extract has nothing in it to keep. For a stronger extract, simmer the powder in water for ten minutes, let it cool and strain.
Soap makers usually add one to two teaspoons per kilo of batch at trace. Botanicals like Calendula and Lavender are the usual companions in a handmade bar. If you would rather grow your own soap plant, Soapwort does much the same job straight from the garden bed.
Yuccas are pollinated by yucca moths and almost nothing else. The female moth deliberately gathers pollen, packs it into the flower and lays her eggs in the same bloom, and neither the plant nor the moth manages without the other.
The lather from pounded yucca root has an old name, amole, and it was used for washing and in ceremony alike. The word saponin comes from the Latin for soap.
The leaves had a second life entirely. Soaked and beaten out, the fibre was twisted into cord for rope, nets, sandals, baskets and sleeping mats.
Not sold for internal use. Saponins sting the eyes and can irritate sensitive skin, so keep the lather away from your face and patch test before using it on skin or hair. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before use, especially if pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medication.
Our shipping costs are a flat rate, meaning you can add any amount of products to your order and you will pay the same.
Regular Post - $10.95
Express Post - $12.95
Dispatch days: Monday to Thursday.
We send Australia wide.
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