I use what my dad calls soap root, the problem with being an old-timer being mentored by an older-timer lol. It looks like a short onion with a bulb the size of a golf ball. Grows here in southern Oregon down to at least south Redding. Not a lot of smell but if you crush the root it lathers real well. I’ve also dried it in slices with pretty good success.
Horse-chesnuts aka Buckeyes (Aesculus) have saponins in them. I haven’t personally experimented with them, but in “Botany in a Day” Thomas Elpel says he’s stuck some peeled buckeyes in a blender and used the resulting paste as a laundry detergent, with satisfactory results.
Apparently there are other plants in that family (Sapindaceae, or Soapberry) with saponins, western soapberry (Sapindus drummondii) being just one of them… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindaceae
Anyone heard of soap nuts? They import the commercial varietes from Asia, but according to wikipedia, a variety of the tree grows in the southern U.S.
i’ve heard of them, but haven’t located any :-\
Some other soap plants I know of are Wild Cucumber(Marah macrocarpus) which is NOT edible as far as I know and Calabazilla(Cucurbita foetidissima) a wild gourd. The root of the Wild Cucumber, also called Manroot, is huge and loaded with saponins. The root of the gourd as well as the gourd’s flesh has lots of saponins. The seeds are also edible. I have wondered though, if the gourds can be baked or otherwise cooked and then eaten like yucca root can be. I will have to try it sometime.
This searchable database is quite useful when wondering about native plant uses.
http://herb.umd.umich.edu/
Actual soap can be made from rendered animal fat and ash water, things I expect we’ll have plenty of around. Add some scented oils for fun.
lemon juice is a very effective astringent for the face.
witch hazel is also good for cleansing the face.
I’ve stopped using commercial deodorants! Free at last.
I started skipping days when I had a day off from work. Then I started skipping more days. Now I haven’t worn deodorant for about 4 days in a row. I don’t sweat nearly as much anymore, and I think I smell just fine. (There is a smell, but it’s not b.o.)
I think the paleo diet helped me with this, particularly with regard to perspiration.
I have not worn deoderant for 15 or so years.I also very rarely use soap.If i work a hard day and I am ultra dirty or stinky a little soap under the arms in the nether regions of my bod takes it all away. I rarely feel like i am offensively smelly.A few months after I stopped bathing with soap every day my skin felt more healthy and way less dry.I do however enjoy showers or bathing just not with soap. Puuku does the soap root work as well after it has been dried out?
I also have not worn deoderent for about 6 years or so. I find that in the the summer if I shave my pits a few times it cuts down drastically on the dampness and smell. Also, eating paleo does improve my smell.
Shadrach
Essential oils (such as tea tree, lavender, and cypress) will limit bacteria growth and they have a nice smell. 
I have all the ingredients to make a “deodorant” with tea tree, lavender, rubbing alcohol (preservative), and water. I’m still looking for a spray bottle or other application device (roll on)? If I find any success with it, I’ll post again with the proportions that I used and any other relevant details…
Well, I’ve known people who could go without deodorant, but it doesn’t work out for me. I guess I’m an unusually smelly person :D.
i wonder if infused oils would work as well as essential oils in a DIY deodorant? There was a debate a little while ago on the Fabulous Forager blog about essential oils vs. infused oils.
Hey starfish,
I have no idea about infused oils, but I did make a deodorant from essential oils, and it is pretty effective. When I want to be extra Sure ™, I put 2-3 drops of lavender oil directly on my skin. It kills bacteria and is aromatic, and it actually makes a good skin conditioner so I figure as long as I’m not shaving and nicking my skin, it won’t do any harm.
I combined 15 drops of bulgarian lavender, 10 drops of tea tree, 1/2 oz of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 oz of water in a pump-action spray bottle.
Next time I’ll use less water. It doesn’t evaporate like alcohol…just runs down the side of my ribcage, probably taking the oil with it, away from my armpit. Bleh.
A fairly un-shady sales rep told me that whenever I mix essential oils with water, after time they will spoil, and that a cheap rubbing alcohol (or I dunno, even an expensive one) will preserve the concoction if it’s going to be sitting around for more than a few days.
yup, I am interested to try this myself, making the lye water that is. I have made homemade soap using commercial lye, but I’d like to go through the process of extracting it from ashes. I found a link that has some detailed instructions, but I’ve yet to try it (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PAUL_NORMAN_3/soapmake.HTM
I’m only about halfway through the one batch of soap that I made a few years ago so I haven’t been motivated to make any more, but I do want to try soaking corn in lye water to make my own masa.
I also use essential oils if I want to smell nice. I usually dilute lavender in another carrier oil and dab that under my arms.
Every so often, especially on a day when I’ve been working my muscles hard, I’ll do a full body rub of infused balsam poplar oil. Good for the sore muscles, antimicrobial on the skin, and makes me smell like honey, I love it.
Try boiling pine sticks for a long time, you will see that the tre oil gathers on the top of the water, mix this with fat and you have green soap(Used for over thousend years in norway). This soap can be used for whasing your body, your hair(especialy good if you have dreads), treat woodwork(floors, tabels and the likes) and it’s antiseptic, so you can use it(mixed with water) to clean out infections in the skin.
Thanks Ravn, I thought that was incredibly interesting and it’s something I want to try.
And yeah, just one thing I forgot to mention, the pine sticks has to be fresh and preferabely still have teir “leaves” on …
i also have heard of the horsechestnut . Doesnt mud work for cleaning and regulation of skin organism.?
Ai just made a shampoo for mai dad, who likes a specific eucalyptus-scented shampoo. Ai boiled wild gourd wedges, yucca fibers, and leaves from the eucalyptus trees in the local park, then let it sit overnight. Turned out pretty good. Next time ai might try that pine shampoo. 
Bytheby, does that work without adding lard?
I did come across something that said horsechestnuts do contain saponin
I’ve been doing some reading about plants containing Saponins yesterday for a completely different use: fishing.