Name it Bouncing Bette, Soap Wort, Wild Sweet William or Fuller’s Herb…

Soap wort Herb, Bouncing Bet, Bruise wort, Crow-Soap, Fuller's Herb, Lather wort, Soap Root, Sweet Betty and Wild Sweet William are some familiar names associated with my Bouncing Bette.

Soapwort has many uses and is most commonly used in making commercially available herbal shampoos.  Textile factories once used soap wort in the cleaning and sizing of textiles. 

My grandmother used the root of soap wort swished around in water to shampoo our hair and she was known to use the soap wort to wash clothes.  She also used soap wort in preparing herbal baths.  Soapwort has been used as a healing herb for thousands of years.

A decoction of the herb, when applied externally, eases the discomfort of itchy skin.  Specifically, soap wort may help with acne, boils, constipation, gout, jaundice, rheumatism and skin problems, including psoriasis and eczema.

If you are not lucky enough to have some growing in your home garden as an ornamental, you can find it growing in moist ditches along side the roads and highways of the contiguous states of the USA.  It can also be found at old dump-sites, near old home sites and even in meadow-lands.

It is an aggressive plant and can become an obnoxious weed.  As an ornamental, soap wort has beautiful pink or white blossoms and blooms from July through August.  Mine is pink and I cut mine back vigorously and often to keep it under control. If let go to seed the new crop will be explosive.  I cut mine back before it goes to seed in the fall.

Test tube studies show that purified components of soap wort called saponins have harmed cancer cells.  However, authors of these tests results claim there is no evidence that the herb helps cure cancer in people.

Possible side effects of using soap wort include nausea, upset stomach and vomiting.  Using too much of this herb internally can cause problems such as, digestive tract ulcers, kidney damage, liver damage and nerve damage.

Personal experience proves that excessive internal use of soap wort causes painful and intense evacuation of the bowels.  That is all I have to say about this most useful plant brought to the United States by the early pioneers.   

Shebolith says...use any herb in moderation.