What Is Kūmarahou Good For?
A New Zealand native plant that is often overlooked is the mighty kūmarahou.
Alongside its healing properties, kūmarahou flowers contain saponins — natural surfactants that create a gentle foaming lather. This allows kūmarahou to cleanse hands and body effectively without the harsh chemicals commonly used in soaps to produce foam.
What Is Kūmarahou Good For?
Thanks to its saponin content, kūmarahou is excellent for cleansing the skin. In the 19th century, bushmen discovered that when kūmarahou flowers were rubbed with water, they produced a natural lather that could remove kauri gum from the skin.
Because of this, kūmarahou became known as “gum-digger’s soap” or “bushman’s soap”.
Kūmarahou also supports general wellbeing and contains valuable flavonols such as quercetin and kaempferol, along with ellagic acid, a naturally occurring antioxidant found in many fruits and vegetables.
These bioflavonoids support digestive health, while quercetin is known to assist seasonal wellbeing by helping address congestion and inflammation.
Kūmarahou is particularly valued for its gentle detoxifying properties, making it suitable for older people or those experiencing general decline in health or chemical build-up in the body.
Traditionally used as a sympathetic blood purifier, kūmarahou supports the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin, lymphatic, and urinary systems. For this reason, it is commonly included in natural health clinic tinctures.
In traditional Māori practice, kūmarahou was used for bronchial complaints and digestive disorders. It was taken as a decoction or tonic, and when brewed as a tea, its extremely bitter flavour was believed to support respiratory health and boost immunity.
How We Make Our Kūmarahou Soap (and What’s in It)
We make our kūmarahou soap by carefully steeping the yellow flowers and leaves, using a cold extraction followed by gentle heat extraction. This process allows us to draw out the beneficial saponins.
We then add mānuka oil for its antibacterial properties, along with natural ingredients such as mānuka hydrosol and vegetable glycerine to create a gel-like, soap texture.
Our kūmarahou hand and body wash is a 100% natural soap and an effective alternative to artificial or chemical surfactants.
Kūmarahou Hand & Body Wash
Kūmarahou is a natural softener, known as the “gumdigger’s soap” for the way its yellow blooms create a naturally velvety lather. The rich creaminess you remember from our original wash now finds its home here.
A gentle wash to effectively cleanse your skin without stripping the natural barrier.
Formulated with Kūmarahou, a plant native to New Zealand that grows primarily in the upper North Island. The flowers and leaves of Kūmarahou contain saponins, natural surfactants that create a gentle foaming lather. These help cleanse the hands and body effectively, without relying on the harsh chemicals often found in conventional soaps.
Also included is Mānuka, another native New Zealand plant, known for its content of β-Triketones compounds with natural antibacterial and antifungal properties. This makes Mānuka a valuable addition to a hand and body wash, helping support clean, balanced skin.
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