I've dug 10# of Blood root and 50# of black cohosh dried.I;m going though a hard learning curve with the washing and drying.It takes me like four hours to wash five pounds!I brake the black root into pieces than into a tote of water.It seems like I have to rub each piece to get it clean.Has to be a faster way.HOW clean does it have to be?Any one know a better way?

Your roots should be free of dirt for the most part. You don't need to wash roots for 4 hours. Make you some good 1/4 inch screens to put your roots on and wash them with a good nozzel on your hose, if you have enough pressure. Do not rub on roots nor scrub them with a brush. I have enogh water pressure to put a pretty good pile of roots on my cleaning screen and wash them quite nice with my hose. If you have some roots that mud is sticking in creavises you might have to break the roots apart.
Bloodroot does not need broken much if any and is a pretty easy root to clean. Qiut spending so much time washing roots and dig more roots.
One thing you want to do is get a large percentage of the off roots out of the roots you are saveing.

like don said,,,,,,it don't take much to wash bloodroot.....or cohosh.......usually the pressure from a hose will knock off the majority of dirt..........just make sure you have foriegn materials removed, rocks grass removed and your good to go.

i washed 45 #s of dogbane today in 30 minutes.......

Thanks guy's.I dug and washed two trapping baskets of roots today about 50/50 black blue cohosh.Took about 90 min to wash.

Is there a market this year for blue cohosh???

I have a small market that would let me pay .75cents a dry lb.

i wash all my roots but seng in an old washing machine.