Soap Nuts - tried and tested - and verdicts?

[shiela_robins]

What about handwashing guys, will soap nuts work well? Don't ask my why, there are some clothes where I don't use a machine. But I'm really interested about this soap nuts. I hear lot of good about it, a few cons but nothing is perfect anyway.

[chrissie]

Yes sheila

They are excellent for hand washing clothes.

I would you suggest that you swish half a dozen soapnuts round in some warm water for a while, then remove them and use the soapy water thats left.

This prevents any bits of nuts getting in the clothes. If you decide to use them in a washing machine, always keep the nuts in a sock or something similar.

The saponin in the nuts is really good stuff and it can be used in a spray/ bottle for general cleaning purposes too.

Its especially good for coloured fabrics as the colours stay true and bright.

Hope you like them - I sell quite a few from my site.

chrissie

[SaveSomeGreen]

I am going to be a little biased as I actually sell soapnuts now.

It is my opinion that for cleaning your clothes that soapnuts are pretty much the best thing that you use. They have no manufacturing processes to go through (apart from drying and deseeding) and utilise a completely natural soap (saponin) to clean your clothes.

There is an argument certainly about just how clean they will get your clothes and because they are lacking bleaches whites can suffer a little. We find that the best way to improve on the effectiveness of the cleaning is to use white vinegar on items that are really grubby first (collar and cuffs) and if it needs a really good boost for whiteness then using any sodium percarbonate based bleaching product will work. We use bicarbonate of soda and borax depending on what we have got in. This does wonders to whiten up things.

This does include washing our baby boys nappies complete with the parcels he so happily delivers on a regular basis and they come out perfectly fine again and again.

Friends of the Earth actively promote not using white clothing as it makes us more worried about stains and dirt. I just find that I look far sexier in brown ;)

Anyhoo.. The other bargain is that the soapnuts can be used even after they have been used to wash, leftover shells can be boiled up to make a cleaning liquid. Great for the dog or car, I prefer to use it to get rid of my blackfly etc and the old boiled squishy nuts are great for getting rid of slugs, spread them around the base of your seedlings to repel them in a very eco friendly way.

On top of all that there is no aquatic toxicity from using them, you can use the grey water straight over your garden and have no problems with plants dying off from horrid petrochemical ickiness.


So you know I did try them for washing my hair too but I didn't keep it up, moving instead to an sls free soap bar shampoo, mainly due to prefering to smell of something a bit nicer than my standard manly whiff.

http://www.savesomegreen.co.uk/pages.php?pageid=9 has a good amount of info for soapnut use.

hope it is of use to you all

James

[Kezz]

Can I tag some soapnut questions on here rather than in a new thread?

1. Most of my washes are done on the quickwash setting, which I think is a cold wash. Does this mean the soapnuts wouldn't work as it doesn't reach 30°??????

2. I use these wash ball thingies* in every wash. Would they bash the soapnuts into pieces?


*I bought mine from aldi, that site just happened to be the first place I found them on net.

[theabsinthefairy]

Hi Kezz

Whilst a bit too long winded to explain now, the short of it is that I try to run most of my washing on cold water and have had no problems in the soap nuts working for lightly soiled clothes.

If I am running a cold wash but with heavily soiled clothes I add a bucket of hot water right at the start into the machine with the soap nuts in already frothed up so that they get a bit of 'hot' dislodging - I am talking about oil, plaster, grass and mud stained clothes here.

As you would normally wash with the nuts in a little drawstring bag, the eco balls should not crush the nuts as they will get agitated separately around the wash, and in addition as the nuts absorb water they soften and so are not likely to break or crush as they are not brittle while washing.

Monika

[Kezz]

Thank you I think I will buy some when my powder runs out next. I had a trial pack a couple of years ago so I've still got the little pouch somewhere.

[SaveSomeGreen]

With soapnuts we always recommend a dash of soda crystals or bicarb to get maximum freshness and using vinegar in the rinse aid does wonders. not onl for the freshness and cleaning side but it also helps descale the freezer. We (like Thomzo) suffer with hard water but find that even the small boys nappies come out clean as a whistle. Even so much as to remove the colour running that occured when i added a sheet to the wash and turned them all green (oops)

Biased I am as i sell them but after nigh on two years of using them I cant fault them at all.

Oh if anybody wants a seed I am sure I have a couple lying around. ( you find the odd one in the packs) but you will have to wait at least 7 years for fruition. Your socks would be a bit whiffy by then!

[SaveSomeGreen]

I meant descale the washing machine... Freezer is not a good thing to mix up with a washing machine.. doh!

[skiesabove]

Soapnuts is the only detergent I can use without getting rashes =). Been "addicted" for 3 years now! I use vinegar in the rinse for whites and undies.

Also tried for dishwasher (great), handwashing (boil with water first, works fine), shampoo (same as for handwash but too harsh for my hair).

[Helsbells]

Tried them once, didn't like them, tried them again, still didn't like them.
After about 4 washes my clothes were stiff once dried and then a strange gunk started coming out on the clothes.

[JessieMac]

We have been using them for about a year and love them but we have very soft water,I put the used shells into the planters with my marigolds and for the first time got a great crop in past years the slugs only left me the odd one so I would buy them for that if nothing else.

[malcolmfraser]

Just ordered a small pack - really keen to see how they work out, particularly in the dishwasher.

[greenorelse]

Soapnuts tend to come from India, so they've travelled quite a way.

I keep hoping I'll find a Seed and then I could grow a Soapnut Tree!
How cool would that be!!

We just got some soapnuts. The packaging says they come by sea, so no air miles.

[malcolmfraser]

Well I've now tried soapnuts in four washes and have been pleased with the results - even toddler and baby clothes came out clean. Towels (and clothes in general) feel a bit softer than before. The only issue was a fine wool jumper that came out with some white bits on it.

My wife was very sceptical of the idea but we're both impressed - thumbs up!