Product Review: Soapnuts (Or The Amazing Natural Cleaning Nuts!)
October 17, 2007 · Written by Adam
Thanks to Anne over at Summer Naturals, I was sent some magically soapnuts to test out for use with my laundry. The instructions tell you to put between four and eight half shells in a cotton bag (or old sock or tights), tie securely and put in your wash with no need for any fabric conditioner or laundry detergent.
Hang on a minute - “half shells”? Yep soapnuts are actually real nuts. Soapnuts grow wild on trees in India and Nepal and the shells contain saponin, a natural soap, and are suitable for people with sensitive skin. But do they work?
The short answer is yes. While it felt a bit strange not putting any fabric softener or powder into the machine’s trays, if you’re familiar with putting one of those nets in with the tablets inside, this is just the same. Anne gave me a nice cotton bag with the shells in and I tied it securely and threw it in there. And the result was lovely clean washing, even on muddy trousers which will happen even more now winter’s arriving with haste.
Initially when I took the washing out to dry, it was hard to tell whether the soapnuts had done their job. There’s no ‘laundry fresh’ smell (you can add a couple of drops of essential oil to the drawer if you want) but that doesn’t mean the clothes aren’t clean. And they were clean and the little bag of nuts was secure. Seems almost magical, especially when you can use them around four times before needing more nut shells.
One question in my mind is that they’re imported from abroad and I know nothing about the conditions they’re harvested in. But as I know little about all the ingredients in Ecover for example, until they start making washing powder at my local farm, this is something that cannot really be a factor in whether to use a particular washing method.
Soapnuts contain nothing chemical at all so obviously don’t have the same whitening power of major brands but for something so natural, they’re remarkable. And cheap, an average of 3p a wash compared to 25p with washing powder and softener. And you just throw them on the compost heap when you’re done with them so there’s no waste. You can buy them here.
Oh, and before you ask, they’re not my hands in the photos….
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Excellent! Sounds great!
Just bought some online in Australia. 500g for $20 (+ $5 postage).
Cheers!
Great, let me know how you get on with them. Just used them for a third time last night and they still seem to be working.
Do we need to import the nuts at all. I haven’t yet tried this experiment but… Page 77 of ‘How to Fossilise You Hamster’ refers to bubble nuts and gives a recipe for using conkers to make soap. Apparently they are high in saponin too. So next step would be to find a tree, small boy and a stick - seem to remember that is where conkers come from,
[...] Product Review: Soapnuts (Or The Amazing Natural Cleaning Nuts!) posted at Life Goggles. [...]
Hi
I’ve lots of conkers at home (they seem to have been and gone already) so would be interested in the link if you have it? Th\\I didn’t use a stick to get them though, just picked them up! Thanks
Adam
I have read before that conkers are high in saponin but i have yet to find out how many you would need to use to get the same results as soapnuts and how long a stash of conkers would last. Oh and which part of the conker to use, what happens to them in the washing machine etc.
I am a keen forager though and so next year when conkers are on the trees, if i can find a horse chestnut tree that is, despite living in a rural area, there don’t appear to be any local tree’s, i will go and try some out. In the mean time..
It would be great if someone could experiment with conkers and report back.
anne
[...] it’s tricky to compare, it’s easy to test and Ecover’s works nicely. I did a review of soapnuts and felt after that I didn’t need laundry powder or fabric softener again. But the advantage [...]
It is an organic fruit which contains saponin This helps in washing cloths, cars,window glases.