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I’ve posted before my homemade recipes for liquid and powdered laundry detergent, but I’ve also been experimenting with another even more natural method that I wanted to share.
To be fair, I must admit that when I first heard about this method a few years ago… I thought it was crazy. Of course, there have been times when I also thought cloth diapering, making my own soap, and keeping chickens were all crazy ideas too…
What Are Soap Nuts?
According to Mountain Rose Herbs:
Soap nuts are found in both the eastern and western hemispheres, but are native to India and Nepal. They have recently become a popular environmentally friendly alternative to chemical detergent, and are a gentle option for those with allergies to chemicals in regular detergents. They have traditionally been used as an expectorant, and in Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for eczema and psoriasis. Soap nuts contain saponin, a natural detergent. The soap nut shell absorbs water and releases the saponins which circulate as a natural surfactant in the wash water, freeing dirt, grime, and oils from clothing.
Sounds crazy… right?
I thought so too, but was amazed that they actually work! They leave little to no scent, maybe a slight apple scent, and they don’t bubble, but they do remove stains!
Why Soap Nuts?
They are the only true non-toxic and sustainable laundry option I’ve found. Homemade laundry soaps are a great alternative to conventional ones, but still create waste products. Soap nuts can be used completely and then composted for a no-waste solution, and a simple re-usable muslin bag is all that is needed to add them to a laundry load!
Another advantage to Soap Nuts is that they are extremely affordable! A handful of Soap Nuts can be purchased for pennies and used for multiple loads, making them the most cost-effective laundry solution I’ve found too. Since they are no-suds, they are great for front loader and HE machines and they don’t leave residue. They are also cloth diaper safe!
They don’t have the rain fresh smell of commercial detergents, but I like the light apple scent (that disappears when clothes dry).
How to Use Soap Nuts for Laundry
This is where it gets technical and difficult… just kidding!
To use, put 4-6 Soap Nuts in a muslin bag like this one (or you can make one out of fabric scraps) and place in washer. Wash as usual with cold, warm or hot water. After washing, remove bag and let dry. Dry clothes as usual. Soap Nuts may be re-used several times until the shells start to become soft and grey, and then they should be composted.
Follow up with wool dryer balls instead of conventional dryer sheets, and you’ll have truly natural clean laundry in no time!
Other Uses for Soap Nuts
Soap Nuts can also be used to make liquid cleaner, to clean dishes, and even in shampoo. I’ll be posting more recipes soon…
Where to Purchase
I buy mine online, but in the past I’ve seen them in some speciality stores as they’re getting more common.
Have you ever used Soap Nuts? How did they work for you? Any tips? Share below!
I’ve been using soap nuts for my laundry needs for the last 5 years. I use them on everything except the Queen size bedding. The only reason I don’t use them with that is that they tend to get tangled in the bedding.
I have also made a concentrated laundry solution out of them for washing / soaking delicates in the sink.
Easy to bring with you when you travel (even internationally) and make great gifts 🙂
I tried the soapnuts last year and they didn’t work for me at all. After one washing the nuts were falling into mushy pieces and my clothes weren’t clean or smelling fresh. I was disappointed. I got mine from a different vendor, though and I’d be willing to try them again from a different one.
I’ve tried them last year too and my husband and I both noticed that our white laundry (underwear) turned somehow dirty-looking grayish 🙁 I still have a full bag of them sitting in my bathroom.. Do you have any suggestion?
Many thanks from Toronto!
If you still have them I’d gladly pay a small shipping fee to try them out. Let me know how much and I could paypal it if you want to give them away basically.
The difference seen in a whites wash is possibly down to the optical brighteners that commercial detergents contain. These take the energy of the UV portion of the spectrum and re-emit it in the blue portion of the visible spectrum. Since UV isn’t visible but blue is any white surface treated with an optical brightener will emit more visible light than that which shines upon it. Hence the apparent brightness of treated whites is an optical illusion – really they truly are that yellow natural cleaners reveal. One natural way to get the brightness back into your whites without recourse to chemical detergents is to always dry them in full sunshine – the sun is a great whitener.
If you can get your hands on it, sodiun percarbonate can safely be added with the soap nuts to brighten white laundry.
My sister uses them as a head to toe body wash for her girls who have sensitive skin. Might try that.
Your sister should be careful with that, the pH of soap nuts is about 5, that’s very acidic. I’m surprised it’s not drying out their skin.
Our skin does best at naturally around a ph of 5.5- and if your sister has hard water (which usually has a ph more alkaline than neutral 7) the bath would be the right ph for their skin.
soap nuts are perfect for skin!
Soap nuts are not suitable for everyone that causes some problems like etching sense, scars etc. What we have to do is, try soap nut along with some natural ingredients like Acacia concinna, hibiscus podwer. These ingredients will soften its Ph level and will give better results as these sources are also very beneficial and good for hair care.
I love soap nuts! They work really well. I bought a big bag and since you only have to use a few at a time I know they will last me a very long time. I didn’t know I could reuse them, though– I guess they’ll last even longer than I thought!
I know it is a different subject but sense you changed my life i wanted to have your input. I have also just discovered a natural toothbrush and I just ordered a case on amazon they are called
Miswaks I never had them but a friend of mine uses them for a while and told me about them what do you think
It is an organic product. Natural way of brushing teeth.
Kills bad odor. Requires no toothpaste. Easy to carry around
Thank you, I’d never heard of them either but, checking them out after reading your comment, thought the benefits they provide against tooth caries and gum disease worth trying out. Having done that I can affirm that they do do the job. Though I will say that the natural flavour, sort of horseradishy, might be a bit of an acquired taste.
I been using soap nuts for a while now and I love them I also use a bag in my dishwasher the same concept as in the washmachine place 4 nuts in the muslim bag and place the muslim bag in the silverware basket. The direction were on the package of my soapnuts.
a MUSLIM bag??!?!?!?! Really? lol, I’m sorry, I’m not poking fun at you, it just hit my funnybone.
“Muslim” ???? I laughed out loud too!..just had to comment!
It is muslin. Not Muslim.
Do you need to retrieve the nuts out of HE washer before rinse cycle? It sounds like a wonderful idea.
You don’t, but you certainly can if you’d like to
There is no need to – soap nuts are water softeners (just like fabric softener, except that soap nuts are completely natural and they don’t leave a waxy film on clothes or create a build-up in pipes and machines). Leave them in, even for the rinse cycle and your clothes will come out softer each time – especially if you have used excessive amounts regular washing powder/liquid (which is almost everyone), or have used regular fabric softener (again, almost everyone).
If you live in an area with hard water, you can add 1/3 cup of white vinegar for extra softness.
Previously, I used bake soda and vinegar as booster, softener and brightener for every wash. Good to note to continue using vinegar for softness. How about baking soda? I added it for softening water, and an extra clean to clothes. Thanks!
Per the instructions that came with my soap nuts, I use them until they fall apart. In my front loader, that’s 8 or more loads of clean clothes.
BTW, I still add about 1/2 cup white vinegar to the fabric softener cup for less wrinkles. I still get the fresh scent the nuts leave behind.
For extra dirty clothes I add 1/4 cup baking soda to the tub before adding clothes and 1/2 cup white vinegar to the “bleach” cup on my washer. Does not effect the texture or cleaning power of the nuts.
Thank you, I have a front loader and use white vinegar as fabric softener. When my present laundry liquid runs out, my machine will get it’s drum clean cycle, then my Soap Nuts will take centre stage. At present all washes are on delicate – cool – setting for the extra water, then given the separate spin cycle. Your advice was much appreciated Janet 🙂
Where can these be found?
If you click on any of the “Soap Nuts” above in the article, it links to the brand I use…
Will you please share about how many washings on average you get out of a set of nuts? It would help in determining how many to purchase. Thanks! Looking forward to the other recipes you’re trying out.
3-4 but sometimes a couple more…
that’s what i get; i typically swap them out at 3
Thank you!
I just started using your homemade laundry soap and love it! It smells lovely and cleans awesome! I definately want to try these though, even less waste is right up my ally! Does the bag have to be made of Muslin?
Also, your homemade scouring powder is amazing! It works just as well if not better than chemical cleaners and I don’t have to worry about doing harm to the environment! Thank you!!
Any cloth bag that allows water through easily will work…
I have found that muslin works best. I’m going to try cheese cloth tomorrow. My muslin bag got tatty and I made up some small bags out of loose weave 100% cotton, these have failed quite miserably. I suspect the way the material behaves in water does not allow the ‘soap’ to get out very well.
How did the cheese cloth bags work?
I am using a langerie bag. Looking for smaller on but works perfect. Like the zipper vs the draw string.
My box came with at least 4 muslin bags in it already…I would imagine they will last as long as the box of nuts does!
Where do you purchase yours?
Green living products online
Put some into a sock and tie it…works a treat
These little nuts are GREAT and I’ve been using them for about 4 years now. I bought them initially to strip some used cloth diapers I bought when my first son was tiny. I’ve also made liquid detergent out of it, but I usually only use this for spot treatment. Looking forward to some other ideas on how to use these!