Soapnuts: A Totally Natural Laundry Soap

I don't usually make a practice of doing product reviews on this blog, but this product is just so cool, I have to tell you about it.  I'm not affiliated with the company in any way.  I just thought this was an interesting product.

Soapnuts are nothing more than the dried fruit of a Himalayan tree (Sapindus Mukorossi).  They contain saponin, the natural substance that makes soap soapy.  You just put 3-4 of the little, grape-sized dried fruits into the included muslin bag, pull the drawstring closed, and toss the bag in with your load of laundry.  

That's it.  They get your laundry clean naturally.  No petro-chemical-based detergents, no bulky plastic jugs to fill up our landfills.  The 3-4 nuts you put in the bag can be used for up to 4 loads of laundry before they lose their effectiveness.  Then you can just compost the spent ones and refill the bag with a few more.

Sounds too good to be true, right?  I decided to try them for myself.  I placed an order, and my Soapnuts arrived only 2 days later.  The next day, I tested them out.

Running a farm and doing chores amidst the animals, manure, and mud, my clothes get plenty dirty.  I tested my soapnuts on a load of laundry that contained my dirtiest socks, my grungiest farm jeans, my sweatiest shirts, and an old towel that had been used to wipe up after the dog peed on the floor.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first.  Soapnuts don't produce much visible lather, the way store bought detergents do.  I didn't know whether my clothes would be clean when the wash cycle was over. 

But sure enough, when the load was done, everything was clean and soft, and all the stinky farm smells had been erased.  The one thing I would do differently next time is use a dryer sheet.

The Soapnuts website claims that you don't need to use softeners or dryer sheets when you use Soapnuts---and actually, my jeans did come out noticeably softer than they had with regular detergent---but Soapnuts didn't control the static electricity, which is the main reason I use dryer sheets in the first place.  So I would use a dryer sheet in the future.

You can use Soapnuts in a lot of other ways too, from household cleansers to shampoo.  Check out their website for more info.