Environmentally Friendly Clothes Washing Product

Ok, nuts it is! Soapnuts have won the official Sustainability Nut (no pun intended!) thumbs up for washing clothes.

Basically they are nuts – like real nuts that grow on trees – whose shells contain saponin, a natural soap. When the shells come into contact with water, they create suds (just like soap does).

Apparently Soapnuts have been in use for a very long time in India… but no one told us here in Australia until recently. (Gosh, all we needed was a postcard, guys!!!)

Here’s what you do:

• Fill your washing machine with clothes. It doesn’t matter if you’re washing whites, colours, or towels – Soapnuts contain no whiteners or bleaches, so you’re clothes aren’t damaged.
• Put 6 to 8 Soapnut shells into a stocking and tie a knot in the stocking to keep these little washing wonders put.
• Dump the Soapnut stocking in with your washing.
• And let the Sustainable Washing Cycle begin!!!
• Once all is washed, retrieve your Soapnut Stocking from the machine and put it aside to be used again another four to six times. Once you’ve repeatedly used them and you think all of the soapy quality is gone, simply toss the Soapnuts onto your garden (or in your Bokashi Bucket – more about that handy little composting item next post) and allow them to break down just like nuts do in the environment.

I picked a pack of Soapnuts up from some lovely people (Margy and Debbie who are distributors) I met at the Brisbane Greenfest back on the 10th of this month. But I waited to report on the product until after we’d been using them for over a week, just to make sure LTSH (Long Term Suffering Husband) didn’t turn into the walking rash. And good news…

No rash, no complaints, no sookie LTSH… and no remnant smelly armpit areas on washed clothes.

Ewwwww – that might sound a little disgusting, but if you have an LTSH or LTSS (teenage or grown sons) who is sport crazy, sweats like anything, in fact enough to cause you to grasp for something to prop yourself up with as you pass out from the fumes when they come within 2 metres of you… you’ll understand.

Amazingly enough, those little Soapnut shells worked their magic on all of LTSH’s training clothes. No chemicals were needed, no pre-soaking, and they are (according to LTSH’s rash-free skin) suitable for people with sensitive skin.

Now, I’ve heard everyone who’ve used them say there is no smell with the Soapnuts, but I swear there is a slight hint of scent. And it’s not even one I can describe… except maybe to say it’s a fresh, clean smell. If you’re someone that likes to scent your clothes, then simply add one or two drops of your favourite Essential Oil into the fabric softener cup (top loader) or dispenser drawer (front loader). Personally, I think Lavendar would be nice.

There are a few major upsides to using the Soapnuts:

1. How much closer to nature can you get than using a nut?
2. No chemicals.
3. Your grey water is safer to use on your plants.and… sustainable drum roll…
4. The fabrics you wash come out much softer than what they do after using other washing products.

How many times have you got out of the shower and grabbed your sun dried towel (because being a conscientious sustainability nut you shun the clothes dryer) and scraped half your face away with a towel now closely resembling a pumicestone… an exfoliation you weren’t quite expecting!

Now, of course, Soapnuts aren’t going to make your towels and clothes as soft as when you used to use fabric softener, but I’ve found them soft enough to enjoy towelling off, using on bedding for baby birds, and for LTSH not to grizzle about forming callouses on his nether regions because of what I dubbed ‘cardboard undies’ due to drying in the sun.

The product I’m using is ‘Soap in a Nutshell’ whose catch-cry is “saving the world one washload at a time”. For more information visit the Soap in a Nutshell website. You can order online or find out who your nearest distributor is.

Happy Sustainable Washing!

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