Soapnuts

spicyprawn

thanks for letting us know. I have eczema too which is what brought me to this thread. Thanks for the link I will have a butchers at it

lily_74

I have just started using soap nuts after a friend recommended them. I have cut down on chemicals in my shampoo, showergel, and handwash so wanted to turn to something natural for my laundry and dishwasher.

I used 6 soap nuts in a bag in my washing machine with 6 drops of lemongrass essential oil on the bag and did a 60 degree wash.

Clothes came out soft, fresh and with a subtle scent of lemongrass! Perfect and not artifical. Shifted mud and some stains but not all but even the chemical detergents I've used sometimes fail on this.

I then reused the bag of soapnuts in the dishwasher after dinner, putting the bag in the cutlery holder and then cut a lemon in half and also put that in for a rinseaid.

I worked out soap nuts will save me £12 a month

OriolaW

Is anybody still using these? I've bought a box from Budgens. I've not used them as I don't even have the washing machine yet!

Bella56

We still have a couple of bags of these under the sink We originally bought them for washing cloth nappies, as we'd heard they are great for eczema. However, they don't work much better than just water, and clothes (especially towels and cloth nappies) began to reek after starting using soapnuts. We quickly reverted to bio powder. Thinking about it, I might use them for loads that are not very dirty, just to use them up.

speedfreek1000

I have non of the issues above with smells but......

I think you need combination of methods as well as the nuts.

I add a a cap full (from an ECOVER liquid) of vinegar plus 6ish drops each of lavender and tea tree oils into all my washes.

My nuts came with a cloth bag and I drop the oils on that. Even dry the bag with a bit more lavender oil dropped on now when using the drier.

I'm not even sure the nuts are doing anything tbf as I only replace them when they look a bit manky?

All I know is that it costs me not a lot (pence a month) and my clothes etc seam cleaner and softer than they did before

kippers

I'm experimenting at the moment with a washing up liquid / dw liquid...don't know if it will work, i'll be trying it for the first time layer today (i'm trying to use my soap nuts up this way as i felt they were not very good washing clothes

[Deleted User]

they are rubbish, I threw a kg out. I prefer eco balls for non-stained washing like sheets and towels

kippers

After experimenting I have now found a use for the soapnuts I won't use for washing clothes (as I didn't think they washed well)......I now use my soapnuts to make a washing up liquid and a D/W liquid...and it works a treat...very pleased with it and I will be buying some more soapnuts when these run out.

Honey_Bear

Does anyone know if you can use a slow cooker to make laundry liquid from soapnuts?