Soap Nuts

Holly_Bean

Does anyone know anything about these soap nuts you can use instead of washing powder? Are they any good and where can you get them from?

Justie

you can get a free sample here http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/

and if you search the board for both soap nuts and soapnuts you'll see various threads on them

Sage

Hi Holly Bean
I've used them for about 6 months, they are great on the day to day muck, but I must admit once a month I put the whites on a 60 wash and used a bit of powder just to get the grime out the cuffs & collars .
But I would give them a go.

tiamaria

Just done my first wash with these. They didn't look very impressive and I didn't see any bubbles in the machine. However, the clothes do seem to be clean, I do miss the clean smell though as the clothes come out totally odourless.

Hungerdunger

tiamaria wrote: »

I didn't see any bubbles in the machine. However, the clothes do seem to be clean, I do miss the clean smell though as the clothes come out totally odourless.

That's the problem - over the years we've all been brainwashed into thinking that bubbles = cleaning power (not necessarily true) and that a certain type of chemical smell = clean (definitely not true).

geordie_joe

Hungerdunger wrote: »

That's the problem - over the years we've all been brainwashed into thinking that bubbles = cleaning power (not necessarily true) and that a certain type of chemical smell = clean (definitely not true).

Well said. Can I add that clean doesn't smell, it is odourless. If you, or your clothes "smell clean" it is only because something has added that smell. And it doesn't have to be something that got you, or your clothes clean.

robskillz

Hear, hear!

hannoja

Well, if you'd asked me what my washing smells like after I've just washed it with Soapnuts before I'd seen this thread, I would've said, "It just has a really lovely CLEAN smell"

I recently got some 'Lush' Henna and was dreading the smell, as I'd read that the smell was horrible. I was delighted to find however, that I really rather liked the smell.

I've used my sample of soapnuts from In A Soapnut Shell three times now, so they're almost 'done'. They get rid of unwanted smells (e.g. wee-wee-baby-pants :eek:) and leave the washing clean (though I'll probably follow Sage's advice above occasionally) and SOFT.

I really like them and I must order some more soon!

:j

steve_r123

Sorry, but I wasnt convinced by these soap nut things. First off they smell foul, they didnt really clean the clothes at all, and left everything with a greasy feeling to them.

Maybe I was doing it wrong, but I wont be using them again. I really wanted to like them as well.....

dND

I really wanted to use them as I have a septic tank but sadly found they didn't get my clothes clean. Probably a difficult test as I have a smallholding and the temperature was in the 30's so it was always going to be a tough wash. I have had to revert back to ordinary powder - reduced quantity though - plus vanish for the whites.

I now need to think what to do with the rest of the kilogram bag I bought. If I can get my act together I may use them for the darks wash but I do find it hard to remember how many washes they've done! Another thought is to use them as a hair wash or shower wash. There is another thread on soap nuts, probably on the OS forum, where someone mentioned boiling them and making a soap solution. Again opinion on that thread was split, some people wouldn't use anything else while others found they didn't get clothes as clean as they wished.

Getting hold of a trial pack and seeing what you think is IMO the best idea.