For the inaugural post on this green/frugal/repurposing/recycling/use-what-you-have/living-more-with-less blog, I wanted to feature Soap Nuts.
This is what I have been using for the last six months or so to do the laundry. You put about five of these in a small drawstring muslin bag, tie it shut, and toss it into the washing machine. As an active family with three children...our clothes get very dirty. And yes, it totally gets the laundry clean!
What are soap nuts exactly? From the website where we purchase our soap nuts:
"...soap nuts are the dried shells (or husks) from the soapberry (or soap berry nut). These berries are the fruit from a quite unique tree species. These shells contain a substance called saponin that produces a soaping effect. Saponin is a 100% natural alternative to chemical laundry detergent and cleansers. It can replace many chemical detergents such as those ontaining sodium laureth sulphate (SLS) that are becoming well known by consumers for being a skin irritant and health hazard."
Not only is it all-natural and good for the environment, it's an inexpensive alternative to chemical detergents. I did a quick cost estimate of a popular detergent vs. the soap nuts:
Popular Detergent priced at a discount store: 64 loads (100oz.) @ $13.57 = 21 cents per load
Soap Nuts at regular price (where we buy them): 480 loads @ $48.00 = 10 cents per load
I love using Soap Nuts!
Because of a job lay-off and vastly reduced income, family members with sensitive skin, and a desire to use all-natural products to benefit my family's health, I am thrilled to share about quality products that have been a great benefit to my family.
To be clear, I am sharing my opinion and from my personal experience and have not been compensated in any way for this post.
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