Soap Nuts

Soap Nuts are just that - nuts. They grow wild in Nepal and India and are a natural source of Saponin - the part of soap powder that does the cleaning. They come from a bush or tree in Nepal. The bush grows wild and the nuts can be harvested easily to provide a completely renewable resource. The ultimate in Green washing products!

I just found these on Ebay and they are so easy to use! To use them you take about half a dozen shells and chuck them in a draw string cotton bag. Bung the bag in the washing machine drum with your dirty washing and set it going. They don't smell of anything so I add a few drops of lavender to the bag and my washing smells of lavender.

Soap nuts have no added chemicals and so are great for my son who has excema.

I have struggled with the fact that they have no bleaching agents or optical brighteners so I alternate them with powder. So I do all the washing for a month with soap nuts and then the following month with sensitive skin powder. The combination deals with stains and the soap nut month cleans out any powder residue that affects the excema.

I've been very impressed with these. They work out cheaper than the powder for a month and can be used for all sorts of cleaning round the house. I've used them to bath the cat, wash the car, clean the floor and now apparently if I make some juice by cooking some up in water - it can be sprayed on my plants as an anti greenfly spray. I'll be interested to see how well it works.