Soap Nuts

Have you heard of soap nuts? I first heard about them at Passionate Homemaking. Soap nuts are the dried shell of a soapberry. When they are added to warm or hot water they release saponin, which cleans like soap does, but with out the harsh chemicals! I ordered a trial size from Naturoli to see if I would like them. There were two motivations to see if they would work. First, you don't need dryer sheets when you use soap nuts. I know that sounds almost unreal! I have always used some type of softener with my laundry. But it is true...even towels come out soft! The other reason is because they are 100% natural I am hoping they will be ok for my older son's skin. He suffers from eczema especially during the winter months. I have been wondering if they would be more gentle than regular laundry detergent.

In case you are wondering how soap nuts are used...you put about 5 soap nuts in a small cloth bag. The bag goes into the washer before you put the clothes in. When the load is done you just find the bag and let it air dry. The same soap nuts can be used for about 3-7 loads. My biggest concern was that I didn't want to fish out all those soaps nuts after running a load! The bag makes it handy!

Now the only problem is that I wished I had heard about soap nuts a few weeks earlier. I had just bought a bunch of ingredients for homemade laundry soap and made a big batch. I had also gotten a killer deal on dryer sheets and bought several boxes! So now I need to use up what I bought before going back to the soap nuts. But I will definitely be buying some more of these!