When I was pregnant I got a few gems of advice from my friends who had already had kids. This is how I found out about the life-changing magic of soap nuts.
How had I never heard of this amazing nut that is essential Tide pods that grow on trees? While my friend Anna has imparted much wisdom to me over the years – this one is the most tangible. We were already trying to find ways to make the switch to natural cleaning but were intimidated by making our own soaps and jaded by the clever world of “natural” cleaning product marketing.
Soap nuts (also known as soap berries) are native to India so being on this side of the world didn’t make it harder to source them, in fact it probably make it easier – and definitely cheaper! For $9 US, I bought a bag of soap nuts that lasted us from the week before she was born to 9 months old – that’s a ton of laundry, since we used them for our typical washing needs but also a constant flow of dirty diapers.
Poopy diapers come out clean. They work.
How to Use Soap Nuts:
If you are washing with cold water, put 4-6 fresh soap nuts into the cloth bag, tie it tightly and soak the bag in hot water. This releases the soap. Throw the water into the washer with the bag and wash the load like you would normally. You can use soap nuts for 4-8 washes. Soak them in hot water before each wash for the best results. When they really start to break down or your clothes don’t seem as fresh, it’s time to switch to a new batch.
The company in Thailand that our soap nuts came from, Green Doiler, is awesome – they also make a variety of soap nut and effective microorganism-based cleaning products, so we buy their dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, and all-purpose cleaner. We could actually make all of these things ourselves just with the soap nuts and fermented fruit, but convenience has won out for now. Thanks to Soap Nuts though, we have a fully chemical-free cleaning regiment.
For North Americans, there are plenty of options on Amazon and I’ve also gotten them at the local coop grocery store in MN when I needed some over Christmas so you can check with yours. Let me know if you already use them and have any other natural washing tips for me, or if you’re planning to try them out!
kiwi / 617 posts
I’m really glad they work for you, and I hope you never have problems; but soap nuts are not recommended by Fluff Love University for cleaning diapers (or any laundry in a washing machine).
I just wanted to put this out there to help out other CD moms!
I wonder if the machines are different where you are or if you are washing by hand?
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
@jennlin821: thanks for sharing about Fluff Love. Sounds like they have put a lot of info and support out there for cloth diaper users.
i love that they base a lot on research… it’s the qualitative research that concerns me… that people are losing out on a super cheap and easy and environmentally friendly option because not everyone uses them correctly.
from FLU:
“Soap nuts performed very poorly among survey users. However, with only 14 people reporting their use, the numbers are too small to draw firm conclusions.”
all the qualitative research in my sphere (thailand, canada, and the US users) has been super positive and effective. For me it’s definitely worth the trade off to not have to worry about damaging the cloth diapers over time, or chemicals sitting on baby’s skin. just a few reasons i love them
kiwi / 617 posts
@mrs. gumdrop , I’m glad you checked out the website! I don’t know anyone else who cloth diapers so their facebook communities really taught me a lot.
I do hope that the soapnuts keep working for you!
I love your posts – I love learning about living abroad. I think your time there is ending though, so good luck in your coming transitions as well!
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
@jennlin821: ack – thanks so much! yeah things are shifting around here. so bittersweet but i’m trying to focus on the sweet