A soap nut, just to confuse things, is not actually a nut. These are berries of the Soap Nut tree that are dried, packed and sent all around the world for Environmentally Friendly shoppers to use to keep their laundry clean. It all sounds a little far fetched, but in fact soap nuts have been used in the East for over 5000 years, both in personal hygiene as shampoos and to help out on laundry day.
Of all the supposedly green cleaners, none come with higher Eco credentials than the humble soap nut. Grown, harvested and dried is the entire manufacturing process. Yes, they do have to be transported to you, but what does not? They are completely biodegradable and best of all, the waste water that comes out of your washer is actually good for the environment after using them. This is because the soap nut residue actively helps break down bacteria and pollutants in grey water.
If you buy soap nuts, you will not be buying any glamorous fancy green cleaner, but rather a box or bag of soapy nuts. These can be soaked in water to create your very own soft soap for use wherever a bucket of soapy water is of use, or they can simply be popped into the washing machine. Four or five nuts should clean a full load of laundry, and they can be used five times.
Of all the green laundry detergents soap nuts are the ones with the best cleaning power but still completely natural and hypo allergenic.
So what on earth is a soap nut? Well hopefully it is the future of your Eco friendly laundry day. Spend a few dollars on a sample pack to try and you are sure to be converted to these wonderful little all natural cleaning products.
