Soap Nuts
The greener alternative to washing powder
Washing is one of the areas where green claims are playing an ever bigger role in advertising products. But one product you don't tend to hear about is soap nuts. These little things grow in India and Nepal, and contain a substance called 'Saponin', a natural soap which could provide a more eco-friendly alternative to the chemical based washing powders and liquids most of use use at the moment.
So, first of all, what are the benefits of soap nuts? Well, as a natural substance they don't contain any of the chemicals you'll find in most washing powders, making them greener as well as ideal for those with sensitive skin that gets easily irritated. For the same reason they're also supposed to be very good to use on baby clothes - although we didn't test them on any ourselves! And as the nuts can be re-used for multiple washes they can also work out much cheaper than regular washing powders too, at as little as 3p per wash!
What can you do with them? Pretty much anything if you want to! As well as using them for washing clothes I've read claims around the net that you can also boil them to make a liquid soap, use them in the dishwasher, use them in place of car screen wash, kill greenfly and aphids with them and more.
What are the downsides? Well, the first isn't really a downside but more of a consideration. As soap nuts don't have a scent they won't leave you with nice, fresh-smelling laundry so you'll probably want to consider buying some essential oils to add in to the conditioner tray to leave your laundry smelling nice. We also found that their washing power was limited compared to our usual washing powder, so washing things on 30 really wasn't an option. They also lack the power to remove stubborn stains, so you'll probably want to invest in an eco-friendly bleach such as ecover to make sure your whites stay white.
Despite the disadvantages they're worth a go, particularly if you have sensitive skin. We got our nuts from http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/ who also offer free samples (you just have to pay p&p). So if you want to make your whites a little bit greener give them a try!
