Want a natural, renewable source of laundry detergent? Try using soap nuts in your next batch of laundry. It’s not hard to learn how to use soap nuts and it makes laundry so much healthier and eco-friendly.

Despite their name, soap nuts are not actually nuts at all. They’re a type of berry from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree (often found in the Himalayas). When dried, soaps nuts can be used to replace unhealthy, toxic laundry detergents. They are a 100% natural, biodegradable source of non-synthetic laundry detergent.

The secret to soap nuts’ cleaning ability lies within their outer skins. They contain high amounts of saponin (often used in many natural hand soaps as well). When the soap nuts are tossed into a washing machine, the agitation releases the saponin from the soap nuts and cleans the clothes.

How To Use Soap Nuts

Soap nuts can be tossed into the washing machine just as they are, which makes them very easy to use. It’s best to put them in a small muslin bag first, otherwise you’ll have to pull the individual nuts out of the wash load. The bag of soap nuts can be used for several washes before new nuts need to be added.

You can finish the load of laundry with an eco-friendly fabric softer made from vinegar. Add 12 drops (or more if you prefer a heaver scent) of your favorite essential oil to a quart of white vinegar. Use about a cup of the mixture for each load of wash to get clothing sweet smelling and soft.

Other Ways To Use Soap Nuts

As an added benefit, you can also make soap nuts shampoo by boiling about 15 nuts in a quart of water. Strain the water to remove the nut husks, and use the water as shampoo. It will contain the same cleansing properties as a laundry bag of soap nuts.

I often use my soap nuts to clean out dirty mop buckets as well. I just throw in a few soap nuts and swish the water in the bucket a few times. It creates a nice cloud of suds I can then use to wash the grime out of the buckets.

There are many places to order soap nuts online. The best ones to use are of course organic soap nuts. A quick Google search should yield you many results, but a good place to check out is NaturOli. (Or if you prefer Amazon, you can get NaturOli soap nuts on Amazon here).

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf
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