On a scale of crunchy to careless, I like to think of myself as an eco-conscientious middle. It’s not like I make my own hemp milk or anything, but I do try to take small measures to be a little kinder to the environment (like recycling, giving up plastic straws and bringing my own tote bag to the grocery store). So when I heard about an eco-friendly and chemical-free laundry-detergent alternative, I was intrigued. Here’s the dirt on soap nuts.
The first thing to know is that despite their appearance, they’re not actually nuts. Instead, they’re berries from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree (a plant that’s native to the Himalayas) that contain saponin, which has natural cleansing properties. This means they’re perfectly safe for nut allergy sufferers. Even better? Because soap nuts are all-natural, they’re also great for sensitive skin (hi, that's me).
Using soap nuts is easy, and you can buy them from your local health shop or online. To use, just chuck a couple of the berries into a small fabric or muslin bag (the ones that I bought from Amazon came with the bag) and add to your laundry load. Then run the machine as usual (don’t expect to see any suds, though—there’s no actual soap in there). When your cycle is finished, remove the bag and let the berries air-dry until next time. Yep, you can re-use the berries until the shells become soft or discolored (mine work for five to ten washes, according to the packaging). And because the shell is 100 percent biodegradable, you can just toss them into your compost when you’re done, thereby cutting back on landfill. (Insert smug face here.)
But do they work? Honestly, I was skeptical and figured that after trying the soap nuts, we’d probably have to re-wash our laundry with our regular detergent. Spoiler: No re-washing was necessary.
