green laundry detergent
Making Soap Nuts Liquid Greener
Making soap nuts liquid at home is very easy. It’s simply a matter of putting some approximate 15 soap nuts in 6 cups of water in a pot of water and boiling the water, then reducing it to a simmer for about 30 minutes.
But yesterday I started to think about ways that I could make soap nuts liquid just as concentrated without using the electric to boil the water. In essence making soap nuts liquid greener by not using any fossil fuels to create it if possible. After all one of the main reasons I use soap nuts is to reduce my carbon footprint and remove chemicals from my cleaning and personal care environment.
Here are some ideas about ways to make soap nuts liquid at home but to make the whole process greener and more efficient.
Soap Nuts Tea – Solar Power – Sun Tea Versions
Take the equivalent of 20 whole soap nuts and drop them into an empty clear plastic (or glass) container like a 2 liter soda bottle. I used an empty limeade bottle that holds 50 ounces of liquid, which is about 1 1/2 liters. Fill the bottle to just below the neck and place it outside in the sun for approximately 8 hours. Remember to shake the bottle around every couple of hours so that as the soap nuts soften from being in the water the saponin will release in greater concentration. Another helpful note is if you have pieces your soap nuts liquid will be ready faster because the broken pieces have more ready access to the saponin in the soap berry pulp. Alternatively you can crunch the soap nuts up in your hand or mash them up into pieces by any other means you devise.
I decided to be a bit scientific about this to see if there would be an advantage to using soap nuts powder to make the liquid. I have read that many people do this, and I thought as long as I was at it why not give that a try.
Here’s what I did to make soap nuts liquid using soap nuts powder and the power of the sun to get the saponin to release. For this version I used an empty water bottle that holds 3 liters of water.
Take a container similar to the above instructions and pour approximately 5 tablespoons of soap nuts powder into the empty container. Now add the water to just below the neck of the bottle, cap and shake. You will see the color change immediately to a kind of golden to carmel color. I left mine outside overnight right next to the bottle of soap nuts tea I was making using the whole soap berries.
My theory was that since they were side by side and started at approximately the same time I’d be able to see which green soap nuts liquid method was most efficient and concentrated. The 5 tablespoons of soap nuts powder is basically equivalent to 25 soap nuts. So my portions were pretty close especially since I used a slightly larger empty water bottle for the soap nuts powder version.
Now let’s discuss affordability of this method. If you use soap nuts in the laundry 20 soap berries will produce about 20 medium size loads of laundry in a standard washing machine. That’s if you use the generally accepted 4-5 soap nuts in a wash bag for each load and approximately 3-5 loads of laundry from each fresh wash bag.
I just did my first load of laundry using the soap nuts powder based soap nuts liquid. I used 1/8 of a cup of the liquid in a medium load using cold water. That’s approximately 1 fluid ounce. So in theory the 3 liter bottle of soap nuts liquid I made using this greener soap nuts powder method should yield me 101 loads of laundry.
So the same amount of soap nuts powder would only do about 5 loads of laundry because basically you use 2-3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) of soap nuts powder for a standard load, but by putting the powder into a bottle and setting it in the sun I extracted more saponin from the powder and will get 20 times as many loads.
I’ll let you do the cost analysis on the whole soap berry method of making soap nuts sun tea yourself.
Play with the concentration yourself to if this is a viable green alternative to making soap nuts liquid for yourself without using any electricity. Yes I realize that electric is used to grind the soap nuts powder, but compare less than 2 minutes of grinding soap nuts in a coffee grinder with heating a pot of water to boiling and then simmering it for 30 minutes. Soap nuts are about as green as you can get when it comes to both laundry and cleaning, but if we can find ways to make them even greener, why the heck not.
If you want a great bargain on soap nuts pieces you won’t find a better price than this
NaturOli Soap Nuts PIECES! – 5 lb. bag! (Appox. 800 Loads!) – All Sapindus Mukorossi. 100% Natural Laundry Detergent! (Less than 8 cents PER LOAD!!) – New, Fresh 2009 Harvest NOW SHIPPING!
Once you’ve got your soap nuts sun tea to the concentrate you want, be adventurous and use it as a soap nuts shampoo, chemical free glass cleaner, natural dishwashing soap, chemical free hand soap, or chemical free jewelry cleaner. You’ll be amazed how affordable and naturally you can clean your home and all the green cleaning products you can make using soap nuts tea as the basis.
Also reusing a bottle you already have further reduces recycling making this an even greener way to use soap nuts.
The first load of laundry I did with the soap nuts powder based soap nuts liquid just finished. When I removed the clothes from the washer everything smelled good and clean, even the laundry bag of socks. So this method passed the sniff test.
Since it took me awhile to finish this post the first load is now dry and the results seem great. Lots of soft clean laundry just like I get from soap nuts in a wash bag or stove top soap nuts liquid.
Go ahead … experiment … worst case the soap nuts liquid is less concentrated than you want and you either add more powder or soap berries to it and put it back out in the sun.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Making Soap Nuts Liquid Greener )Washing Stuffed Animals Safely
Soap nuts are a perfect solution for almost every laundry challenge. One of the reasons soap nuts are so perfect for washing stuffed animals is that they leave no residue on the fabric, while still removing dirt, bacteria, and odors.
I have a personal stuffed animal collection that dates to my childhood some 40 plus years ago. Many of these critters have extreme sentimental attachments because of the people I received them from over the years. Despite my attachment to them whenever friends visit with small children I drag out a few of the stuffed animals and introduce the kids to them.
Now as anyone who has been around a few children knows, little people like to not only touch but often taste, smooch, and snuggle with furry things. More than a few times a little person has shared some bodily fluids with my stuffed animals. No harm done because the stuffed critters just get popped into the washing machine with some soap nuts, and exit the machine soft and fresh smelling.
There are many benefits to washing your kids (or your own) stuffed animals in soap nuts.
One benefit is the lack of residue left behind on the fabrics, so no worries about the kids sucking on the paws and ears and getting anything dangerous into their little systems.
Another benefit especially for older stuffed animals is that when they get washed in soap nuts there are no concerns about the fabrics breaking down because soap nuts have no harsh chemical surfactants in them which erode fabrics causing the fabric to thin or become threadbare. That means less chance of the filling coming out through a weak place in the fabric.
Another benefit to washing stuffed animals in soap nuts is that soap nuts are naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so even germs and viruses won’t linger in the fabrics.
Additionally if the stuffed animals get left out on a shelf while not in use they can get dust mites growing inside in the stuffing. Again soap nuts will take care of those nasty little critters making the stuffing less likely to irritate allergies in your children.
On a side note I make it a habit to wash our bed pillows in soap nuts about once every two weeks to kill off dust mites and remove body oil and odors. Keep that in mind if you have allergies and hate to sleep on a pillow encased in plastic to reduce the allergens. Soap nuts are also a natural hypoallergenic detergent so no concern about contact dermatitis for kids with sensitive skin snuggling with their stuffed pals.
Back to the stuffed animals though. Odors from bodily fluids, food, and dirt can build up in the furriest of stuffed animals. Soap nuts are also great for that because in the same way that they remove odors from clothing and cloth diapers they also will remove odors that can build up on the fabric and in the stuffing.
A word of caution, before washing your stuffed animals be sure to check seams and stitch any that have come open from wear and tear. Your kids will not forgive you quickly if their favorite bear ends up missing his guts because he was bounced around in the washer or dryer.
Soap nuts are also an additive free laundry detergent so you don’t need to be concerned about chemical exposure like you would with regular laundry detergent. Since soap nuts are perfect for handwashing and safe for even the most delicate fabrics like silk, you can be sure your kids treasured stuffed animals will
Every time I toss my 22 year old Rodney The Reindeer and his pals Rhonda and Little Rodney into the washing machine I am thrilled with how soft, fluffy, and gently cleaned they come out.
Soap Nuts – Green Laundry has never been so soft, fluffy, easy, or affordable
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Washing Stuffed Animals Safely )Soap Nuts Liquid – Shelf Life
Soap nuts liquid is convenient for people who prefer a liquid detergent. It’s also a great liquid hand soap, although adjusting to low sudsing can take some time.
One of the things most people who boil soap nuts liquid at home often wonder about is the shelf life.
Anyone who has experience with water based botanicals knows that fermentation and bacterial growth can occur. However, there are ways to extend the shelf-life of your homemade soap nuts liquid.
- Increase the concentration – use more soap nuts and less water or boil soap nuts powder to extract the maximum amount of saponin from the soap nuts
- Strain your soap nuts liquid through a super fine strainer so you have almost no sediment
- Refrigerate your soap nuts liquid as soon as it is cool.
- Freeze the liquid in old ice cube trays – measure the amount of liquid first so you know how much you are using when you drop the cubes into the washer (or you can thaw them prior to using them)
- Can the soap nuts liquid like you would homemade preserves.
- Add sea salt to the liquid. It will help with fermentation (bread bakers know this trick) it will also help to whiten your whites when you use the liquid. It works by absorbing moisture from the cells of bacteria and mold through osmosis, which kills them or leaves them unable to reproduce.
- Use a vacuum sealing system for packaging soap nuts liquid.
Another alternative if you simply don’t have time to make soap nuts lqiuid frequently or are concerned about the shelf-life of your homemade liquid is to purchase Extreme 18X NaturOli’s new soap nuts liquid laundry concentrate.
NaturOli has already taken the guess work out of soap nuts liquid shelf-life. Their new Extreme 18X soap nuts liquid concentrate has a two year shelf-life. Even though it is packaged as a liquid laundry detergent concentrate you can use it in all the ways you’d use homemade soap nuts liquid, by diluting as needed.
I used it in my carpet cleaner and mopped my laminate floors with it. I put 1 tsp in carpet cleaner, and 1/2 tsp in the mop bucket with warm water and was very pleased with the results from both experiments.
Soap Nuts Liquid Laundry Soap Concentrate
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Soap Nuts Liquid – Shelf Life )Soap Nuts Liquid Laundry Soap Concentrate
Soap nuts are evolving. The latest evolution is a brand new soap nuts liquid laundry soap (concentrate) offered by NaturOli Beautiful, LLC.
This new soap nuts product is simply amazing and so perfectly named Extreme 18X. Extreme soap nuts is exactly what it is, but I would expect nothing less from a company like NaturOli. They are after all a company that gets the entire value of soap nuts and makes sure that everything they formulate is as green as possible. True of Extreme 18X in a way unimagined by other sellers of soap nuts liquid laundry soaps.
What’s so special about Extreme 18X soap nuts liquid laundry soap concentrate?
Well, first and foremost it is the most concentrated liquid laundry soap on the market. That’s true of even when compared with the regular packaged liquid detergent concentrates from those big chemical companies.
The next thing that is so amazing about it is that NaturOli has created a product that has the tiniest carbon footprint they can manage. It’s formulated right here in the United States and packaged here as well, so no shipping from overseas. They’re packaging it in 8 oz PETE (recyclable) bottles to start and that little easy to handle 8 oz bottle will do at least 96 HE loads or 48 standard loads of laundry. Amazing is an understatement.
Although the instructions on the bottle recommend 1/2 tsp for a standard HE load and 1 tsp for a standard machine load you actually can use half that amount. Now the brain is a tricky thing so imagining that such a tiny amount will work is hard to wrap your brain around, especially after all the years of programming with those monsterous bottles of regular liquid detergent and their giant caps with the measure marks inside.
Truth is even I had a hard time believing so little could work that well, but I got to test it before it hit the market and I swear I used 1/2 tsp in my standard top-loading machine and got perfect clean, soft, unscented laundry. Of course everyone has different laundry needs, which is why the folks at NaturOli recommend you try half the suggested amount first and then up it if you feel you need to for your own washing needs. Now what company would encourage you to use less, exept a company that really wants you to get the most from every dollar you spend.
NaturOli is also ALL about 100 percent full disclosure on their labels so they list every single ingredient in their new soap nuts liquid concentrate.
Here are the ingredients:
– Pure Saponin Aqueous Extract from 100% Sapindus Mukorossi Soap Nuts
– Vegetable Glycerin
– Olive Leaf Extract (olea europea leaf extract)
– Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate
That’s it folks! They purposely don’t add essential oils (even though some other companies do) because they know that oils of any kind can cause problems with clogging up the fibers on things like cloth diapers. They found a better way to stabilize and “preserve” their soap nuts liquid laundry soap which gives it about a two year shelf life. These people put so much thought into their products and it shows in the response and the brand loyalty.
They also want to be sure that everyone who considers purchasing their new soap nuts liquid concentrate knows everything that is NOT in it. So they cover that on the label too.
What’s NOT in Extreme 18X:
• Dye and fragrance free
• SLS, NPE and phosphate free
• Formaldehyde free
• Petro-chemical free
• Chlorine free
•Unscented – no essential oils added
Extreme 18X utilizes a safe, proprietary, water-based soap nut saponin extraction process. No chemical solvents used. Made in the USA, so you can feel safe about how well the formulation and packaging is supervised, not to mention keeping jobs in our country, while helping emerging nations by purchasing the soap nuts from which the saponin is extracted. Definitely a win for everyone.
Here are some other great things to know about Extreme 18X:
• Green eco-friendly proprietary formulation
• Hypoallergenic
• Biodegradable
• Antifungal
• Anti-microbial
• Enhanced with pure Olive Leaf Extract for additional protective properties (among the oldest known therapies for skin ailments)
• Odor removing
• Preserves integrity of fabric fibers – excellent for fine, delicate fabrics and wools
• Preserves fabric colors
• PH neutral (6)
• Vegan
• No animal testing
• Absolute minimum carbon footprint
• Minimizes shipping costs
• Lightweight and easy to handle bottle
• Free toggle cap provided for ease of pouring
• No optical brighteners or scents – excellent for military use and all scenarios where scents are to be avoided
• Recyclable PETE bottling
• Produced and bottled in the USA
So if you’ve found every excuse not to switch to a green laundry soap (detergent) because it’s too complicated, it doesn’t work, it’s confusing or anything else you may have come up with; you no longer have an excuse.
Extreme 18X - Soap Nuts Liquid Laundry Soap Concentrate
Additive Free Detergent – Laundry Soap
Soap nuts are completely additive free, unlike so many other so-called natural detergents on the market today.
If you are at all concerned about the potential dangers and skin irritations caused by packaged laundry soap and detergents, then soap nuts should move to the top of your must have list.
Besides the lack of disclosure on most cleaning product labels, often even the ingredients that are disclosed are couched in terminology that few can decipher. Naturally derived is one of my favorite terms to avoid in packaged products. The reason I avoid products with that terminology is that although it may be derived from a natural source, how they extract the natural properties is left to be guessed at.
The buying public are a trusting bunch, and manufacturers know it. They word things in such a way that we feel safe to use their products. The EPA is even in on this now, giving certain products a “stamp of approval” as being safer. Well now don’t we all feel better that they are safer than others in their class.
If you’re interested in reading about the DfE logo and program here’s the link http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/label.htm
If you’ve never noticed the DfE logo this is what it looks like.
U.S. EPA Design for the Environment logo
I personally will continue to use soap nuts as my choice for laundry and cleaning because I’d rather have an additive free detergent than one that has additives that are simply safer than the additives used by other companies. Let’s remember that there are no regulations on listing in ingredients for cleaning products, they are protected by various governmental agencies to hide behind proprietary formulas and never disclose one single ingredient to us.
Soap nuts are the only truly additive free detergent, because used in their traditional form they are just as nature grew them.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Additive Free Detergent – Laundry Soap )Chemical Free Alternative to Dry Cleaning Silks – Cashmere – Sweaters
Soap nuts are the mildest additive free laundry detergent I have ever found, especially for washing delicates, lingerie, silks, cashmere, sweaters, and wool.
I work at home so I rarely drag out the fancy dress up clothes. However, this past weekend a group of our friends went to Ft. Lauderdale for a boxing event and a weekend away.
Boy did I miss my super soft soap nuts laundered bed linens and towels. That’s another story though.
The point of this post is that since we did the dress up thing I wore several of my silk suits and since they had not been “dry cleaned” in months (or longer) I felt they needed a little freshening up. Soap nuts to the rescue once again.
I had not actually washed any of my silk clothes in the washing machine previously, usually resorting to expensive and stinky dry cleaning to keep the silk looking good. Sometimes my silk came back from the cleaners stiff as a board, which really made me mad. But since I started using soap nuts I wash most of our dry clean only clothes in the washing machine on either gentle or hand wash cycles, in cold water and then dry them on low heat. Soap nuts are a perfect chemical free alternative to dry cleaning, and much less expensive.
Truth is I had a big pile of “dry cleaning” sitting on a shelf in my closet because I just couldn’t bring myself to pay someone to put toxic chemicals on my clothes. I’d rather not wear them, than add to the chemical pollution on the planet. A few days before we left for our weekend I took the plunge and machine washed several pairs of lined silk slacks and jackets, as well as some cashmere sweater sets for the evenings.
Let me tell you, my silk looked gorgeous, was super soft (the only reason I wear it) and needed virtually no pressing because there were only light wrinkles in it from the suit bag being folded.
One common problem with washing cashmere, wool, cotton, and even synthetic fiber sweaters is stretching (sagging). Another common problem is sweater pilling. You know those fuzzy lumps stuck all over the sweater that you have to comb to get rid of.
Well, since it’s been cool in Central Florida our sweaters got dragged out of the space bags and even after several washing and wearing not a single pill, no shrinking or sagging, and soft as they can be.
Funny that the big detergent manufacturers are now marketing special products for fading and sagging problems with bright colored clothes and sweaters. Funny because their own products are the cause of the problems in the first place. Soap nuts preserve the life and looks of your clothes naturally.
Man I love my soap nuts.
So if you often take clothes to the dry cleaners, consider machine washing in cold using soap nuts. Using soap nuts as a chemical free alternative to dry cleaning will save the planet, save you lots of money, and extend the life of your clothes.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Chemical Free Alternative to Dry Cleaning Silks – Cashmere – Sweaters )Soap Nuts – Whiter Whites Without Bleach
Soap nuts users often ask if their white clothes will be white enough without adding bleach.
I’ve been perfectly happy with how white my white clothes are using only soap nuts with no whitening additive. We live in Central Florida which means that we have lots of white clothing and under garments. In addition if you’ve read any of my other posts you also know that my mate uses white cotton handkerchiefs. He has no complaints about our white clothes either.
However, after doing some research on chemical free stain removers I read that if one soaks the stained garment in salt water overnight that stains, even tough ones, come out more easily. Through a bit of inductive reasoning I started to think that maybe adding salt to my laundry along with the soap nuts might be a bit of a help for both tough stains and whites without bleach in the laundry.
Many people who live in areas with hard water have water softeners installed which use either rock salt or salt pellets. These water softeners are very common in Central Florida.
Yesterday I decided to give it a go and tried adding sea salt to my laundry to see if it made any difference in either stain release or whitening of my whites. In truth the only issues I really had were some synthetic handkechiefs that had a bit of a dingie appearance.
Well I am happy to report that ALL of my whites were even whiter by simply adding course ground sea salt to the water. I used between 1 tablespoon and 1/4 of a cup depending on load size. All of my clothes came out as soft as with soap nuts alone, but those dingie handkerchiefs and some grubby socks were white as could be with the addition of some salt. No need for bleach to whiten anything. I waited for the washer to fill and then sprinkled the salt around the wash tub to allow the salt to dissolve rather than clump up on the clothes. This technique should work well no matter whether you use soap nuts in the wash bag, soap nuts liquid, or soap nuts powder as your green laundry detergent.
I should also add that I did the laundry in cold water, and since it was pretty darn cold here the water was VERY cold. So don’t think you’ll need to use warm water to make this work. I didn’t.
Also for those of you who have hard water and don’t have a home water softener try the salt trick to soften the water and enhance the natural cleaning of soap nuts for all of your laundry.
If you are like me and refuse to use packaged stain removers or bleach (even eco-friendly bleach) then try adding some salt to the laundry.
I’m also thinking that I will mix some soap nuts powder and sea salt together and see if it makes cleaning the toilets, bathtubs, showers, and sinks easier.
My next few posts will be about other eco-friendly ways to remove stains if you use soap nuts.
Be sure to stay up to date with my posts because very soon we’ll be sharing some amazing news from NaturOli about a new soap nuts product they are about to launch.
If you have heard about soap nuts but still haven’t tried them, get a Soap Nuts sampler and experience the benefits of this all natural laundry detergent.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( Comments Off on Soap Nuts – Whiter Whites Without Bleach )Soap Nuts Powder Revisited
Soap nuts powder was the subject of a previous post about the wonders of it as a chemical free scouring powder. Today I need to revisit the topic to add a bit of clarity.
You’ll see soap nuts powder offered on some websites for sale. Folks, please just grind the soap nuts yourself from your bits and pieces and use a container you already have to reuse and renew and make soap nuts even more green.
Now if you are going to grind soap nuts powder for use as a chemical free laundry detergent then you will want to grind it to a very fine powder, something close to a dust because you want the powder particles to dissolve as they release the saponins and go out of the washer and down the drain, not stick to your clothes.
However, if you plan to use soap nuts powder as a chemical free scouring powder or cleanser, like for scrubbing sinks, pots and pans, and the toilet bowl, then you will want a more coarse grind.
I share this tip because I have tried it both ways and find the more coarse powder gives not only more scrubbing power because of the size of the particles, but it also gives you more “suds” so you can gauge the amount needed more easily.
By the way, I have been scrubbing my toilet bowls with soap nuts powder for a couple of weeks now, and the black ring has barely returned and now a quick swish of some powder on the dry edge of the toilet bowl and the toilet brush dampened in the water is all it takes for a quick touch up.
NO MORE SCRUBBING TOILETS!
Boy do I love that. But as any of you who have read more than one of my posts knows I just generally love soap nuts and can’t say enough about how much I enjoy cleaning my house and doing laundry now that I have this wonderful green and truly natural cleaning alternative.
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Soap Nuts - Natural Cleaning - Laundry Detergent Alternative 