Soap Nuts

So, after researching about soap in general, I decided I needed to change from my ALL Free to Soap Nuts.  Even I am fooled by the marketing guys - LOL! Even though I chose a product that had many of the OBVIOUS toxins - it still is a problem.  So, I changed this week to soap nuts.  I had an interesting research product to decide are there any concerns? which was the best?  how many should I get? and is there any difference between them? sooo many questions! :)

So, before we get to those questions - you should probably understand WHAT soap nuts are.  I had heard about them for a while without really understanding what they were or how they worked.  Soap nuts aren't nuts at all but berries.  They do look like a nut - but are very light as they are just the shell of the berry.  There are many variations of soap nut trees - they originally were only harvested in Nepal and India, but we now have them growing all over the world.  Soap nut berries have a high concentration of saponins which is what breaks down the oil and dirt in clothing and aids in the cleaning of all materials. 

Are there any concerns? Actually, the answer to that is yes.  There seems to be a difference between products that are packaged in the US and those packaged overseas.  Both for quality and for contamination.  I found several very good sites that explained in detail about how and why the choose specific types of soap nuts. 

Which is the best?  Rather than best - you may want to use the phrase most preferred.  There are so many different kinds of soap nuts - I was hard pressed to determine which was best.  But most all of the sites do agree that the berries from the Sapindus Mukorossi which is the larger of the trees - providing the larger berries are most commonly used.  Whether it is due to the higher concentration of saponins or for some other reason - I am unsure.  

 How much should I get?  This question is also mated with "how long do they last" - right?  :)  Let's start with the last question first as it may answer the first one for you.  Soap nuts are dried fruit and dried fruit has a very long shelf life if kept in a dry dark place.  Soap nuts should be stored at an average temperature of 65 - 75 degrees with low humidity.  For your laundry 3 - 4 soap nuts in the small muslin bag will work - you can do 3 - 5 loads with each group of soap nuts - replacing when they turn gray and mushy.  One pound of soap nuts equals about 180+ loads of laundry and will cost you about $25.00 US. 

Is there any difference between them?  As I alluded to above. Yes, there are differences.  Read up and make your choice on which is better for you.  I liked the NaturOli site as it provided me with the most amount of actual information.  I ordered one pound - and expect to share it with family to last for quite some time!

NaturOli: http://www.naturoli.com/
BuySoapNuts.com: http://www.buysoapnuts.com/
Organic SoapNuts: http://www.organicsoapnuts.net/

Blessings... E