Speaking of laundry...
Apr. 13th, 2008 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cherydactylA while back, someone posted a review of Maggie's Pure Land Soap Nuts in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
green_daily. These are not actually nuts, but the dried berries of the Chinese Soapberry tree, which have a naturally-occurring surfactant in them, saporin. I am not sure what inspired me to actually try them, but I did.
The results have been astonishing. Our clothes have gotten softer, for one thing. A couple of fleeces that were starting to get slightly stiff and unpleasant as now as soft as when we first got them. My corduroy jeans feel almost like velour. Even our denim jeans feel softer. And, yes, they clean just fine. To use them, you put a couple (hot or warm water) or more (cold water) in a little cotton sack (provided) and throw it in with the clothes. I keep the berries in there and add more when I wash another load. Every five loads or so, I empty out the little sack and get rid of the used up soapberries. They are great for HE machines, as they're low sudsing. The used berries can be composted, FTW. I'm not buying any more dryer fabric softener sheets; we don't need them.
The soapberry seed earrings I got with the last purchase are pretty cool, too.
It's a little expensive to get them in small quantities, mainly because of shipping charges. I plan to buy the 1-kilo 200+ wash sack for about $35 plus shipping when I re-order in the next week or so; it's the most efficient option. There is a merchant on Amazon marketplace who has Maggie's Soapnuts slightly cheaper than ordering directly through Maggie's Pure Land. There are other sources out there, such as Zamuta, who also sell soapnut powder which apparently can be used to make shampoo or liquid spray cleaner, and Soapods.
There's mention of them on TreeHugger, and a review at EcoHousekeeping, which have blurbs from mainstream publications like Mothering Magazine and The Indianapolis Star.
Let me know if you try them and what you think!
green_daily. These are not actually nuts, but the dried berries of the Chinese Soapberry tree, which have a naturally-occurring surfactant in them, saporin. I am not sure what inspired me to actually try them, but I did.The results have been astonishing. Our clothes have gotten softer, for one thing. A couple of fleeces that were starting to get slightly stiff and unpleasant as now as soft as when we first got them. My corduroy jeans feel almost like velour. Even our denim jeans feel softer. And, yes, they clean just fine. To use them, you put a couple (hot or warm water) or more (cold water) in a little cotton sack (provided) and throw it in with the clothes. I keep the berries in there and add more when I wash another load. Every five loads or so, I empty out the little sack and get rid of the used up soapberries. They are great for HE machines, as they're low sudsing. The used berries can be composted, FTW. I'm not buying any more dryer fabric softener sheets; we don't need them.
The soapberry seed earrings I got with the last purchase are pretty cool, too.
It's a little expensive to get them in small quantities, mainly because of shipping charges. I plan to buy the 1-kilo 200+ wash sack for about $35 plus shipping when I re-order in the next week or so; it's the most efficient option. There is a merchant on Amazon marketplace who has Maggie's Soapnuts slightly cheaper than ordering directly through Maggie's Pure Land. There are other sources out there, such as Zamuta, who also sell soapnut powder which apparently can be used to make shampoo or liquid spray cleaner, and Soapods.
There's mention of them on TreeHugger, and a review at EcoHousekeeping, which have blurbs from mainstream publications like Mothering Magazine and The Indianapolis Star.
Let me know if you try them and what you think!
