Last updated on August 20th, 2022 at 12:14 am
I was just discussing the implications of Tide with a reader recently. She asked me “Is it really that bad?”. I’ll be the first to admit that my laundry detergent was one of those things you had to pry out of my hands (and then I cried a little at the thought of dingy clothing). There are safer alternatives to use on laundry that are better for both you and the environment. We could all live without the habitual exposure to fragrance phthalates and chemicals. (Do it for the fish, man.) In fact, I even have a cheat sheet with an entire list of options. Some work better than others and some are safer than others when it comes to ingredients.
But one product will forever stand out as the most natural option out there and tons of people swear by it’s effectiveness. That product is Soapnuts. If you are not familiar with these little gems, they are Sapindus Mukorossi shells which contain Sapindus – a natural surfactant. Surfactants are what product makers use to make a product create “suds”. This surfactant is inherent in the Sapindus Mukorossi seed shell. They are hypoallergenic, biodegradable, antimicrobial, cruelty-free, and ideal for HE washers. Soapnuts clean is just as good as a commercial chemical detergent. 1 lb is enough for more than 160 loads of laundry as you can reuse each Soapnut up to 5 times.. You can reuse each nut up to 5 times. To use them all you do it put 5 Soapnuts in a little cloth washer baggie and toss it in with your clothes. That’s it. Lay them out to dry after and reuse. You can put them in your compost pile when you’re done. So cool.
Some people might this is a crazy way to wash your clothes but it’s really cool and your clothes stay clean and don’t smell like an over-fragranced flower field. (I can no longer stand the smell of regular laundry detergent.)