A local TV station that’s famous for ‘head to head testing’ did a comparison recently with  regular laundry detergents and soap nuts–similar to our Lehman’s brand Laundry Soap Nuts. Needless to say, the soap nuts surprised the TV testers with their effectiveness.
We’ve carried soap nuts for quite a while now, and we love them! When we first got our hands on some, we decided to do our own experiment to see if they really worked–and we were amazed at the results too.
A local dairyman supplied us with some grimy work clothes. We washed them up, and they came out of the laundry clean–and smelling fresh! His wife said that the soap nuts got the clothes cleaner than anything she’d ever tried.
Soap nuts are the fruit of the Asian Soapberry (spaindus mukorossi) tree. Of all the varieties of soapberry trees, this variety produces the most consistent and effective saponin, a naturally occurring soap that is biodegradable, nearly fragrance free, and hypoallergenic. Laundry dries nice and soft too–no softeners or dryer sheets needed!
If these magic nuggets can freshen up farm work clothes, imagine what they can do for you! And at pennies a load (around 10 cents or so for up to 120 loads), you’ll save up to half of what you’d normally fork over for brand-name detergents.
And the soap nuts are super-easy to use. Our Lehman’s label soap nuts come with two reusable muslin bags–you can see the whole kit in the top photo. Just pop 3 soap nuts in the bag, and toss it into your washer. Once the nuts become translucent and papery, dump them into your compost pile (they’re biodegradable), and put fresh soap nuts in the muslin bag. Warm water washes release the most cleaning power from the nuts.
They’re so versatile that you can carry the soap nut bargain even farther: make dishwashing and general cleaning soap with the easy-to-do included directions.
Click here to find out more about our soap nuts!
Can these be used in HE washing machines?
@Shin-Soap nuts are low-to-no sudsing. The saponin is the cleaning agent, so you won’t see ‘bubbles’ as you would with some commercial detergents. They’re fine for HE washer use, but you may notice a slightly shorter use life for your soap nuts. HE washers use less water and more physical motion (spinning, agitation) to clean clothes. Try 1 or 2 soap nuts with hot/warm water loads; 2-4 with cold water loads. A few experimental loads should set you right. Just keep in mind that the hotter the water you use, the fewer uses you will have per soap nut.
Thank you for the thorough reply. I like thorough ;o)