Corick: SoapNuts Description Page

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SOAPNUTS – Nature's Detergent

What are Soapnuts? They are not nuts for a start. They are apparently
berries. With a small black seed inside. What we are interested in is the outer shell which contains saponin as a protection against fungus and bacteria. Saponin just happens to be a natural surfactant (detergent). The presence of saponin in a shell in not that unusual, a little research will show you that many trees give some (the horse chestnut for one). It is just that the Sapindus family has more than most.

Help the Planet - Protect your Family - AND SAVE MONEY!

You may already know something about Sapindus Mukorossi – the SoapNut:

How it is completely free of synthetic chemicals and perfumes.
How it cleans clothes without fading the colours.
How it leaves everything so soft you don't need fabric conditioner.
How good it is with sensitive skin............. all this and much more!

Put aside their washing qualities for a moment and think environment. Latest figure I can find for detergent sales is $21 BILLION Dollars! How much pollution did just the manufacture make? AND it all goes down the drain in to our watercourse.

Soap nuts grow on trees, trees absorb CO2. Their sale promotes the cultivation of trees in the wild, but, as they don't fruit for 8 years, it's no use to the "quick buck" merchant. Their collection provides valuable work and income for small farmers in developing countries. (I have an assurance that no one under the age of 21 is involved in the gathering.)

So, on the one hand, you can have an artificial product that contains ??? chemicals, that pollutes by its manufacture. Requires even more chemicals to work acceptably (fabric softener etc.) and uses valuable resources. Increases the profits of multi-billion dollar businesses. There is more information on detergent dangers in Additional Information.

A completely natural product, created from a totally renewable source, that reduces pollution by its growth. One that brings long term prosperity to third world counties. That has a multitude of uses beyond clothes washing, Manufactured by nature 100% AND EVEN SAVES YOU MONEY.

Your Choice !

So, how good are soap nuts as a washing agent?
You may have read elsewhere about their seemingly "magical" properties. Truth is, they work very well, about as well as normal non-bio detergent. Better in some things – delicates / silks. Certainly towels and nappies etc. For certain stains like grease, or repeat washing of pure whites, soap nuts benefit from a little help. A scoop of Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda) helps soften the water and boost the removal of heavy stains. Exactly like you would need for a standard non bio product. It will also help preventing lime scale building up in your machine.

Even better is :- Sodium Percarbonate
which just happens to be the 100% ingredient in ECOVER bleach:-
http://www.ecover.com/gb/en/Products/Laundry/20050711+bleekmiddel+UK.htm

However.With soapnuts there is no need for fabric softener. Your clothes will come out beautifully soft.

It is generally recognised that items such as towels, and certainly cloth nappies, should not be rinsed in fabric conditioner. It has the effect of coating the fibres and reduces their absorbency. Exactly what you don’t want!

Commercial detergents cannot tell the difference between whites and colours, it coats them all. So your colours start to fade.

With Soap Nuts you will not be saturating your clothes in "whitening agents", optical bleaches and unknown chemicals and enzymes. Your colours will start to look brighter as these "masking agents" are removed.

Many people with sensitive skin have reported near immediate beneficial effects after trying natural soapnuts.

Why would a tree want detergent in its berries?

It doesn’t specifically. What it does want is something to combat bugs and fungus. A weapon in the eternal "arms race" of nature. In the case of trees – genus - Sapindus (Sap – soap / Indus- from India), it is saponin. Which is a mild insecticide and anti bacterial compound. The fact you can wash your clothes with the shells is probably a matter of supreme indifference to the tree!

In the words of one local producer’s web site.

The tree :- "produces saponins in order to repel varmints, fungus and bacteria"

http://www.freewebs.com/soapnuts/soapsontrees.htm

Are there different kinds?

There are ten different variations of Sapindus, but the only types we are interested in for washing are Trifoliatus and Mukorossi.

Trifloriatus / Mukorossi - the difference is clear!

Of these, Mukorossi is the one you want. Looks so much nicer if nothing else!

I have been advised that the main difference in quality comes from the temperature and altitude where they grow. The very best Mukorossi shells are gathered in the cool, high altitude Himalayas. These are the ones that we deal with exclusively. As soapnuts harvested in the lower, warmer areas, lack the consistency and saponin contents. (often referred to as South Indian Soapnuts.)

Why this should be so, I have no idea!

Note the label on the box says Mukorosse, it seems it can be spelt many ways. Makorossi / Mukorossi / Mukorosse they all the same thing.

So are all Mukorossi SoapNuts the same?

That's what we thought when we started!

We bought a couple of bags from a retail outlet, one of which is the shown laid out in the How To Use page. As you can see only about 40% is proper Mukorossi.

So we bought some more from an on-line store that specialised in "Green" products.
They were better. More consistent size and quality. Still we weren't satisfied. Aren't soapnuts moist and sticky when picked? How old are they when they are hard and dry? Is anything lost in the process?

A customer writes :-
"I come from Myanmar (Burma) where there are two kinds of soapnuts one comes from north and cold areas are sticky and soft and second kind comes from Mandaly, the warm and hot area, which are dried and hard , in Myanmar we used and prefer the soft one because of their effectiveness and the hard one used for make powder"

This is  Important !

 You won't get loads of suds (because soapnuts have no artificial foaming agents),
  Likewise you won't get artificial "country fresh" perfumes, whiteners and bleaches.
  People have been conditioned for decades to expect these and it is a shock when it
  doesn't happen.  They assume, quite wrongly, that soapnuts are not working.

  Some people may not "get on" with soapnuts!   They could not really care less  
  about the environment, have busy lives, and just want to bung their washing in, with  
  a powerful  detergent,   and accept  the illusion that  all will come out  clean and fresh.
     
  It is their world as  much as mine, so it  is their choice.
  If, however, you do care, it is  worth  giving them the best  possible chance.  
  You can only do that by using the best available soapnuts. 

  Anyone  trying  something for the first time, are naturally hesitant.  Will it work? 
  Something this simple!  This natural!   For, like anything natural, not all soapnuts are 
  created equal.   Some are more effective than others.  We tried quite a few before  
  deciding on these.  Simply because they are the best.

  We could have bought cheaper.   It seemed pointless when we knew there was a 
  better alternative.

     Our first supplier - hard and dry!                  You can see the SoapNut juice
                                                                         filling the bag.   The nuts are
                                                                          soft and moist

The difference.

The above using some liquid from "Hard" shells

The above using liquid from Himalayan "Soft" shells !!

Below are pictures of bags of shells  AFTER one wash.
Stored in a bottle of COLD water ready for the next use.
The extra amount of released "soap" is plain to see!

Soft shells                                         Hard shells

     Loads of lovely soft suds (you can see the sock in the middle) on a 90 degree
     machine cleaning cycle.

What I have found is that when the dry shells are exposed to moisture they get dark and sticky, presumably they are releasing saponin. So, logically, shells that are already soft and sticky, will release more in a wash BUT possibly will not last as long.

There is also the suspicion that with the soft, squiggy shells you are leaving a lot of saponin in the bag. You can soak the bag in hot water and get some soapnut liquid.

So it comes down to choice and quality.

To learn how to use them - Click Here

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