Soaplantation – Nature is the best – Health & Beauty = Wonderful Life

Soap nuts are exactly what the chemists at the major detergent producers are struggling to develop. Soap nuts simply accomplish it naturally and synthetic chemical-free. A low sudsing, effective surfactant is the main objective of a great HE detergent. Such is saponin – the all-important active ingredient that the soap nut releases to produce the “soaping” effect.

(Just in case: A surfactant is an agent or substance that reduces the surface tension of liquids so that the liquid spreads out, rather than collecting in droplets, hence allowing easy flow through out water and facilitating the removal or release of dirt, oils, grime, etc. from fabrics.) Soap nuts are exactly that.

Soap nuts also come with some truly major extra benefits. They are naturally anti-fungal, antimicrobial, biodegradable and hypoallergenic. PLUS to top it all off, used properly they are BY FAR less expensive than the commercial chemical detergents. Geeez…what more can we ask for?

Virtually everything in this article applies to all front-loading washers. All front loading washers are essentially HE washers by design. They use tumbling as opposed to agitators to clean your laundry and use less water. Interestingly tumbling the laundry is the ideal way to agitate the soap nuts, for it further enhances their release of saponins.

A VERY interesting point to be noted is that most HE washers have a maintenance cycle that should be run to keep the machine operating at peak efficiency. I very recently wrote an article (easily found on Ezine) specifically about purging and cleaning your machine using soap nuts. Soap nuts do not leave the residues and build ups that chemical detergents do (yes, even the so called “green” ones). Given that much less water is used in HE washers, a good “flushing” of the detergents, residues and additives out of your laundry AND your machine is greatly reduced. Hence this newly found NEED for a maintenance cycle. Make sense?

Amazingly, chemists are struggling to keep up with the washing machine technologies. So far they are not keeping up. Most of those I speak with that own HE and front-loading machines are not happy at all with the commercial detergents. I routinely hear stories of the nasty odors and gross build-ups. BTW: As the founder of NaturOli and through continual interaction with both consumers and sellers of soap nuts, I speak to a LOT of people every single day about them.

So, if you have a new or old HE washer (either top or front loader) simply try using soap nuts. It’s my bet that you will be totally astounded. They resolve all the problems people are complaining about. It’s that plain and simple – and you’ll love what they do for your laundry, machine and your pocketbook, too!

In an effort to keep this short and sweet, I’m certainly not going to try to address every single machine out there. They all don’t operate exactly alike. Fundamentally they are the similar, but there are differences. It is very important to realize that the machine manufacturers are working with the chemical detergent producers and writing their manuals accordingly. They are certainly not addressing soap nut usage. Soap nuts are not even on their radar screens. (It seems that one European manufacturer Electrolux has actually demonstrated their foresight and vision to start addressing soap nut usage. More on that in another article.)

Hence, soap nuts are a natural alternative to the synthetic, chemical detergents. Being a completely different animal, some experimentation on your part is going to be needed for you to determine the best method to achieve the best results using soap nuts in your machine. Interestingly, that’s part of the fun of them.

I recommend forgetting about the compartments, but again experimentation is the only way to know what works best for YOU. Since each machine functions differently the compartments and their dispersion method simply introduces more variables. As any good scientist will tell you, if you want to learn more and learn faster, minimize those variables. I recommend simply putting the wash bag of soap nuts, the powder or liquid directly in with your laundry. You can forget about the fabric softener department completely since you don’t need fabric softeners at all when using soap nuts. If you are using soap nuts in the traditional method (soap nuts in a wash bag) definitely make a cup of soap nut tea and pour the tea and bag right in with your laundry. This is the exactly the same as you should do with all cold-water washes for best results. Heat is needed to activate the release of the saponins. The “tea” method works great. Alternately, just boil some soap nuts and make a liquid, or grind them to a dust-like ultra fine powder. How you use soap nuts is purely a matter of personal preference. All methods work.



FYI: Soon there will be a many other soap nut formulations from NaturOli that will make usage a total no-brainer.

Bottom line as of the date of this article: Simply use good old-fashioned common sense. Know that heat and agitation are required to release saponin from raw soap nuts. Using powders and liquids are simply convenient alternative methods, and many people really enjoy producing their own concoctions.

What’s MOST important to know and understand is that you have available to you (right now) the absolute very BEST HE detergent you will ever find – soap nuts. Soap nuts are the perfect HE detergent in every way – and again – more affordable, too! I guess Mother Nature is a little smarter than all those laboratory chemists. Why am I not surprised?



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