Ingredients
- 1 cup organic de-seeded soap nuts --Sapindus mukorossi or Sapindus trifoliatus
- 6 cups water
- optional 20 drops of essential oil
Instructions
After many years of trying to find an all natural laundry detergent that worked I finally found a simple recipe that does! It uses soap “nuts” which I have tried in the past -but in a different way. I used to put 4-5 soap nuts in a little cotton bag and throw in the laundry –but I was not happy with that method. Now I boil the soap nuts and use the water from the boiled nuts and it works great!
I buy my soap nuts from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Instructions:
Add soap nuts and water to a pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes. Strain liquid into a jar. Let cool, then add essential oils.
Essential oils:
I use lavender — 20 – 25 drops
Other essential oils work great as well such as lemon, tea tree, bay laurel, cedar, sweet orange, cypress, and many others.
Use a 1/4 cup of the liquid per load of clothes. I also add Arm & Hammer washing soda to help remove oils and brighten colors. I also add about 1 cup white vinegar to the rinse cycle.
I keep the liquid in a jar by my washing machine. Some people like to freeze them in ice cube trays to preserve them longer. I personally have not had any issues with the liquid “going off”.
Soap nuts can be used for anything you would normally use detergent for, such as washing the car, hand soaps, or an all-purpose cleaner. Jewelers in India and Indonesia have used the shells to remove tarnish from jewelry for many centuries. I have not yet tried them for shampoo or a body wash –if I do I will update this with my results.
Soap nuts are not really nuts, they are berries whose outer shell hardens. They contain saponin –a natural detergent. The shells absorb water and release the saponins which circulate in the water as a natural surfactant removing dirt, grime, and odors from your clothes.
They originated in India and Nepal and now are found all over the world. They are environmentally safe –and safe for septic systems, and safe for you and your family as well.