Friday, September 14, 2007

Soap Nut 101...





Maggie's Soap Nuts. Remember when I found this product? After two weeks of using the nuts as laundry soap, I have fallen in love. First, they wash our laundry...through two cycles! Oh, and I am not a small loading gal...I have three kids, daughters to be exact, a husband, and a new puppy (yes -he makes dirty laundry). I love the fruity smell the nut puts off. Smells like a date.

Second, after they are used as laundry soap, I boil the nuts, leaving them to simmer for about 30 minutes. (The top picture shows the nuts sudding up just by adding cool water to the pan for boiling) I put the "Nut Juice" (named by Kaziah) into my blue glass jar (which I've had forever and never really had a use for) and in a recycled Oxy Clean bottle -last of it's kind in our home.

As I was cleaning up, I realized the soap nuts still had plenty of life to offer. How could I just throw them in my compost when I could still feel the sticky goodness? I grabbed one and began to wash my hands just by rubbing the soap nut on my hand. OH MY!!! There are so many uses for this little soap nut! Besides washing laundry and making a spray cleaner (even a spot remover), I have decided to make reusable mesh sleeves to hold the used, boiled nuts...AKA...our new "bar soap". After adding some lavender oil to the liquid cleaner, I also have a pump action liquid hand soap.

A little tip for those of you willing to try: Be sure to use a spray bottle that has a "large" spray. The Oxy Clean bottle worked well. Even after straining, the "Nut Juice" still had a bit of floating goodness.

How cool is that!

1 comment:

Going Crunchy said...

O.k., I'll give it a whirl. Where did you buy it again? Shannon