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A washing machine cleaning alternative?
Dec
If you haven’t heard of SoapNuts before then this could sound like a pretty odd suggestion… But we’re proposing you rethink the need for liquid or powder in your washing machine, and consider putting a handful of seeds in there instead! Let me explain…
Since well before the invention of washing machine liquid, people all around the world have been using these little fruit seeds for hundreds of years. They literally grow on a tree, drop to the ground, dry out and are ready to use!
You simply put 4-6 nuts into the bag (provided), drop the bag into the machine, the same nuts can be used for around 4-5 washes and voila – clean fresh smelling washing!
Soap Nuts can also be used to make hand washing liquid (by boiling nuts in water, cool and strain off) or even add essential oils to make a beautiful shampoo.
More information from local business SoapNuts Australia …
“This tree, also called the “soap berry tree”, is unique in that it synthesizes its own natural soap-like “saponins” (any of various plant glycosides that form soapy lathers when mixed and agitated with water) that coat the shell of the fruit. When the fruits ripen and fall from the tree, local families harvest the windfall and then remove the inner fruit (seeds) from the outer shell, leaving the SoapNut ready to use.
Once germinated, it takes nine years for the SoapNut tree to begin yielding fruit.
They grow thirteen to eighteen metres high.
After the ninth year the SoapNut tree berries can be harvested for a period of ninety years.
The fruit is harvested from September to February. Thus the SoapNut tree’s life cycle is extremely long, allowing a natural and sustainable supply of SoapNuts.
In addition to this, the SoapNut tree contributes to combating the greenhouse effect by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. The more trees we allow to remain growing in the earth, the better for our earth, atmosphere and ourselves.
The used shells of the SoapNuts are 100% biodegradable, so they reduce the amount of landfill as you just add them to your compost heap and they will turn into a natural fertilizer for your garden and plants to enjoy.
Working with the Community
Our SoapNuts come from the Swat area of the Hazara District in Pakistan, direct from the community who wild harvest them. No middle man. No broker. Just my family working directly with families in the community in Pakistan to provide an income to them and bring Mother Nature’s Gift to you in Australia. A win/win situation that feels good for everyone, including our Mother Earth. We work under fair trade principles with the philosophy of keeping the income stream within the community itself. The SoapNuts are wild harvested by the community. They are then checked for seeds and picked free of twigs and leaves and left to dry completely. The community print and sew the outer cotton bags, sew the wash bags, pack the SoapNuts in sealed inner bags and box them ready for shipment to Australia.”
More Tips and Recipes on the SoapNut Australia website HERE >>>>
Give these gifts from Mother Nature a try and let us know what you think!
This particular brand of Soap Nuts comes from another local family owned business, who source their SoapNuts directly from families in the Himalayas who wild harvest them. No middle man or broker, which means a better priced product with more benefit for the hard workers who have sustainably sourced them.
