One of these days, my husband is going to decide I’m turning into a hippie (I already get “looks”). But some things just make so much sense, you wonder why we do things any other way.
Who knew that soap grew on trees, but for thousands of years people in Asia have harvested the fruit of the appropriately named soapberry tree and used it for washing themselves and their clothes.
I called all our area Whole Foods looking for them, but no luck, so I ordered a sample pack of “Maggie’s Soap Nuts” from Maggie’s Pureland and foisted them on Pavel (who usually does our laundry). Thumbs up on my end! There were no flowers growing out of our clothes, but the soapberries are simple to use and our clothes were clean and had no residue like they would if you used a lye or castile soap, for instance. Berries come slightly dried, so they’re not sticky. Maggie’s ships them with a small canvas bag you use to drop them into the wash. The soap released is so mild, that the bag doesn’t need to be fished back out during the rinse cycle. They are grown organically, so you’re not getting any pesticides, either.
There is a good deal on bulk soapberries with limited availability through Better Life Goods. One kilo, which does about 200 loads of laundry (give or take- the saponin in the berries leaches faster in hot water than cold), is $30 plus shipping. I think that works out pretty well compared to detergent. I would also rather pay Indonesian farmers than Procter and Gamble. Maggie’s website points out that a greater market for soapberries means the farmers will have more incentive to keep the trees in their natural use, rather than bulldozing them for development. That is something a suburban peasant can appreciate with special clarity.
-Gina
what do you use for bathroom cleaner? do you make your own or buy a “natural product”?
Lately I’ve been making my own and it works great. I use about half and half white vinegar and distilled water and essential oils for fragrance.
I do use a toilet bowl cleaner I bought at Whole Foods, but will probably switch to borax, even though I love the natural pine scent.
I make the same vinegar water combo, and thought about throwing some pine needles in it just to see if it added a scent.
Let me know if it works. I don’t think pine essential oil is too expensive. Mine ends up smelling kind of woodsy/pine because I combine lavender, rosemary and lime. Rosemary has a pine-like scent.
The natural pine smells sooo much better than fake Pine-sol smell.
you should check out this book: “clean house, clean planet: clean your house for pennies a day the safe, nontoxic way” by karen logan. when i decided to go all natural with cleaning because of a slight chemical sensitivity this book was the best guide . . . she even gets into the chemistry of natural cleaning.
i totally have to try the soap berries, it seems like my sort of thing.
Try them jv, I’m sure it will be up your alley.
You can also do hand washing with them. I did some warm water stuff and you can put the canvas baggie right in. At first it didn’t seem like anything was “happening,” but after a half hour or so the tub was emitting a nice fresh, clean smell, and my clothes got clean. The berries themselves have a faint dried-fruit scent, but when they release their “stuff” it does smell like you’d expect soap to smell. They’re more convenient than lugging laundry soap around or having to buy several different products for regular and delicates.
For cold water handwashing, you first make a “tea” in hot water and then put that in the wash.
You can also boil them to make a liquid soap, but I haven’t tried that yet.
P.S. to the soap berries: When I told a Taiwanese co-worker I was using them, she thought I was kidding at first or talking about the olden days. She thought only peasants from previous generations used them. Music to my ears! Peasants are smart, after all. She was really surprised and intrigued to hear that they’re being used by someone in the West.