Question for those using soap nuts

[likingthespring]

Hi. I have a 1kg bag of soap nuts which I bought off ebay to try as my DD has quite bad eczema. There seems to be mostly shells/small pieces in there - not many that are actually fully intact. Do the shells have the cleaning effect or is it the centre of the nut only?
Hope someone can clarify.

[lljkk]

The shell is the main part that has soap in it (supposedly). Not the nut.
You are usually advised to put 5-6 half shells in per load of laundry.
Mostly useless they were for me, but I'm pretty sure that's the right advice.

[likingthespring]

Okay. Thanks lljkk. It says in the instructions to put 4-6 in the bag but I didn't know if that meant the nut in total or just 4-6 bits iyswim

[WillyBumBalls]

Hi I have been using soap nuts now for 4 months and use 8 half shells for 4 loads, I change them on a Sunday/Wednesday afternoon.

They need to be broken up as the shiney part on the inside of the shell is where the soap comes from.

Would also suggest when doing whites to chuck in 3 tablespoons of soda crystals as they will go grey over time and a half cap of Ace bleach for stains as the nuts have no brightening or stain removal power but both mine and my DS' ecema has pretty much cleared up since I started using them.