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Original poster

Are soapnuts as good as they sound?

40 replies

CousinDelores · 27/03/2022 20:56

I've been making an effort to be considerably more eco friendly for a whole now and I've come across soap nuts as a good eco option for laundry. I also have a fairly strict budget I an always mindful of that.
Does/has anyone used them and can give me your thoughts either way?
They sound perfect from both an eco and financial stand point!
Do they properly clean your clothes?
What about whites? I've read some reviews which says they leave a yellow tinge?
Do clothes smell musty after a while? I usually wash every thing at 30, but I do find, especially in summer, somethings need a hot wash to keep them properly clean but it's not a frequent thing.
Is it good for your washing machine, will I need to run cleaner through it more often?
So many questions but I'm interested to hear if other people have liked them Grin

OP posts:
Phyllis321 · 27/03/2022 21:05

I've literally just started using them this weekend I've been pleased so far - can't comment on long term use, obviously. The clothes are clean and soft with a very slight soap smell which I like.
DS' school shirts had sweat stains so I rubbed them with lemon and let it sit for 10 minutes, they've come out perfectly clean.

Capetownmothercity · 27/03/2022 21:15

Soap nut convert here, clothes are clean, smell normal, machine is clean, whites are white. I got a kilo bag. £10 for 330 loads of washing. Am loving the fresh line dried smell instead of synthetic flowers.

Hercisback · 27/03/2022 21:17

Tell me more about the lemon and sweat stains please.

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morepatiencerequired · 27/03/2022 21:21

Used them for a long time when my (baby) ds had allergies to loads of things. We're good but he had a LOT of poo going over clothes because of allergy / gut issues, so every now and then I'd do a wash with vanish powder and bio detergent then re wash in soap nuts. But aside from those issues, I didn't see a yellowing issue... to they didn't feel quiiiiite as clean as otherwise. No smell issues at all tho

Whatoflife · 27/03/2022 21:46

Annoyingly my husband was allergic to them ffs

GH5385 · 27/03/2022 21:51

I don’t know if they’ve changed in the last few years but I tried them about 4 years ago and they were crap at cleaning clothes. Didn’t get any mud or food stains out unfortunately. Maybe they’d be ok for adults who don’t actually dirty their clothes, they just want to freshen them up? Useless for kids clothes though. Ecover is also useless. I’ve gone back to Ariel and made eco friendly changes in other areas of the household.

Fedupsotired · 27/03/2022 21:57

@GH5385

I don’t know if they’ve changed in the last few years but I tried them about 4 years ago and they were crap at cleaning clothes. Didn’t get any mud or food stains out unfortunately. Maybe they’d be ok for adults who don’t actually dirty their clothes, they just want to freshen them up? Useless for kids clothes though. Ecover is also useless. I’ve gone back to Ariel and made eco friendly changes in other areas of the household.
I'm the same, I had them when I first had my children and didn't think much of them but that was 10 years ago
BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation · 27/03/2022 22:08

Dh used to use them for his laundry, but wasn't fully happy with the results so gave up. He said the stuff was cleanish, but they didn't get everything out.

I guess they might be okay for hippy lentil weavers who live on a commune and aren't afraid of mud 😄

8lue8ird · 27/03/2022 22:16

I tried them about 10 years ago and they were the most useless articles ever purchased

Ilovethecinema · 27/03/2022 23:19

I used them years ago. problem I had, they left stains on clothes that I couldn’t get out. I did like them, sadly the staining happened a lot. Not sure why

Luredbyapomegranate · 27/03/2022 23:25

Unless they’ve changed a lot they don’t really work - ok for a not very dirty dark wash but not much else. You can use them successfully some of the time.

jo55ie · 27/03/2022 23:31

Didn't work

Original poster
CousinDelores · 27/03/2022 23:45

Hmm so probably not much good for an outdoorsy preschool DS who wears more food than he eats still Grin
But may be good for darks and towels, possibly bedding?
I do use bio and the odd hot wash already, so could work as a replacement for my usual washes as a slightly eco compromise?
I also wasn't a fan of ecover and found smol a bit expensive when on a tight budget.
Has anyone used them for anything other than clothes? The Internet tells me you can wash your face, hair and ass with them HmmGrin do the dishes, make a general purpose cleaning spray, probably wash the car too.. you name it, they will clean it Hmm

OP posts:
Phyllis321 · 28/03/2022 06:29

@Hercisback. I just rubbed lemon on the yellow sweat stains and then washed normally in using soap nuts. Stains and whiff both gone.

MadameFantabulosa · 28/03/2022 06:31

They don’t work on stains or smells.

PAFMO · 28/03/2022 06:34

@GH5385

I don’t know if they’ve changed in the last few years but I tried them about 4 years ago and they were crap at cleaning clothes. Didn’t get any mud or food stains out unfortunately. Maybe they’d be ok for adults who don’t actually dirty their clothes, they just want to freshen them up? Useless for kids clothes though. Ecover is also useless. I’ve gone back to Ariel and made eco friendly changes in other areas of the household.
Nah. They're still useless as is "natural" deodorant. I'd love for these things to work, I really would, and I've spent a fortune over the years trying each and every one. But nope. You could spot a mile off that stuff wasn't properly clean. They'll get surface dirt off if you're lucky. Stains and sweat? Not a chance.
Phyllis321 · 28/03/2022 07:08

..and natural deodorant works perfectly for me. I don't smell, honest.

QuebecBagnet · 28/03/2022 07:19

I used them for a bit, went back to normal soap powder. Nothing felt or smelt properly clean. Seemed ok for a few weeks but guess the lack of being properly cleaned built up.

RagzRebooted · 28/03/2022 07:27

I tried them over a decade ago. They kind of worked, but not great, probably because we have really hard water here.

thatweirdhippygirl · 28/03/2022 07:33

I used them about 12 years ago. I don’t recall them to be very good, but I’ve been thinking about trying them again just in case I was wrong. Grin

Phoenixrise · 28/03/2022 07:40

I use them and they work well for me. If there are any stubborn stains I just add some vanish and the clothes come up very clean

PinkTonic · 28/03/2022 07:40

Didn’t work. I use boxed washing powder now.

SweetGrapes · 28/03/2022 07:47

Growing up in India I went through a phase of using them to wash my hair. (Along with shikakai) It was good from healthy hair perspective but a major faff.
Can't see it being better than off the shelf cleaners for anything but it's certainly milder and chemical free.

TheProvincialLady · 28/03/2022 07:52

I used them for a while when my children were small. I gave up after a while as I couldn’t see that they made any difference whatsoever compared to just washing with no soap/detergent. It’s a shame as I wanted them to work.

User478 · 28/03/2022 07:59

One of the cloth nappy websites (who are very keen on bleach, lots of bleach...) Has a study that claims they perform worse than just water.
cleanclothnappies.com/soap-berries/

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