Do soap nuts or eco-balls wash reusable nappies properly?

[BrummieOnTheRun]

have just ordered soap nuts and eco-balls in an attempt to ditch washing powder for some (hopefully all) of our washing.

has anyone tried either of these alternatives on the ultimate washing test...dirty nappies?!!

A friend of mine used soap nuts for her three children, all in nappies at the same time (14 months between her dd and then twins!)

I used the same brand of washable nappies, and hers looked the same as mine (I used standard washing powder)- a little grey after so many washes.

we use ecoballs with bamboozles @ 40C without a problem..

Not in my experience....

Soap nuts rock. Although I confess I no longer have nappies to wash. But everything else looks great.

Soapnuts don't get stains out of anything, not just nappies. Personally, I prefer BioD.

I wash my nappies and whites with soap nuts and everything comes up fine. They are certainly no worse than "normal" soap powder for getting stains off (that is, the industrial powder left the same stains). I must admit I don't use soap nuts for anything under 40° as IMO they're at bit crap at cold temperatures, but for anything above they're fine. I also chuck in a slug of vinegar at the end of the rinse cycle, which maybe helps.

I use vinegar, too. But all dd's stuff seems to come out of the wash with the same (usually) orange stains that were there when it went in...

Sometimes DD's do too, but I just line dry and they tend to pretty much disappear in the sunlight. I used to use a chemical non-bio liquid and it left the very same stains, in fact bfeeding poo stains used to come out more flourescent than when they went in! Soap nuts are not perfect but I reasoned that for the same non result I might as well go the no chemical route (better for DD's bum too).

wow. such differing opinions on how effective soap nuts are!

agree with you, brangelina...I find anything but Ariel's biological powder seems to leave stains on whites anyway...kids eat so much tomato!

have bought laundry bleach to go with soapnuts as recommended in a previous thread, but was worried about whether they nappies would be 'hygienically' clean, I guess.

I wash nappies with soapnuts and they're fine. 60degrees will kill bugs AFAIK - so no probs there with the pooey ones.

I use biodegradable flushable liners, so the stains tend not to be as bad, I think. Then I soak the nappy in a bucket with a few drops of tea tree and a shake of soda crystals. 90 degree wash with soap nuts and they come up fine. Only thing is the lack of fragrance, so I put a few drops of lavender oil in the drum. Definitely agree that they are even better if it's sunny and you can put them online but they're okay regardless

Hmm well the differeing results with soapnuts could be for several reasons - A) some batches of soapnuts aren't as good as others - like any plant, some years you get a good crop of flowers and others you don't. I think all soapnut sellers have seen differing quality with soapnuts. I thought that my first batch were brilliant and they were good compared to the last but my recent batch are just excellent.

B) The length of time you set your wash for. I do a lot of eco loads so i easily get 4 washes out of each bag but if i do a long wash which i do for whites i expect only to get two loads out of a bag.

C) If you live in a hard water area you need to use the max amount of nuts (8 halves) and tbh i'd add another couple of halves.

D) Some soapnuts are really small so you get less shell so less soap.

E) Some soapnuts have large halves, sometimes it is better if you can to break these up. If you tear a used soapnut and squeeze it, you will see that saponin is stuck inside, saying that it is not that important but with dry nuts i break them down a bit. Sticky nuts seem to wash better i now find and i don't break them down.

F)They are a natural product with no enzymes, bleaches etc and whilst i find that they are better than most powders for removing blood (not sure why) there are some stains that will remain but then they remain with normal powders too. I often read how people have no issues with soapnuts and they remove all the stains then the opposite from others - as they are more economical than washing powder anyway it makes sense if you are washing heavy stains to just throw a few more shells in the bag.

I never found nappy stains particularly easy to remove ( pre soapnuts ) anyway so the fact that they work so well on most peoples nappies shows just what a good product they are but i think that one of the points above could be responsible for failed cleaness - carrot stains ( i always struggled to get nappies clean after my kids had eaten carrot ;-) )

You can always use soda crystals/ecover laundry bleach/borax with soapnuts too ( depending on what you are washing) so a boost for nappy washes may be all that's needed.

anne

that's useful info, Anne. thanks.

so far I've just tried the eco balls. fantastic! DH reckons his (horrible sweaty commuter) shirts feel much cleaner than with normal detergent.

and the nappies are fine!

HIya, I also use the green eco balls by eco zone, they were the first environmentally friendly product i ever bought - my first set lasted amazingly over 3 years, we used to have 4 children living here so that was an awful lot of laundry and i definately used them far beyond their 1000 washes.

I have a new set now ;-) I like them, they do get clothes feeling clean and fresh and although they did struggle on some stains when my daughter was weaning (carrot, tomatoe) on the whole they are brilliant. Grease stains need a stain remover before washing but again, some washing powders don't shift grease stains - i think that if you want to be environmentally friendly, you always have to be prepared to put in the extra effort.

I mix between soapnuts and eco balls now, so i use the balls for all of my dark loads, bedding, towels etc and soapnuts for my whites although i go in phases of using soapnuts for a week or two. I could never go back to buying washing powder, not even ecover because i see washing powder as being a complete waste of money, i don't like the fact that the powder residue is left in our clothes and i can't stand carting boxes of powder from the market, nor the mess that i seem to make with powder ;-( I find it uneconomical and apart from ecover it is so bad for us and for the environment. I'd rather be vigilant with stains, treat them with a stain remover and put in the effort that way.

I wash my dh's dirty work clothes with the balls, he is a gas engineer so is always filthy from crawling under floors, kneeling in plaster etc, his clothes are always clean and sweat free and the fact that i can reduce the rinse cycles right down, my laundry is washed quicker with huge savings to our electricity bill - not to mention the water we save.

I don't see a few odd stains an issue when you can see the overall benefits.

anne

I use Soapnuts for all my washing and find they work brilliantly.
My first batch I bought were quite sticky and worked well,the batch I received recently are quite small and dry and work just as well. They said in the instructions that rather than put 5-6 half shells in you put a small handful. As you get more small nuts per kilo than big nuts this works out at the same cost.