Make your laundry plastic free by washing your clothes the natural way. Soapnuts are a dried fruit which contains natural soap (saponin). Let nature keep you clean. One 500g bag does around 240 washes. You reuse your soapnuts around 4-5 times each, making it extremely efficient just as nature always is.
Soapnuts
All the many versions of laundry tablets and liquids that are in plastic containers, which can contain polymers as well, that will inevitably end up in our water supplies and oceans.
What about laundry powder in a box? No plastic there right?
Correct, not the box itself. However, ingredients wise, polycarboxylates seems to be a common one. (Polymers are what plastics are made up of) Plus quite a lot of other harsh chemicals, so not everyone wants to use them, especially if you have sensitive skin.
Soapnuts are a natural organic product, so better if your skin gets irritated easily, such as if you have eczema for example. They are biodegradable, so you can compost them, or just chuck them on the garden. As they are a natural mild insecticide, you can also make a liquid out of them to spray on your plants and keep away the slugs. Soapnuts are sustainably harvested and eco-friendly, who doesn’t want that? You get loads of them in a bag as well, so they last for ages. And of course, no plastic. Great, right?
Refills not currently stocked but will be soon. You’ll be able to get a paper bag full of 1kg of soapnuts to fill your original bag up with and then some. You’ve got a lot of laundry to get through before that though!
After comparing prices from supermarkets then yes, it definitely is. I did not realise just how expensive laundry tablets/liquid could be! Average price ranges from £2 - £8 (with some outliers which are far more expensive, who is buying these?!) and for those prices you get between 20 to 60 washes out of them.
Soapnuts are £10 and you get 240 washes. In terms of value for money, it far exceeds the chemical commercial and supermarket own brands.
Bonus – If you have sensitive skin, this is perfect for you, as it is just natural soap (saponin) which means its hypoallergenic*, and contains no problematic chemicals like Sodium Lauryl Sulphate which is a skin irritant for many.
*Do a test on one item of clothing first if you are that unlucky soul who is allergic to everything. It’s been tested by dermatologists to be hypoallergenic but there’s always someone, and I don’t want you to blame me for your random rashes. For everyone else, soapnuts will be much better for you than all the chemicals they normally put in laundry detergents. Some people are allergic to fruit, but more tend to have a problem with synthetic chemicals, as they are relatively new inventions.
What are they made from?
Soapnuts: ‘Pure 100% Organic Sapindus Mukorossi (soapnut) dried fruit shells.’ (Fun fact – They are a berry not a nut.)
Bag: Biodegradable muslin cotton bag as packaging + small bag to put your soapnuts in before you chuck them in the wash.
And that’s it. Organic = pesticide free. Everything in this product is biodegradable, but can be reused multiple times before that.
Where do they come from?
India. They are shipped over here (less carbon than flying). Remember the UK is very poor at providing materials, we import a lot of stuff.
Are they sustainable?
Sure are! No trees were harmed in the making of these soapnuts.
Soapnuts are harvested by catching the fallen fruits on cloth spread under the tree to catch them. The seeds are taken out as we just use the shells. The seeds can then be planted and the parent tree gets to start the family its always wanted. The soapnuts are sourced from a ‘wildcrafted’ forest, that is, no clearing of land to farm them, yay! Deforestation is not on the menu with these guys.
How about ethical?
Living Naturally, the company I source the soapnuts from, have a contract farming agreement with their workers. They support 40 families through this. The brand has an ethical sourcing policy, to make sure that they only source from fair trade or co-operatives abroad. Sounds good to me.
Extra good stuff:
Vegan, no animal testing, no palm oil, hand made goods, organically certified ingredients.
Conclusion –
Thumbs up for these guys don’t you think? 😊 Apart from a little bit of plastic tape on the box they sent my order in, (I’m working on it, don’t fret, mistakes happen) Living Naturally is totally plastic free as far as I can see. Hurrah!
