Tuesday 5 August 2008

Soapnuts (Sapindus mukorossi)

Having only heard of Soapnuts before and having decided to try and become greener in 2008 I thought I'd give them a try and ordered some from an online source. My order arrived today, which is timely as I need to do a wash. The soapnuts look like a cross between a chestnut and a rosehip and have a rather pronounced smell of vinegar!

The instructions say to place 8 soap nut shells in a small cloth bag and add to the washing machine. It further states that the soap nuts can be used up to 3 times at lower temperatures. But you're advised to used a fresh batch for heavily soiled items. When they've have no cleaning power left you just put the soap nut shells on the compost heap!

There are several types on the market, I got Sapindus mukorossi, which is better known as the Chinese Soapberry. The soap berry contains saponin, a natural detergent which is used to clean clothes and the nuts are quickly becoming popular as an alternative to manufactured, chemical soap powders and detergents amongst the environmentally friendly people. They're said to be safe for washing silk, woollens and other delicate fabrics. How they cope with stains and ground in grime is yet to be tested.The fruits of Sapindus muorossi have a slightly irritant effect on the mucous membranes. Whilst the fruit of the Soap Berry (Sapindus saponaria) contains an irritant sapintoxin which can cause a rash or blisters to form on the skin.

Sapindus muorossi is used medically as an expectorant, emetic and for treatment of excessive salivation, epilepsy, chlorosis, and migraines. Soap nuts are among the list of herbs and minerals used in Ayurvedic medicine, and are used as a treatment for eczema, psoriasis, and for removing freckles. Soap nuts have gentle insecticidal properties and are traditionally used for removing lice from the scalp, I'll try making a spray for the roses and see what effects that has come the summer as well. They have antimicrobial properties and are beneficial for septic systems and greywater.
I'll post more about their cleaning power and how good I think they are when I've tried them out, will also use the homemade lavender vinegar to have a total eco friendly wash and see if it will be a good substitute for fabric softener. Watch this space.....

Some of the above information has been taken from the Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindus

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