Soap Nuts - Allergic To Them?? - Trial

For the past several months, I have been reacting to something on the first floor of my home. I sneeze a lot!! I occasionally get a scratchy throat. I feel sinusy. I fear it may be the soap nuts. Everything you find on soap nuts says that using them will eliminate allergy symptoms. I may be the 1 in a million who has allergy symptoms because of them. Yay me. I will be testing my theory over the next week or two.

Step 1: Obtain an alternate all natural laundry detergent.

Done. Trying Planet 100% biodegradable hypo-allergenic detergent for HE and standard washers.










Step 2: Eliminate soap nuts from the house.

Done! I put all of the stuff in the garage.

Step 3: Use the replacement detergent for one week. Keep track of sneezing, sinus pressure, throat.

DAY 1: I sneezed in the living room this morning, and in the kitchen while typing this. Why? Who knows. I have post-nasal drip, which effects my throat. My son complained, for the second day in a row, that his throat feels funny. Hm. Bug? Or allergy? I am now doing laundry with the new detergent, but have quite a bit of laundry to be folded that was done with soap nuts. DS sneezed in the kitchen while having a snack. I sneezed late this morning while cleaning the stove with castile soap and baking soda....... If the soap nuts trial doesn't prove that soap nuts is the problem, castile soap will be the next item to test. The problem definitely seems to be focused in the kitchen/living room area. One random sneeze upstairs this afternoon. No other sneezing since this morning, and I've been home for a while.... could it be that simple? I've been doing laundry today, too. With the new stuff, of course. Hm.

DAY 2: Sneezed this morning while folding laundry. The clean at this point is a mix of that done with soap nuts, and that done with Planet detergent. I sneezed out in the garage while playing with DS. The soaps are being stored in the garage. I also felt my throat getting scratchy and my nose got itchy and runny. It's evening now and it's been sneezy throat scratchy day. ??

DAY 3: I have been sneezing all morning. It's still early, but I am definitely reacting to something. What the....

DAY 4: Sneezing and feeling like crap when I'm in the house, which has been all day today. Kinda looking like soap nuts are not the problem. I guess I'm glad about that... But I'll continue the test for a day or two more to be certain. I've been doing tons of laundry, so the majority of the stuff has been done in Planet I think...

DAY 5/6: Not sure I'm feeling any better while at home. I guess I'll continue to do laundry with Planet for a couple more days, then bring the soap nuts back in and see if I have any reaction to it. I'll follow up in a week or so.

UPDATE: Ok, this post seems to get a lot of attention, so I will update. It is now August (oops!) and I have been using soap nuts again for some time. I am convinced that it was NOT the soap nuts that were causing me to sneeze. Probably essential oils, and definitely our new kittens. And dust, and who knows what else. But I'm confident that soap nuts are not the problem, and are likely a GOOD thing to have, considering how sensitive I have become to environmental stuff.

oxygen Bleach - update

That's what I'm talkin' about! Muuuuuuch better. =)

If you didn't catch my other posts about oxygen bleach, I tried using it twice before, but I put it in the bleach drawer thingy. It didn't make it to the laundry...it turned into bleach stones. For this load I chucked the powdered bleach right in with the clothes, and it worked great. So here's my plug for a great green product. Oh, and even though the bottle clearly stated otherwise, I chucked colors and whites in together. Like I said before, I ain't looking for perfection, just clothes that look and smell clean when they come out of the dried. So I'm pleased. By the way, I bought Biokleen oxygen bleach, but I imagine there are other brands. Let me know if you've used any others.

Soap Nuts and Coconut Scrub Pads Giveaway

Click this link to enter for a chance to win a free bag of soap nuts and some coconut scrub pads!

Soap Nuts & Coconut Scrub Pads Giveaway

oxygen Bleach - update

Ah ha. The issue with the bleach is that it is a powder, and it is not washing through the bleach cup with the water into the laundry tub. In fact, it turned into solid bleach rocks! Bizarre, but ok. I guess the bleach cup is only intended for liquid bleach. The next test will be to put the bleach directly into the tub with the laundry. Hm. I hope the bleach-water will wash out. I hope it's not plugged with mini-rocks..... Stay tuned...

Oxygen Bleach - update

I just discovered this morning that about half of the oxygen bleach that I added to the bleach cup of the washing machine was still there. Hm. That would explain why I didn't see great results with the laundry yesterday. I don't know why it didn't wash into the tub, but I am trying again now. I've removed this plastic partition thingy, which I hope doesn't do anything bad. It just seemed that some of the wet powder was underneath it. We'll see.....

Oxygen Bleach - update

I did a load of wash, heavy on the socks, using Biokleen oxygen bleach. Hm. Well, I guess the socks have gone from coming out of the wash looking dirty to coming out of the wash looking clean but stained. That's an improvement. Perhaps they will get closer to their original color after several washes? Or perhaps because they were washed and dried before I introduced oxygen bleach they will always be stained. I don't know. Or perhaps I need to soak them in the wash? The trial continues. Here's a close-up...

Oxygen Bleach

My newest "green clean" adventure. I have yet to try it, but I'll keep you posted. I got this because although I love using soap nuts in the laundry, our socks are coming out looking dirty. I don't go crazy trying to make clothing look brand new, not by a long shot, but I would like the socks to look a little whiter. So I'll give it a shot. Of course, oxygen bleach is completely natural and biodegradable. You have to keep it out of the reach of children, not my preferred type of thing to have around, but I'm gonna give it a try and see if it's worth having around. More soon.

Oh, and if anyone has any experience with this stuff, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks.

Woah! Interesting laundry info.

This is interesting! Our washing machine kicked the bucket. It came off its bearing (?) The repair man said IT IS BECAUSE OF HIGH-SUDS DETERGENTS. He saw the empty bottle of non-h.e. (high efficiency) detergent (I had saved from ages ago with the thoughts of storing home-made detergent in it) and said that front-loader machines should only use h.e. detergents because they are low-sudsing. I say it's just another reason why switching too all-natural, plant-based laundry soaps has been a good thing for me! The cost for this repair would be over $600.00. !!!!! We are opting for a new machine, which will be treated with due love and respect from day 1.

Soap nuts trial 2 - Liquid Form - Update

Here is the soap nut liquid I created after 5 hours of boiling in the crock pot. Not as dark as I might have thought, but it was tea colored. From that I made some ice cubes...

I am now doing a load of laundry using three of these cubes. I have read that one will do in a normal sized load of laundry, but I am skeptical. Mine aren't very dark so I figure they're not very concentrated....what do I know. So far I don't see any sudsing in my laundry, but that's ok too.... Anyhow, I'll let you know how/if it works. I also plan to try the liquid (there was a lot, so some became cubes and some stayed in liquid form) in the dishwasher. The results of using the soap nuts in the dishwasher has been so-so. Most of the dishes are cleaned, but some are not, which isn't good enough, is it? So I will try the liquid in the soap holder thingy, with vinegar in the rinse aid thingy, and see how that works. Failing that, it's no more soap nuts in the dishwasher. =)

I'll test the liquid and cubes in other areas of the house and report back.

Soap nuts trial 2 - Liquid Form

Today I am boiling some partly used soap nuts to see what the liquid is like. I am using the crock pot. I didn't follow any recommended water and soap nuts amounts, I just filled the crock pot with water, and tossed in any soap nuts that I had used in either the laundry or in the dishwasher. I plan to reserve some of the liquid to try out today, and freeze the rest in ice cube trays for future use. Stay tuned...

It sudsed!

Ok, when my soap nuts didn't suds at all in the washing machine, I wondered if they really did. I mean, really. A plant? Sudsing? So I did what is recommended to test if soap nuts still have the saponin needed to clean with.... I put a piece of one in a container with a lid, and shook. This photo shows the result. I add that I didn't have to shake for long.

Soap nuts - interesting information

I am really into this soap nut thing. I have been reading and reading about how to care for them, how to use them, how to tell when they are used up....very, very interesting. Here are some things I have learned:

>>>Many people who love using soap nuts will boil them in water and use the resulting liquid for cleaning. 

>>>Because it is organic, soap nut liquid has a relatively short shelf-life, so it is a good idea to make what you will use in a week or less, and use it.

>>>The liquid can be frozen into ice cubes, and used as needed. The liquid lasts much longer this way.

>>>The liquid can be used in the laundry, for household cleaning, for windows (with vinegar added), for washing dishes, and even in the dishwasher (with other items added, which I'll write up if there's interest)

>>>Soap nuts DON'T suds much, according to what I've read. Some places claim they do, but many claim they don't. Mine have NOT been sudsy, which is why I read more about that very thing. Suds, according to one source, are extended chemically in store-bought detergents because people think that means the detergent is working better. (Not true)

>>>When soap nuts have done as much as they can do in the laundry, they can still be boiled down to make a good cleaning liquid. 

>>>LOVE this one! Soap nuts can be used as compost when they're used up!

>>>The soap nut liquid can be made in the crock pot. =)

>>>To test if the saponin (cleaning agent) in the soap nuts is used up or not, put the soap nuts in a sealable jar with some water. Shake it up, and if you gets any "suds," they are still good to go. 

>>>Although heat helps to release saponin from the soap nuts, they can be used in any water temperature. The saponin is simply released more slowly.

>>>The saponin released during the rinse cycle is not a worry. It's gentle and non-irritating (according to what I've read) and shouldn't be a concern. It beats soap residue on clothing!

I am very anxious to try the soap nut liquid around the house. I will post as I experiment.

Soap nuts, trial 1, continued

I just finished folding the first load of laundry washed with my new soap nuts. They looked, well, NORMAL. Did I expect them to jump out of the drier and hug me and dance around with joy? Sorta. They didn't. But, other than being a little static-y (I haven't used drier sheets in years, but didn't really have a static-producing item in the bunch...) the clothes were clean. Very clean. I had one jacket out of the bunch that had a stain remaining. My daughter had gotten a big, dark pink chalk stain on the sleeve of a white sweat jacket. I figured chalk would come right out, but this was a really dark pink stain, so I'm not quite ready to blame the soap nuts yet. Everything else looked great! Does that sell me on them? Not q.u.i.t.e yet. Now I need to do a "dirty" load. I mean, a more than average dirty load. Oh oh I know! Cloth diapers!! I'll report back. =)

The soap nuts are here! Trial 1...

The soap nuts I bought arrived today. I couldn't wait to try them, and threw a load of laundry right in, which is now drying. In the meantime, this is what they look like. The little cloth bag is what you put them in when doing a load of laundry. The nuts came with instructions. It says to break the soap nuts, but many of them were already broken up, and I had to kind of guess at how many to use. They didn't suds up right away, but at the end of the cycle I could see that they had suds at least a bit. (I was out during the cycle) I will post again in a bit with results of the first wash. If anyone has used them before, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Soap nuts?!

Today someone asked me if I had ever tried soap nuts. While I have seen them mentioned on green websites and seen them listed in recipes for laundry detergent, I have never tried using them. I did some reading, and found loads of information on this website: http://www.greenvirginproducts.com. Below is their description of a soap nut. There is information on how to use them, etc., on that website as well.  You can purchase them there as well. I have to say I am intrigued. Skeptical....but intrigued. No mixing ingredients together, just break the soap nuts and toss them in. And you use them several times before they are used up. Hmmmmm....... 

What is a soap nut?

Soap Nuts are the fruit of the Chinese Soap Berry Tree. These amazing berries are harvested and then dried in the sun. No chemicals of any kind are added to our soap nuts. Laundry detergent with heavy chemicals is replaced with something all natural and totally organic. The soap nut contains a natural soap called saponin. Saponin has cleaning abilities equal to toxic chemical detergents. Soap Nuts are extremely hypo-allergenic and can be used by people who are allergic to all other detergents. They are completely green and don't pollute our planet. Soap Nuts go by many names. These include: soap berries, wash berries, wash nuts, Ritha, Reetha, Aritha, Dodan, Doadni, Doda, Kanma, Thali.

Laundry Detergent recipe

One of my most tried and true green efforts recently has been with the home-made laundry detergent, so I thought I'd share the recipe. First, a quick pros and cons list:

Pros: 

All-natural

Biodegradable

Safe

Gentle

Effective

Reuse containers

Cons:

Hardens and needs to be broken up

Occasionally lumps of detergent remain in wash after load is done

Recipe makes small amount of detergent

Recipe:

1/4 cup castile soap (I like peppermint)

1 cup baking soda

1 cup washing soda

1 cup white vinegar

Mix the castile soap with the powders. Add vinegar (it will foam up, then settle down, just mix). Stir til completely combined. 

At this point I leave it, and it hardens. If you keep mixing through the hardening process you can break it up right away. It becomes a lumpy powder. I have yet to perfect the process so it all gets crunched up to a thin powder, but honestly, I don't have time at the moment, and it works well anyhow. 1/2 cup in a regular size load does the trick. Makes about 5 loads worth...something like that.

I've been using this detergent for weeks now, with great results.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Castile Soap

I recently discovered castile soap. I had seen it before, but didn't have a clue about it, and honestly, it wasn't on the top, or near the top, or my priority list until a couple of months ago. Then there is was, and so. Castile soap is oil based, and the purist of the pure is made from olive oil. Essential oils scent it. Its versatility is what really caught my eye. People use it for everything from cleaning themselves, to cleaning their homes, their dishes, their laundry. My thoughts on each (liquid castile): 

Cleaning self: Um, ok. It's so-so. Using the liquid soap on the skin is good. It's gentle and cleans well. I use it in the hand soap dispensers. I'm lazy about using it in the shower. As a shampoo, you really need to mix it so that works for your hair type. Castile alone left my hair very, very soft, but also limp and feeling filmy. I mixed it with baking soda as someone online had suggested. The results were much better...much better. But I have to say I have been quick to grab store bought shampoo instead. I'm working on myself to pursue this more. We'll see.

Cleaning the home: Excellent. I use castile soap, baking soda and vinegar to clean the house. That's it, and it's great. Baking soda and vinegar are excellent at clearing plugged drains, too, and no scary fuming chemicals. Love that.

Dishes: I've read many accounts of castile soap leaving a film on the dishes. I haven't even tried it.

Laundry: My absolute favorite use. I got a recipe (there are many) online for laundry detergent using castile soap, baking soda, washing soda and vinegar. I have used nothing but for weeks now. It cleans at least as well as the store bought laundry detergent (to my surprise!) and it's easy to make. It reduces cost and plastic containers. I reuse a coffee can (plastic) to make and store it. 

Castile soap is completely biodegradable, safe, natural, the works. You can use it on babies! I love it. As I said, I don't love it for everything, but I use it for a lot of things, and feel good about it.