Soap Nuts

Soap nuts have many uses. People have suggested using them as a chemical free dish washing detergent. However, some people who’ve tried soap nuts in the dishwasher are getting inconsistent results and I often see searches for “chemical free dish washing detergent” in my blog stats because of the crack down on phosphates in many states.

I thought today, since I just had an email exchange with someone on the subject of using soap nuts in the dishwasher, I’d share my own experiences and techniques for using soap nuts in the dishwasher and for hand washing of dishes.

I live in an area with very hard water and we cook with olive oil every day so I have some very tough dishwashing conditions. I also don’t always get the dishwasher loaded or the dishes rinsed immediately which doesn’t make things easier.

However, I have used soap nuts in several ways for washing dishes both by hand and in the dishwasher and had mostly good results.

When hand washing with soap nuts I strongly suggest, if your dishes are greasy or have caked on food, that you keep a shaker can of soap nuts powder near the sink. I sprinkle some finely ground soap nuts onto greasy plates or caked/cooked on food to help it to release more easily. The soap nuts powder also helps to not only release the grease from dishes but also gives the grease something to stick to so that it stays off the dish as you rinse. I’ve also mentioned previously that soap nuts powder is the best natural scouring powder I have ever used so there’s almost no scrubbing if you sprinkle soap nuts powder on a damp plate or pot even if the mess is stuck on thick.

Recently I also took some NaturOli Extreme 18X diluted it 5 to 1 with water and put it in a spray bottle. I spray the dishes now, give it a second to work it’s surfactant magic and then swipe the sponge across the dish or pot and load it into the dishwasher.

Since I also often wash dishes by hand to save the electric and water. I add either 1 teaspoon of undiluted Extreme 18x or homemade soap nuts liquid. Then fill the sink with warm water and set the dishes in it to soak for about 2 minutes. I then scrub them with the sponge and dip them in the rinse sink which I have filled with water water and 1/4 cup of white vinegar.

Some people put the soap nuts into the silverware cup and I have tried this with fairly poor results so I do not suggest this as a perfect solution.

One of the reasons that soap nuts do work on dishes so well is their ability to change the surface tension of both the water and the food or grease. However because of the nature of dishwashers you get more of a splashing of water than you get a submerging and agitation like you would in the washing machine with your laundry. That’s one the reasons I strongly suggest you either pre-soak them in the sink in warm water with soap nuts liquid as described above or your pre-scrub them using soap nuts powder.

Truth is most of the time I just use the soap nuts liquid and powder to hand wash my dishes instead of using the dishwasher. It saves me money by reducing my energy and it saves water since I can take the used water from the sinks when I’m done and use it on my plants.

If you are determined to try soap nuts in the dishwasher just be sure to rinse the dishes as well as possible and if they are greasy use some soap nuts powder on them to break up the grease and rinse most of it off the dishes before loading them in the dishwasher.

Soap nuts are an amazing way to reduce toxic chemicals and packaged cleaners from your home and reduce recycling waste and save money. But to make the most of them you must understand how they work and work with them the way nature intended.

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Soap nuts clean clothes without harsh petro-chemicals chemicals. Okay we know that. Soap nuts clean hair without irritating foaming agents and endocrine disrupting chemicals. We know that too. Soap Nuts clean pets, floors, toilets, and sinks without harmful chemicals. Yes we know that too.

Although in the “laundry list” of things soap nuts can be used to clean many people mention you can use them in the dishwasher or use soap nuts to wash dishes by hand. But let me share some proof of just what washing dishes with soap nuts can do for your budget, the planet, and your dislike for washing dishes.

Okay not everyone hates to wash dishes. Some people find it therapeutic. But others battle constant skin irritation from washing dishes with traditional dishwashing liquid and their foaming agents. Others are battling the new phosphate free dish washing rules that are begin to appear. The greatest part of that battle is to find something to use in your dishwasher that works and is affordable.

Soap nuts … yes soap nuts are the chemical free natural cleaning answer for that too!

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Soap nuts are a completely natural laundry detergent. Equally important is that they are (and have been for centuries) known to be safe for people with sensitive skin.

While some companies like Seventh Generation create chemical formulas using “plant derived” cleaning agents specifically for sensitive skin, nature already created a natural detergent that works well to clean without irritating skin.

From Seventh Generation’s own site here is the list of ingredients in their “Free and Clear” Laundry Liquid.

Consider as you read through these ingredients that they (as is true on all ingredient lists listed from highest to lowest concentrations in the formula).

Free & Clear Natural 2X Concentrated Laundry Liquid

Aqua (water), sodium laureth sulfate, coconut alcohol ethoxylate & glycerin (plant-derived cleaning agents), sodium citrate (water softener), oleic acid & glyceryl oleate (plant-derived anti-foaming agents), sodium hydroxide (alkalinity builder), sodium borate (alkalinity builder and soil dispersant), amylase, cellulase & protease (enzyme soil removers), calcium chloride (cleaning enhancer), hexahydro-1,3,5-tris (2-hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (preservative)

Let’s see how safe, natural, or non-irritating some of these ingredients are.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/706089/SODIUM_LAURETH_SULFATE as you scroll down the page warning flags will no doubt spring up in your mind. But keep scrolling and you’ll see that this ingredient has proven to cause skin irritations in rabbits, and guinea pigs. Are we to believe that it won’t cause them in humans, especially children or those with health issues already?

Another potential cause of itchy skin is excessive alkalinity. If you review the ingredients above your will see two alkalinity building ingredients. So this too could be a cause of laundry detergents causing itchy skin or irritating sensitive skin. One way to know for sure would be to take a PH testing kit to the formula and see how alkaline it is. However, few of us would want to have to do this every time we try a commerically produced laundry detergent.

Now let’s turn to why soap nuts are considered a good choice of a truly natural laundry detergent that is excellent for those suffering from sensitive skin.

First let’s look at the ingredient list for soap nuts. It’s short. There are not long names with further explanation of the why they are included needed. More importantly none them are plant derived through chemical processes. They are simple a part of a plant, specifically the berry of the Sapindus Mukorossi Tree.

Ingredient in a bag of soap nuts are soap nuts.

Now let’s look at how the soap nuts work and how they’ve been used historically for not only cleaning but treating sensitive skin problems like psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and itchiness of the skin and scalp.

The particular type of saponin in greatest quantity in soap nuts are triterpenoid saponins. Wikipedia has a long explanation of them however the part most important to why they work to clean is this portion.

Most triterpenoid compounds in adaptogenic plants are found as saponin glycosides which refers to the attachment of various sugar molecules to the triterpene unit. Saponin glycosides reduce surface tension of water with foaming and will break down lipids.

In Ayuevedic medicine the soap nuts are often used as an anti-inflammatory. That pretty much says it all they will NOT inflame (irritate) tissue.

Additionally soap nuts leave no residue on the clothes when properly used so unlike commercial chemically derived laundry detergents nothing is left in your clothing to irritate your skin.

That is the brief explanation of why soap nuts are an excellent natural laundry detergent for sensitive skin.

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