We started using these about 2 weeks ago on our nappies, I am so pleased with them!! There are a couple of nappies which have a small stain on them still but otherwise they get the job done just as well! We have both girls in the same motherease nappies and I was finding I was having to strip them with increasing frequency - last time was within 6 weeks despite only using a tiny amount of powder and putting them through the wash twice each time with one being at 70 degrees, they’re obviously really prone to build up!
Anyone else use them on nappies? They were really cheap too, I think I paid about £11 or so for 1kg of nuts which should give me 260 washes minimum but we’re finding we can get 3-4 washes out of each lot of 5 nuts so I think they’ll last longer than that!
Does anyone put any natural oils (teatree or lavender) in the fabric softener bit? If so do I need to take the nuts out first? I tend to take them out to do the second wash as I read somewhere you need to do another rinse when they’re out and I wash them twice anyway.. Also how much oil do I need to put in? Lastly, really silly question, am I right in thinking that now I’m not using any detergent on them (and just the soap nuts which are detergent free) that I’ll be free of the need to strip? And that goes for the outers too?
Oh - and does anyone use these for clothes? And would I need to use seperate nuts for nappies than I use for clothes or could I just reuse them interchangably? (Just thinking hygiene although we do the first nappy wash at 70 degrees which is the one with the nuts in so they’d be pretty “clean” by the end I guess!)
I’ve used them for years. I add the essential oils to the bag, I just sprinkle it on, I buy the bigger bottles from Summernaturals.
I do find wit nappies that after a while they will smell awful after been on the baby for an hour or so, so it is worth every so washes putting them through a prewash (cold), to make sure the wee is properly washed out, and then doing a hotter wash. Mind, I did only wash my on 30/40 degree wash, so that might have been why too.
I also found a vinegar wash helped too. Every half dozen washes or so I found that putting them through a hot wash with vinegar in the detergent draw helped to remove any nasty whiffs.
I also found using a normal eco detergent every once in a while for clothes helped with the colours too, because there’s no brighteners or anything, the colours can fade after a while. And adding borax substitute is handy for any clothes that have any particularly nasty stains (can be used as a stain remover too).
When I first started using the soapnuts I hated the smell, but these days I actually prefer, and find clothes washed in conventional detergents smell really strong of the scents added - so much so it gives me a headache. And I just used the same nuts for clothes as I do for nappies. Oh and btw, the stickier the nuts the better they will be. Do keep them away from little ones though, they are poisinious.
Ooh, this is a good thread for us at the mo - we’ve been meaning to try soap nuts for a while, and keep forgetting. How do I use them, and do I need to know anything strange about them? We have a couple of boxes of washing powder at the moment, but may well start using them once we get into our new house in July.
I’ve been using them for a couple of months. I agree the smell takes some getting to used to. My boyfriend moans that his clothes smell. I think everything comes out smelling much nicer than with washing powder. I put the bag of soapnuts in with the clothes and about 5 drops of lavender in the drawer of the washing machine (more if the nappies are particularly smelly).
If your water is hard you need to use more nuts and they won’t last as long.
The nuts can be composted.
Arna, i find the smell of the nuts disappears once the clothes are dried, but strong smelling essential oils can help. I like citrus smells, so I tend to buy large bottles of orange and lemon essential oil from Summer naturals… although I’ve not bought any for a while.
If when you get your nuts they are loose and feel brittlish, they aren’t very good ones… great nuts are really really sticky, and if not kept air tight will dry together in a mass that’s a bit like toffee, doesn’t matter, just break off and add to the bag. The sticky stuff is the soap.
I enjoyed using soap nuts, but we are in a very hard water area, and if I am totally honest, they didn’t get things very clean. But I never noticed a smell about them at all!
Oooh I just put more in the bag, Aisling, to compensate for the very hard water we have here too. Mind I do often add borax powder to the drawer to help remove the grass stains, from Rye rolling around in the garden. I’ve also found that you do have to make sure not to overload the machine.
Really, you never noticed the smell, I don’t these days, but when I first got them, I really hated the smell!
supposedly, but I’ve never had a lot of lukk with that. But then I do have an old machine, so could be that’s why.
the idea is you just put them in the cutlery basket… mind my machine doesn’t always get stuff clean even with eco tabs, so maybe in a newer machine be ok?
Joxy do you find that your whites keep their colour though? I do some PN work for a lady at the moment who uses them and also the eco ball things and her washing always just looks so grey. Of course, it could be a number of other reasons, but that is why I’ve been loathed to change if I’m honest. Her clothes all just look grubby and tired.
whites don’t really stay that white, although putting out in the sun helps. I tend to wear colourful clothes I’ve not noticed it overly - it is very important to make sure darks and lights are separated as theyw ill quickly fade that way. the only whites I have are some towels so I don’t really worry about it all that much, so long stuff is clean I couldn’t care less. But if whiteness and brightness is important than perhaps every couple of washes use soapnuts?
If your water is hard you need to use more nuts and they won’t last as long.
The nuts can be composted.
Arna, i find the smell of the nuts disappears once the clothes are dried, but strong smelling essential oils can help. I like citrus smells, so I tend to buy large bottles of orange and lemon essential oil from Summer naturals… although I’ve not bought any for a while.
If when you get your nuts they are loose and feel brittlish, they aren’t very good ones… great nuts are really really sticky, and if not kept air tight will dry together in a mass that’s a bit like toffee, doesn’t matter, just break off and add to the bag. The sticky stuff is the soap.
jx
Thanks Joxy. I will try the orange and Lemon oil and see if that helps. The ones I have are quite sticky so I don’t think that’s the problem - the brand is Living Naturally? To be honest whatever I use that isn’t the norm my boyfriend moans about. He thinks I’m a bit of a hippy.
Well I’ve bought some, so we’ll see.
I think I’ll use them more for my coloured stuff than the whites because I struggle with keeping the kid’s white shirts for school clean at the best of times (seriously, who invented WHITE school shirts grrrr!)
I’ll also try putting some lavender or mandarin oil in my detergent drawer.
