Self Reliance Tip of the Week - Yes, I Am A Soap Nut! January 23, 2014

I always love it when I get questions about Self-Reliance issues. If I don't have the answer, it encourages me to look and figure it out. 

I received this question this week: 

Is there a soap product that you can wash your dishes, wash laundry or even bathe your kids in that the water can then be re-used to water garden plants and fruit trees?  I want to stock up on the right stuff so I can get the most out of my water supply.

This was my answer:

I would stock up on soap nuts. They last forever (in an airtight container) and the water is safe to reuse. The best price I have found them for is here - but you have to get a nut cracker to get the pits out...no big deal, but I bought mine here:

https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/bulkherb/s.php (scroll down to soap nuts)

For many of our readers, this might be the first time they have heard of soap nuts. Soap nuts are actually a fruit from a tree grown in Nepal. The dried fruit has a pit inside that needs to be removed. I have used soap nuts for everything. In my experience it works best for laundry, other cleaning and shampoo.. For dishes, you might have to get something a little stronger because it doesn't cut meat grease very well. 

Here is a brief "How To" video. If you have more questions on how to use them for shampoo and other uses, there are TONS of videos on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auUiwDJXrsk

The video above says "use the bag provided" -  I use a sock with a rubber band. Just make sure your little bag doesn't make it in the dryer, because the heated soap nuts leave a funny smell on clothes. 

The BEST thing about soap nuts, is you can use the same bag 3 to 5 times!!! That is a CHEAP detergent!