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Friday, July 15, 2011

On using soapnuts plus a giveaway

Soap what?!! This was also my reaction when I first heard about soapnuts.  From Wikipedia, soapnuts or soapberries are called such because their fruit pulp is used to make soap.  The insides of the nuts contain saponins, a natural surfactant.  I had been looking for an all-natural laundry detergent to use for N's clothes, as part of the eco-friendly changes that I am trying to do in my household.  Saw these soapnuts at Sunday Legaspi Market and purchased a trial pack for P100.  The soapnuts were from Chlorophyll and if you can't get to the Sunday Market, check out their details below.






Soapnuts - break them so the sapindus gets to your laundry
*photo from naturecorner.multiply.com
we use these cotton bags, stuff them with about 4-5 berries broken into pieces and throw them into the wash
*photo from naturecorner.multiply.com
Since I prefer online shopping (and home deliveries), I checked if there was anyone else who sold them and delivered.  I found Ivy Esguerra of Nature Corner.  But I was sad to learn that she stopped selling the soapnuts due to high freight costs!  However, she still maintains her website to provide information on soapnuts.  I was quite lucky because Ivy shared some of her remaining stocks of soapnuts with me.
So how to use the soapnuts?  We put about 4-5 berries inside a cotton sack and break then into half.  The water needs to get into more surfaces of the soapberries for the sapindus to work.  Then we just throw them in the wash with dirty clothes.  We reuse the soapnuts 3-4 times and just throw them out when they've lost their moisture.  The clothes do get clean but they don't have that "clean laundry" smell that we're used to smelling from major detergent brands.
Since Ivy was kind enough to share her soapnuts stash with me, I'm giving away 1 bag of about 16 pieces of soapnuts.  You can join by leaving a comment about an eco-friendly change that you implemented in your household.  While you're at it, I would appreciate it if you can like my Facebook page and tweet or blog about this giveaway!  Comments will be accepted until 22 July 2011.  Contest is open to everyone with a Philippine address I can ship the giveaway to.
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8 comments:

  1. Jel TupasJuly 15, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    We dispose leftover food (which can't be consumed by our pets), fruit and vegetable peelings into our plant box.  We also use a basin when washing dishes.  The soapy water is used to clean the floor of our dog cage.  The same goes for the soapy water when we do our laundry.

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  2. KatrinaJuly 15, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    I am pregnant with my 2nd and with this one I want to do cloth diapers!

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  3. ChengJuly 19, 2011 at 7:24 AM

    We use Eco-bags for market and grocery-shopping so we won't have to bring home loads of plastic bags!

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  4. Camille QuiambaoJuly 19, 2011 at 7:13 PM

    We started to seriously started segregate our wastes. we are now recycling plastic and put the biodegradeble ones on the compost pit

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  5. JennyJuly 26, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    thanks everyone for joining and sharing your trips.  will post the winner shortly. 

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  6. ChengSeptember 1, 2011 at 12:16 PM

    Hi Jenny! Just remembered this giveaway.... Who won the soapnuts pala? :)

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  7. JennySeptember 1, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    Hi Cheng!  You did! ;) Please email me your mailing address and I will ship the soapnuts to you.  Congrats!!

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  8. ChengSeptember 4, 2011 at 3:56 PM

    yipitee!! just in time! :)  i'm preparing clothes na for baby #2 and will ask yaya to use the soapnuts when we receive it.  will send you an email in a bit.  many thanks jenny! :) 

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