Soapnuts (or how to save money on laundry)

 

What are Soapnuts

Normally when I mention soapnuts the first question I get asked is "what are soapnuts".

Quite simply they are little magical dried fruit shells from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree from Asia.
The fruit contains natural soap and foam when used with water. They can be used as a chemical free detergent for those with sensitive skin or skin conditions.

Soapnuts are eco friendly and can also be composted after use or used in garden to deter pests.

How to use soapnuts 

Soapnuts can be used as they are purchased (as dried fruit shells) and put into a little muslin bag in your washing machine. 

You use about 4/5 in a bag and these will last you a few washes (around 3 I find) before they start to fall apart.

They do not really have much of an odour but you will notice it when the clothes are dry, it doesn't smell of much but will smell of soapnuts (hard to explain until you smell it)

You can also add some essential oils to the wash by dripping some into the muslin bag before popping in the wash. About 10 drops will be enough.

You will find the essential oil smell leaves the clothes once they are dry it is however good if (like us) you have to dry clothes indoors in the winter your wet smell will be replaced with the oil smell.

There is no point in using it in the summer when clothes will be dried outside.

The cheaper oils tend to be those of citrus fruits, these also have the added bonus of being antibacterial too!

You can also make your own laundry liquid by boiling 50g of soapnuts in 1 litre of water for 20mins and then straining into a bottle.

You can then repeat the process to use the soapnuts 5/6 times to make 5/6 litres of laundry liquid. You can then use 1cup of liquid per wash adding a few drops of essential oil if required.

Whilst this method makes your soapnuts go further we were finding we did not have room to store all the bottles of liquid as it is recommended to keep them in the fridge.

What about a softener? 

Soapnuts are a natural softener so you really don't have to use one, you can however use a tablespoon of  white vinegar in the wash instead of softener which will help to soften things some more (the vinegar smell does not remain I promise!) 

Cost comparison

As per January 2016 prices checked online using supermarket own website

Price for just soapnuts and no essential oils not taking into account delivery costs on soapnuts (equally the cost of driving to a supermarket or paying for delivery etc)

Purchased from my usual supplier I buy my soapnuts in 500g bags which is just the right size for me to store. This bag costs  £8.00 (if you buy in bulk it will work out cheaper if you have room to store it)

Cost per wash Liquid detergent

500g allows you to make 50-60 litres of liquid detergent
you use 1cup (approximately 1/4 a litre) per wash which makes a 500g bag around 200- 240 washes, I will take the middle figure and say 220 washes.
£8.00 / 220 washes = 0.04p per wash (not taking into account the energy cost of boiling that much liquid up and the water cost if you are on a meter)

Cost per wash raw soapnuts

5 soapnuts (about the quantity used for a wash) weigh approximately 15g so 500g contains enough for about 100 washes (500/15 x 3) sometimes more depending on the type of washing machine cycle.
£8.00/ 100 = 0.08p per wash

Commercial washing products

It is difficult to know which products to compare soapnuts too, technically they work as washing detergent and a detergent + softener. As in some instances you may need to use two products (like a towel wash wouldn't use softener) so I have done a few different scenarios using supermarket own brand and labelled brands and you can compare yourself.
Number of washes as per supermarket recommendations. Rounded to 2 decimal points

Detergents only:

•  Aldi Almat Super Concentrated Liquid Wash (25 washes) - £1.99 = 0.08p per wash
• ASDA Chosen by You Sensitive Non-Bio Powder (52 Washes) - £5.00 = 0.10p per wash
• Tesco Non Biological Tablets 48 Pack (24 Washes) - £4.00 = 0.16p per wash
• Persil Non Biological Washing Capsules (35 Wash 920G) - £10.00 (Tesco) = 0.29p per wash
• Fairy Non-Bio Washing Tablets 40 Pack (20 Washes) - £7.50 (Sainsbury's) = 0.38p per wash

Fabric Softener: 

• Tesco Fabric Conditioner Pure 1.5L - (42 washes) - £1.50 = 0.04p per wash
• ASDA Chosen by You Sensitive Concentrated Pure Cotton & Ylang Fabric Softener (42 Washes) - £1.48 = 0.04p per wash
• Aldi Luxurious Fabric Conditioner (28 washes) - £1.29 = 0.05p per wash

2 in 1 washing detergents/softeners:

• Sainsbury's 2 in 1 Washing Powder, Lavender & Jasmine 2.6kg (40 Washes)- £4.00 = 0.10p per wash
• Aldi Almat Liquid Capsules - Bio/Non Bio/Colour/2 in 1 (20 washes) - £2.79 = 0.14p per wash
• Bold 2 In 1 Pods Hibiscus And Lime Blossom (29 washes) - £9.00 (Tesco) = 0.32p per wash

Cost Examples

Example 1 

Based on the following weekly washes for a single person/couple:
1x towel only wash -  detergent only
5 x other washes - detergent + softener
If I am using the Aldi liquid wash and their own fabric softener 
1x wash at £0.08 5x washes at £0.13 (£0.08+ £0.05) = £0.73
Yearly (52weeks x £0.73) = £37.96

If I use soapnuts
6x washes raw soapnuts at £0.08p = £0.48
Yearly (52weeks x £0.48) = £24.96

Yearly saving by switching to Soapnuts in this example £13.00 a year

Example 2

Based on the following weekly washes for a large family of 5 (maybe with babies/pets too?)
3 x towel only wash -  detergent only
17 x other washes - detergent + softener
I use Persil Non Biological Washing Capsules and Tesco Fabric Conditioner Pure

3x wash at £0.29 17x washes at £0.33 (£0.29+ £0.04) = £6.48
Yearly (52weeks x £6.48) = £336.96

If I use soapnuts
20x washes homemade liquid soapnut detergent at £0.04p = £0.80
Yearly (52weeks x £0.80) = £41.60

Yearly saving by switching to Soapnuts in this example £295.36 a year (that's about £24.60 a month or £5.60 a week saved!)

I know those two examples are at the extremes but it just demonstrates the potential savings you could make by switching to Soapnuts

Soapnut Summary

The lowdown on soapnuts (soapnuts vs commercial products)

• Soapnuts are chemical free, you know exactly what is going to be touching your skin. Great for allergies.
• Eco-friendly, no plastic bottles and containers just delivered in cardboard or cloth sacks which are compostable.
•  Better for the environment - no nasty chemicals going down the drain - can be composted after use
• Great value for money
• No need to have lots of different products in the cupboard just soapnuts
• No artificial "summer meadow" smelling clothes, just a clean soapnutty laundry smell
• Natural softener
• Can be used to spray plants in the garden to deter pests
• Can be made into liquid hand soap 

So as you can probably tell I am a soapnut convert. Saving money and the environment at the same time wins in my book :)
If you are unsure if you will like soapnuts or not then why not give them a try? I am sure I can supply a few "sample packs" if anyone was interested in trying some just get in contact and I will see what I can do!

Emily