By the title of this post alone it's clear that I was scarred as a youngster, probably on some road trip trying to read the mudflaps on a semi trucking down the interstate.
What is really on my mind are the byproducts of the genus Sapindus.
These caught my eye recently, being marketed as "soap nuts" - a
natural, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional laundry
detergent.
I read oodles of testimonials on numerous websites proclaiming the awesomeness of soap nuts. Not only do they get your clothes squeaky clean, they are 100% biodegradable (heck, compostable), a renewable resource and most importantly the name reminded me of another product that is a little out there and mildly entertaining.
My inner skeptic was screaming bloody murder, but the marketing message caught me hook, line and sinker. A low-cost experiment was in order and I whipped out the credit card with reckless abandon. I won't mention the specific website here, since I don't want to single out any of the many you can easily find online.
I ended up with a box of 1) sticky prune looking things (dried versions of the fruit in the picture here) that 2) smelled kind of funny. The box came with a small canvas bag to put a few of the "nuts" into and toss into the wash. Simple enough.
To alleviate any perception of preconceived bias, I've eaten things more earthy than my new trial laundry detergent. (As a lifelong vegetarian, these things happen).
I ended up running four loads of laundry using "soap nuts" in lieu of conventional laundry detergent. Given that I have a LG WM2688HNM "Dirt Crusher" washer that can make 50 pounds of soiled diapers smell like roses - using nothing more than atmospheric moisture - it would be a little challenging to have the "soap nuts" improve cleaning quality. Mostly, I was looking for any detracting items and I found two that are deal breakers:
- My clothes smelled like soap nuts. Some more so than others. I have a synthetic fuzzy sweatshirt thing that still smells like them after a number of conventional washes. Not that the odor is outright intolerable, but one that just doesn't agree with me.
- A load of whites took on a brownish tint that, well, kind of goes against the grain of the whole "cleaning clothes" concept we're after here.
I'm sticking with using my tried and true all free clear HE detergent. Others may find "soap nuts" more agreeable, but unfortunately I'm not one of them. On the plus side I did recycle the cardboard box they came in :)
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