Soap Nuts - Can It Work?

I have considered using soap nuts various times and finally had a sample and used it in my front loader (warm wash) - with disappointing results.
I.e. dirty (brown) sock were still dirty.

Hence I wasn't very impressed and forgot about the idea of an environmentally friendly washing detergent cheaper than my trusted persil front loader detergent.

I'm wanting to give the soap nuts another go as I'm just not happy with the cost/environmental factors atm and am wondering if a suitable alternative would be oxygen bleach PLUS soap nuts.

Has anyone got any wise words of wisdom or advice for me? Is anyone using this method or have you found that soap nuts are for hippies that don't mind wearing dirty socks...?? (No offense )

Maybe there are alternative ways of washing at budget/environmentally friendly?

noisybaby wrote: We use soapnuts on the nappies and don;t have any issues with cleanliness. The odd stain is still present but nothing a quick hang in the sun doesn't fix. I love soapnuts. maybe you didnt use enough?

I didn't try the nuts on the nappies, just on our general 1-a-day clothes load and I used the whole sample I was given. If I remember right it was about 6 nuts in the little cottonbag.

I really want this to work but I don't think I can live with dirty socks, etc

i have heard that they can take a couple of washes to work well, ie the water from the wash helps to break them down, this is why it is best to add new nuts to the older ones instead of having all new nuts.

maybe try them in another couple washes and see if they get better?

the thing about the soapnuts compared to say persil or surf etc is that the soapnuts dont bleach your clothes to look clean. i use mine for my nappies and clothes... if you use hot water then the nuts release more of the soapy stuff, but wont last as long either.

so you may find you need to soak or scrub your socks (and other hard wearing articles) before washing them if you want them to look white again! Or you could try the soapnut powder - i think the soapnut shop has them on special at the moment... it comes in sachets and you can use the sachet twice and it has essential oil in them already.

Great to hear some advice on this as it's really frustrating me!

I figure I'll give them another shot combined with presoaking them in oxygen bleach and a few drops of tea tree oil.

If that doesn't live up to my expectations I guess I'll be stuck with persil and a bad concience!

jano1 wrote: You could make your own washing powder

How do I do that??