There no suds. Will my clothes come out clean?
Get this – suds do not clean! We have come to believe that suds wash better as synthetic detergents are formulated so as to ensure continuous sudsing.
For your clothes to come out clean, what is
needed is basically a surfactant and lots of
water for agitation. A surfactant or emulsifier
lowers the surface tension of water, which
means it allows the water to spread and
remove dirt, grease etc.
In the case of soap nuts, the shells
contain saponin which is a natural
surfactant (emulsifier).
Remember - initial suds indicate the presence of the surfactant. This is
then quickly taken up by dirt and grease to dissolve and wash away.
So for instance if you were to wash the same set of clothes twice, you will
find more suds the second time as the clean clothes do not have dirt/grime to use up the suds.
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How do I change from chemical wash to natural?
Before you make the switch from chemicals to Soap nuts, make sure to remove all chemical residue buildup in your machine by running a warm wash cycle (with rags) with 4-5 Soap nuts in a pouch.Repeat the procedure every time you use chemicals again or you will not get a truly organic, chemical free wash.
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Is it true that using Soap nuts will help me save water and energy?
Yes! Since there's no soapy residue to rinse away, you can use shorter rinse cycles on your washing machine- thereby saving on water and electricity!
What's more, the water can be reused for your plants (after letting it stand for an hour or so and then passing it through your sand filter). Furthermore, detergents make up a sizeable percentage of our monthly shopping bill. Soap nuts could work out far more economical. Not to forget the fabric softener you would no longer need to buy.
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