Soapnuts are an eco-friendly alternative to conventional household cleaning products. They grow naturally in regions like the Indian subcontinent and have been used for generations by the people there. They are entirely free from chemicals but when introduced to water they create a natural soap.
A number of companies are now introducing Soapnuts to the Australian market as environmentally friendly alternatives to common cleaners. They are most commonly available either as whole dried shells or as ground shells in sachets, and can be used to tackle the following household cleaning tasks:
- Laundry
- In the dishwasher
- General domestic cleaning (including floors, bathrooms, jewellery, cars, plants)
- Shampoo / soap for humans and pets
But do they work? How well do they clean and how easy is it to switch from conventional cleaners?
To answer this question, we recruited a panel of Green Beings to put Soapnuts to the test.
Meet the Green Beings panel
- Open-minded Celia and Martin do not consider themselves particularly ‘green’. Celia has sensitive skin and a number of allergies and also has some delicate clothes that she feels may benefit from gentler soaps
- New parents Nicola and Adam are concerned about harsh chemicals affecting 6 month old Ava’s skin
- Louise and John have a large family including three under fives and are actively seeking ways to minimise the family’s eco-footprint
- Young couple Chantal and Dan feel they should do more to help the environment but are yet to be convinced that they can make much change to their busy lifestyles
- Sporty newlyweds Lisa and Mick create piles of muddy and sweaty clothes and feel cleaning is a major way they can limit their environmental impacts
We gave each couple a box of the sachets and whole shells kindly provided by Green Orb for them to use over a period of a month. Here is their feed back:
Laundry
The experiences of the panel varied depending on how the Soapnuts were used. When used for laundry the biggest barrier for Chantal was that the clothes lacked the ‘clean clothes’ smell. The absence of perfume in this product was a common comment made by the panel when doing laundry. Celia felt that ‘clothes are more frequently washed to get rid of odour rather than because of dirt, we are used to using conventional washing powder with synthetic fragrance in them so we associate clean with that synthetic fragrance’. She got around the lack of smell by adding a few drops of essential oil (eucalyptus was her favourite), whilst Lisa added an eco-friendly fabric conditioner to the wash.
Adding an eco-friendly fabric conditioner to the wash also made clothes softer and more comparable with products with built in fabric softeners.
When put to the cleaning test on sweaty gym clothes, dirty baby clothes and muddy cycling gear, four out of the five couples found they gave satisfactory results and three out of five said they cleaned as well as conventional washing powders. Everyone felt the sachets were preferrable to the shells.
Dishwasher
Overall the sachets were found to work better than the shells in the dishwasher. Adding white vinegar was found to provide better results on loads with glass in them. Overall the panel felt that with a full or heavily-soiled load in your dishwasher, conventional detergent does a better job.
General cleaning
A soap solution can be made up using shells dissolved in water. When used for mopping floors and cleaning surfaces the results were good. But for best results the panel felt it was needed to make fresh batches regularly.
Overall our panellists enjoyed using Soapnuts and they felt good knowing they were minimising their environmental impacts. The main issues mentioned tended to be more around perception than actual capability. Firstly, that cleaning products should create a fresh perfume. Secondly, that Soapnuts needed to look more convincing as a cleaning product. As Lisa puts it, ‘the biggest challenge is many people will see the product and as it is so unconventional they will wonder how it can work’. Celia suggested that as people are used to using powder or liquid soaps, creating powder or liquid versions which could be poured into washing or soap dispensers would be more easily accepted.
If you want to give Soapnuts a try, search our database of providers in the product listings area and order directly online.
The results from individual panel members are provided in the table below.
| Results | Score | |
| Celia & Martin | ||
| Laundry | The lack of smell made you think the clothes weren’t clean, but dirt and odour was removed. The sachets were preferable to the shells with good results on delicates. Results improved with addition of fabric softener. The shells gave the water a brown appearance which made you hesitant to use them in a white wash and although the whites came out clean we felt we may need to use a whitening agent to maintain bright whites. Essential oil added to give perfume to wash. |
Shells 5/10
Sachets 7/10 |
| Dishwasher | Sachets were used and the dishwasher put on hot or warm wash. The results were good. White vinegar was added to glass washes with good results. | Sachets 7/10 |
| General | Soapnut liquid was made and used for cleaning surfaces. The results were good. | Shells 7/10 |
| Soap/shampoo | Soapnuts used in the bath dried my skin. | Shells 5/10 |
| Nic & Adam | ||
| Laundry | We always soak stained baby clothes in napisan first. The shells were not found to be as good as the sachets and whilst results were satisfactory we preferred our normal detergent. The lack of smell was an issue. | Shells 5/10
Sachets 6.5/10 |
| Dishwasher | The shells were preferred to the sachets for dishwashing. However, food residue was left on cutlery which meant they needed to be rewashed. | Shells 6/10
Sachets 5/10 |
| General | Not attempted | |
| Soap/shampoo | Not attempted | |
| Louise & John | ||
| Laundry | Both shells and sachets used with good results. The lack of smell was an issue for some members of the family. The sachets were preferred to the shells which came out of the bag during the wash on occasions. | Shells 5/10
Sachets 8/10 |
| Dishwasher | Shells used and results were very good to begin with. Over time they didn’t appear to rinse well even with rinse aid. Sachets were not used as we have a dish drawer which doesn’t require as much powder as normal dishwashers. | Shells 6/10 |
| General | Shells boiled to create soap which was used to mop the floors. This worked well and removed greasy smears from the floor. | Shells 7/10 |
| Soap/shampoo | Shells were boiled to create a liquid soap. The soap seemed to work fine but children didn’t like the lack of smell. If I added essential oils to make it smell nice it resulted in no bubbles, which was not popular with the children. When used as a bubble bath, it made lots of bubbles, over time it didn’t make many bubbles. The lack of smell was not popular with the children. Washing up liquid seemed to work well even on greasy plates and pans. I did notice that as the boiled liquid got older the less good it was at removing the grease. Over a period of a month it was not really working towards the end. As such regular batches would need to be made. As shampoo it seemed okay on the children but I tried it myself and felt it made my hair look greasy. |
Shells 7/10 |
| Chantal & Dan | ||
| Laundry | Results with the sachet were fair. Clothes seemed fairly clean but the lack of a smell was a problem. The results with the shells were disappointing. | Shells 0/10
Sachets 5/10 |
| Dishwasher | Not attempted | |
| General | Not attempted | |
| Soap/shampoo | Not attempted | |
| Lisa & Mick | ||
| Laundry | Sachet used in cold water on smelly gym clothes. Could not tell the difference from conventional products, however, the lack of smell made was a problem for Mick. Eco friendly fabric softener was added on subsequent washes and this got rid of the problem. Shells were used in cold water on very muddy clothes. The clothes came out just as clean as with conventional products. Both the sachets and shells can be chucked straight in the compost. |
Shells 6/10
Sachets 8/10 |
| Dishwasher | Not attempted | |
| General | Not attempted | |
| Soap/shampoo | Not attempted |
It is surprising how conditioned we have become to identifying certain smells with clean. I recently heard it said that “clean has no smell”