Yucca Vs. Soapwort Vs. Aritha/Soapnuts?

I have read enough information on soap nut shells to come to 2 conclusions.

1. The shells will clean laundry. You do need though to experiment with amounts and water temperatures.

2. The recipes for makig a liquid - through boiling and simmering are not the way to go with soap nuts. The recipes for the liquid are all pretty much the same and I think that they are a misrepresentation of original material.

While the shells do clean - they do not need to be boiled to do that. I do believe that they can be used as a hair wash too.

They release saponins in hot - better - cold water - less well.

The liquid boil/simmer recipes have not proven themselves, probably because, IMO, they were taken out of context, without a complete understanding of traditional methods for using the plant.

Research on how soap nut saponins dissolve oils.

“…. natural surfactant, saponin obtained from the soapnut tree, Sapindus mukorossi …. studied in aqueous solution. …. Increase in temperature and salt concentration led to decrease in .... critical micelle concentration of Sapindus saponin .... critical micelle concentration .... found to increase with increase in hardness of water and increase in pH. Solubilisation of two types of crude oils and a vegetable oil was studied …. At lower concentrations of the surfactant .... solubilisation of crude oils in saponin was better than synthetic surfactants …. where as .... solubilisation of vegetable oil was better in synthetic surfactants.
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18303686

critical micelle concentration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critica..._concentration

Increasing the temperature too much reduces saponin concentration - would boiling do that too perhaps?

Basically, soap nut saponin will dissolve some oils better than others.


This matches the research faily well, IMO.

"Can the wash be done with cold water?
To wash in cold water, soak the nuts, while in their cotton bag, in a little hot water a few minutes …. to release the saponin, then add to the wash.
…. In hard water …. preferable to add a small quantity of sodium bicarbonate. This will balance the pH and increase …. effectiveness of the saponin (or any detergent for that matter)."
http://www.naturemporium.com/english/noix_de_lavage.asp

Sodium bicarbonate = baking soda

Hot water not boiling water.

does anyone have a good place to buy them? I have contacted all of my local stores and they don't have them but are looking into getting them. Oryana I think have the most costumer's so they may get them soon. I luckily live in a area that is very Green aware. Until then is one place better then the other?

I got mine from Amazon.com.

In Toronto they can be found here, in stock.
http://www.grassrootsstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=104&Page=2

Negative laundry reviews on soap nuts.
http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/...d.php?t=501709

"Cynics Corner" on soap nuts
They do however do a lot for my smelly sweaty football kit .... the 'soapnuts' certainly got them clean (I thought the football gear might test them but they certainly got rid of the mud and the smells)

.... can't say I'm a complete 'soapnut' convert, I still need to try them on something with lasagne stains .... they clearly represent an alternative to conventional forms of washing powder....biological or otherwise!!! "
http://www.imperfectlynatural.co.uk/...showpage&pid=8

Like any plant, there are several soap nut species on the market.

Sapindus mukorossi, is supposed to have the highest saponin content and is the one most recommended and traditionally used, from what I have read.

That may have something to do with the mixed reviews.

I have yet to use whole soapnuts for anything, including laundry. So far, I have only used the aritha powder for my hair--and it was great. My recollection is, that in India, it's common to let the whole soapnut soak overnight in hot water, strain, and then use in the morning.

Mellie, why don't you give the powder a try? It's easier to find, and I suspect cheaper than the whole nut.

As far as finding the nuts goes, my local health food store (it's a local chain, so no help to those outside of So. Cal.--Jimbo's) carries soapnut laundry soap. So, other all natural organic type places should also carry it. Same with online supplies of that sort of thing. I'll make a point of buying some (I need coconut oil anyhow) and checking them out for you all.

I don't know if it matters, but I use aritha mixed with amla, so I get shampoo and conditioning all in one. I can't imagine that it affects the cleaning power though.

Shell: oh my goodness!!!!
I just printed out your recipes I will guard them with my life and cherish them always.
My new hair bible!!
Thank you so much!!

Shell, I was hesitant to try the powder because DH has sinus/allergy sensitivities and doesn't do well with fine powders.

At any rate, I have 1 Lb. of soapnuts now, so I can at least use them for laundry if I can't figure out how to shampoo with them! :-)