Eco Nuts Makes Laundry More Sustainable: A Product Review
We love making your home greener! We’re sharing a product review for Eco Nuts cleaning products, helping to make your laundry and cleaning much more eco-friendly!
EcoNuts is a relatively new company that has made it easy and affordable to make your laundry as green as possible. EcoNuts has created a line of laundry soap and household cleaning products made from totally natural ingredients with the soap nut as the star ingredient. They have also created a handful of other cool products that keep your cleaning green throughout your home.
Soap nuts (sometimes called soap berries) are a totally natural product, harvested from trees in the Himalayas and then dried and pitted before use. They are not true nuts (but a fruit related to lychee), so those with nut allergies are free to use the product. Econuts has carefully crafted liquid soaps and household cleaners made from these certified organic nuts using the naturally occurring saponin found in the skins.
The saponin is released from the berry when it is agitated in water, which is how it gently cleans clothes. The tossing of your washing machine shakes the dirt loose and and the saponin holds it in the water until it is rinsed away. Learn more about how to use soap nuts.
Their cornerstone product is the soap nuts themselves, which come in boxes with reusable cloth bags for using in the washing machine. Simply place 4-5 Eco Nuts in the cloth bag and toss in the washer with your clothes – they suds up naturally and act as a natural fabric softener in the rinse cycle. Nuts can be re-used up to 10 times, making them a super-affordable option. After the nuts are used, they can be composted or used as mulch.
{Related: Energy saving tips for washers and dryers}
They have also created a liquid laundry soap and a baby-friendly liquid laundry soap. The liquid is specifically designed for HE washing machines, and offers the convenience of a liquid detergent with the gentle, organic cleaning power of the soap berry. The laundry soap smells a little weird– sort of like vinegar, but not terrible; it’s not a big deal since I use white vinegar in almost all my washing loads anyway! The only other issue is that the liquid is very thin, and when I took it to the laundromat it spilled all over my basket. No biggie– it was all washed out during the cycle– but a small design flaw.
The other products we had the opportunity to review were the wool dryer balls, which I am really digging. These balls (about the size of softballs) are made from natural wool and help speed the drying process and reduce energy use. They are an infinitely reusable, healthy, natural and chemical-free alternative to dryer sheets. Dryer balls work by lifting and separating clothes allowing air to circulate, and can reduce drying time by 10-25%. They fluff and soften the laundry through gentle friction. I used my favorite essential oil (geranium) on the balls to naturally scent the laundry. They do make a bit of tumble-tumble noise in the dryer, but not enough to worry about!
EcoNuts also sent us their all-purpose cleaner and organic veggie wash, both of which I think work just as well as any cleaner I’ve ever used. Both have a light, natural scent (the cleaner being a bit on the vinegar-y side, but not bad) and come in cool aluminum bottles, which I prefer to plastic. The veggie wash is totally organic, and helps to remove dirt, oils, waxes and residues on fresh produce. The surface cleaner, lightly scented with orange, is made from their proprietary soap nut extract and other botanicals. It is phosphate-free, sulfate-free, ammonia free and alcohol free, and it works on tile, metal, stone, porcelain enamel, chrome, laminate, quartz composites and other non-porous surfaces.
Overall, I was really happy with EcoNuts products. The packaging is thoughtfully designed, very cute, and the products work well. The entire product line is available online. Learn more about them on the website, EcoNutsSoap.com.
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