soapnuts

[soapnutlady]

Hi Everybody!
I am the director of
Soapods the only vegan eco-friendly way to wash your clothes!
Please see the site www.soapods.com
Email me with ANY questions
Penny Morgan
info@soapods.com

[veg_eric]

I use vegan Ecover, why is your product more eco-friendly?

[soapnutlady]

well, for a start ecover products are made in a factory in belgum! so petro chemicals involver..
Soapnuts are a completly natural product with NOTHING added!
Penny Morgan
Directoe
www.soapods.com

[veg_eric]

well, for a start ecover products are made in a factory in belgum! so petro chemicals involver..

But that's "right next door" for me, where does your stuff come from?

Is it flow'n in to england / europe?

[soapnutlady]

Soapnuts come by ship in huge containers, twice a yesr... low carbon footprint and nil damage tothe environment when you wash your clothes..

[alisont]

I use soapnuts! heard of them last year and they are very good - good for travel too.

The huge bag lasts ages, we do have ecover left as use to buy the 5L size from a co op as less packing/plastic.

Both products are great

[button]

Can I use these in a front loader? If I can, where do they go in the machine?
Thanks! I've been wondering this for a little while!

[Robert]

I use them on colours but not for whites as they do not remove sweat stains.

[alisont]

You put some (6-8) soap nuts in a little drawstring cotton bag and use that in with the clothes, not used on many whites as wear more darker colours, are fine with those, and towels/bedding....

[emmapresley]

I use them on colours but not for whites as they do not remove sweat stains.

can bang in some ecover laundry bleach and use stain remover also..i sometimes put in lemon essential oil on white stuff. don't know if it actually contributes to 'natural bleaching' but it's got a lemony fresh whiter 'n' white kinda smell

i bought some recently that imo aren't as good as the batch i bought previously..apparently last years harvest were a bit skimpy the stickier and shiny gooier the better i think maybe. still better than washing powders packed to the rafters with nasties.

[fondducoeur]

Does anyone else use these?
How many loads do you usually use them for?
Do you all use essential oils to scent them? (I see ep uses lemon)

I have just started using them in the last couple of weeks, and think I like them so far.
What kind of vegan dryer sheet-type products do you all use? (While I'm on the topic of laundry).

[Roxy]

I use Method dryer sheets. Actually - I use a lot of Method household products and love them all.

[vava]

ok for easy washes but doesn't get stains out

[Sluggie]

I use Dryer Balls in my dryer - they make drier sheets unnecessary, and reduce drying time too.

http://www.allergybestbuys.co.uk/mg/...901034M.html|p

[treaclemine]

Just to note that Ecover is no longer considered to be suitable for vegans.

[AlexKunzill]

I've ordered some Soapnuts now. I normally do a wash without cleaner as most of my clothes dont get dirty as I change alot, a 30 degree wash is normally fine!.

It will be good to see how these work, though!

[fondducoeur]

I love them. I am planning on getting some sort of essential oils to scent my laundry with, but its not really necessary. I have been using them for about 5 months now. They aren't good for getting out stains though fyi, but i use them the majority of the time. I use four nuts at a time in cold water (more are required if you use cold water), but reuse them 3 to 4 times.

[treehugga]

I've never heard of them in Australia.
I use Aware - natural, vegan friendly and makes all things bright, even whites.

[cobweb]

i've used them but my husband, the Washing King says they don't remove stains and don't 'smell nice' - personally i'd still use them but am overruled on this one.

[vegcurry]

I love the smell of soap nuts (and no Bryzee that comment doesn't require any 'correcting' ) and I prefer to use them over the other stuff we have (BioD ??)

[yum]

Just to note that Ecover is no longer considered to be suitable for vegans.

why's this?

[vegcurry]

@ yum

"To establish the impact on the aquatic environment Ecover uses aquatic toxicity testing which uses water fleas (Daphnia), as they are present throughout the world in any freshwater system. As far as Ecover is aware there are no alternative tests available that will more accurately measure the impact of cleaning products on the aquatic environment. Ecover far exceeds the EU definition on what constitutes animal testing as Daphnia are invertebrates. The EU definition defines animal testing as the use of vertebrates, past a specified embryonic stage, (or larval stage in the case of fish and amphibians).

Ecover also uses a red blood cell test (Invittox RBC) on a non-systematic basis that uses blood from rabbit farming to test the effect of detergents on mucus membranes (to test skin compatibility).This test is used only in those cases where alternative testing methods are unavailable. Given the shortage of human red blood cells Ecover believes the use of human blood would be unethical. However, as alternative testing methods are continuously investigated, Ecover is confident that the RBC test shall become obsolete over the next few years. The Managing Director of Ecover has stated that if blood is needed for this test in the future he will donate his own blood!"

The full news item is here

[yum]

Thanks vegcurry!

I use Ecover but thats definatly put a dampener on things. Tesco's write on some of their products that the product and ingredients are not tested by or for tesco. But it doesn't say it on all. Any idea what tesco's policy is?

[bryzee86]

I use co-op, at least their policies are watertight.

Though for washing clothes I use Simply

[kriz]

I use Method dryer sheets. Actually - I use a lot of Method household products and love them all.

You have Method in Canada too! That's great, I LOVE their products - their furniture polish smells like almond and dish soap like cucumber... what could be fresher than that? Clorox maybe.

[Est]

I've been using soapnuts a while now - usually 5 to 6 nuts in a little fine-mesh bag. They seem to last for about 6 loads, sometimes a lot more. If they still foam a bit when you squeeze them, then they are fine to keep going! I haven't used any extra essential oils or cleaners so far. Generally my clothes are darker colours and I work in a clean-ish office so haven't had to worry about tougher dirt yet.
I'd definitely recommend them, the washing comes out smelling lovely and fresh

[Tigerlily]

@ yum

"To establish the impact on the aquatic environment Ecover uses aquatic toxicity testing which uses water fleas (Daphnia), as they are present throughout the world in any freshwater system. As far as Ecover is aware there are no alternative tests available that will more accurately measure the impact of cleaning products on the aquatic environment. Ecover far exceeds the EU definition on what constitutes animal testing as Daphnia are invertebrates. The EU definition defines animal testing as the use of vertebrates, past a specified embryonic stage, (or larval stage in the case of fish and amphibians).

Ecover also uses a red blood cell test (Invittox RBC) on a non-systematic basis that uses blood from rabbit farming to test the effect of detergents on mucus membranes (to test skin compatibility).This test is used only in those cases where alternative testing methods are unavailable. Given the shortage of human red blood cells Ecover believes the use of human blood would be unethical. However, as alternative testing methods are continuously investigated, Ecover is confident that the RBC test shall become obsolete over the next few years. The Managing Director of Ecover has stated that if blood is needed for this test in the future he will donate his own blood!"

The full news item is here

OMG, thanks for letting us know! I was about to buy Ecover washing liquid not too long ago but got another brand, Method.

[Kevster]

I use these all the time now, i've found them better than the eco powders, and it seems to make more sense to use nuts over some processed powder.

[Cumin]

I use co-op, at least their policies are watertight.

Though for washing clothes I use Simply

How sure are you about this? Are they perhaps just conforming to the EU policy too? Remember that you can test on animals but claim you don't.
Has anyone actually asked the co-op? I may do it myself.