Soap Nuts by Maggie's Pure Land

What Are Soap Nuts?

Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree (Sapindus mukorrosi), similar to the lychee. A long time ago, local folks in the South East Asia figured out that when the nuts get wet, they release saponin, a natural cleaner, making them great for washing clothes!

Maggie's Soap Nuts are the only household cleaner made exclusively from Nature, by Nature. A single soapberry tree produces hundreds of kilos of nuts per year! Maggie's Soap Nuts fall to the ground in Indian and Indonesian forests where they are collected by folks who have used the nuts for centuries.

How To Use Soap Nuts

Put Maggie’s Soap Nuts into the included, reusable cotton sack. Tie it closed. Add the sack to your washing machine and follow clothing manufacturer instructions. Return Soap Nuts to the earth by adding them to your compost! It’s that simple!

Warm/Hot Water: Use 2 Maggie’s Soap Nuts in the cotton sack.

Cold Water: Use 4 Soap Nuts and re-use them 2-3 times. OR pre-soak 2 Soap Nuts in the cotton sack in hot water for a few minutes. Add the “tea” and sack to your cold wash load.

Heavy Soils: Pre-soak 4 Soap Nuts in the cotton sack in hot water for a few minutes. Add the “tea” and sack to your wash load. Add fewer clothes to your machine so the fabric has lots of room to agitate.

For Sparkling Whites: Always separate your colors. For extra stain removal, add a scoop of oxygen bleach.

Fabric Softener: Maggie’s Soap Nuts naturally soften and add body to your clothes. You’ll love how your clothes feel after washing with Maggie’s Soap Nuts.

Hand Washables: Soak 2 Soap Nuts in hot water for a few minutes. Add the “tea” to your cool water basin. Alternatively, add a squirt of your homemade Maggie’s Soap Nuts liquid cleaner to the cool basin.

History of Soap Nuts

The fruit of the Soapberry tree (Sapindus spp.) is a model offering from the ancient healing modalities to our modern lifestyles in the realms of cleanliness, aesthetics and medicine. Although Soap Nuts have been used in India for generations and in Europe for decades, it's uses are as new to the United States as MP3s.

Prized for its handsomeness, the leaves of the Chinese Soapberry tree are paripinnate and crowd at the end of the branches. On the branch ends, the "drupes" or berries hang in pairs or triplets. The fruits are green and smooth when fresh, and when dried become a light brown
with silky wrinkles.

The trunk is straight and cylindrical; the bark is dark to pale yellow with vertical fissures spanning the length. They can rise to as tall as 25 meters and as wide as 5 meters, the leaves forming a thick umbrella shaped canopy embedded with green flowers. For this reason, they are often planted along boulevards in the way we plant magnolias in the United States.

The fruits of this special soapy tree, when peeled from their inner seed, are primarily used as a cleanser. The leathery fruit skins release saponin and become a magnificent detergent when immersed in water. In ancient India these fruits were used for soap and hair wash powders, used by jewelers for shining ornaments of gold and silver, and used in the laundering of fine silks and wools.

Today, you can easily purify yourself by using Soap Nuts in your washing machine. Just close 2-4 Soap Nuts into a small cloth bag and add it to the clothes in your wash. Soap Nuts naturally soften and add body to your fabrics, are safe for wool and silk, and keep your colors looking bright. You can also make a concentrated liquid soap by boiling or soaking the fruits.

Soap Nuts have been traditionally used to support the skin, scalp and hair. In modern India, Soap Nuts are an essential ingredient in hair care products to increase luster and softness of hair. Soap Nuts are safe for people with sensitive skin, even people who suffer allergic reactions to store bought "sensitive skin" cleansers. The Soapberry is among the most important trees for beautification in tropical Asia.

Soap Nuts are even safe enough to use as toothpaste and as a fruit and vegetable wash. A ten-minute soak in a solution of Soap Nuts removes 95% of the surface pesticides and chemical residues on fresh produce. Soap Nuts are also useful in the kitchen as a food-safe cleaner for countertops, appliances, and sinks.

You can even use a solution of Soap Nuts in the garden to repel pests as persistent as aphids.

Environmental Impact

In suffering rural economies Soapberry trees are cut down and sold as lumber and firewood to feed hungry families. Maggie’s Pure Land reserves the Soapberry harvest years in advance, providing families with guaranteed income from living Soapberry trees.

By using Maggie’s Soap Nuts you are preserving tropical forests! You are supporting real people in their local economies, cultures and communities! You are using the safest, most natural product available!

Make a soap nuts liquid cleaner

Frequently asked questions about soap nuts

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