Avoid the Soap Nuts Full Scam – Only Use Soap Nuts Deseeded

Avoid the Soap Nuts Full Scam – Only Use Soap Nuts Deseeded

Soap nuts have been used for thousands of years as a gentle, chemical-free cleaner for everything from clothing to kitchens and pets to people. Because soap nuts clean so gently, many people boil them and use soap nuts liquid as soap in the bath or shower. They’re even gentle enough to use to clean your kids or pets. For a bit more scouring power, you can even make soap nuts paste or powder. With this chemical-free, safe alternative to chemical cleaners and detergents growing in popularity in recent years, a slew of soap nuts retailers have sprung up online. In order to get the best deal, knowing how to go about purchasing soap nuts is very important.

Buy Soap Nuts By Weight

The first thing you need to know is to purchase your soap nuts by weight. Some retailers sell them by number, but as soap nuts vary in size, this isn’t a very reliable way to know what you’re buying. Many stores will also sell soap nuts according to the number of loads of laundry you will get out of any given size batch you buy. This is also an unreliable method of purchasing soap nuts (and some retailers will inflate their load number claims in order to make their soap nuts seem better). To compare apples to apples (or soap nuts to soap nuts, rather), only compare prices of retailers who sell their soap nuts by weight—that way, you know how much you’re really getting.

Buyer Beware!

So you know to purchase your soap nuts by weight. Perfect. That’s all you need to know, right? You can just find a store that’s selling whole soap nuts and… Not so fast! Many sellers advertise their soap nuts as “whole soap nuts” in an effort to make them seem more valuable. However, buyer beware!

The valuable part of a soap nut is everything that surrounds the seed. The seed itself contains no saponin—the natural soap ingredient. Whether you’re tossing your soap nuts in the laundry to clean your clothes, boiling them to create liquid soap, or grinding them down to make a powder or paste, you won’t be needing the seed at all; you’ll toss those away (or collect them…or use them to try to grow your own soap nut trees).

Why would stores try to sell you on their “whole soap nuts,” then? Well, if you’re buying soap nuts according to weight, the seed makes the nut heavier. A whole soap nut can weigh as much as double one that’s been deseeded. This means you pay more, even though you can’t use the entire nut!

When  purchasing soap nuts, make sure they are specifically advertised as being seedless, deseeded, or being soap nut pieces. Don’t rely on photos posted online, as many sellers use stock photos of soap nuts. If you find any stray seeds in your package of soap nuts, make sure to get rid of them, as they can stain any laundry they come in contact with.

Now that you know the basics of soap nut purchasing, go boldly forth into chemical-free cleaning bliss. Enjoy a life without toxic chemicals!