I first discovered soap nuts because my daughter developed eczema as a baby, she had food allergies and chemical laundry detergents seemed to make her flare-ups a lot worse. We tried to swap to non-bio detergents first, but that didn’t help, so out of desperation, I started researching the internet for a solution. There I stumbled on a group for eczema and other skin condition sufferers, and lots of people recommended using these Indian soap berries instead of traditional washing powders. I thought “I really have got nothing to lose” and bought my first bag of soapnuts from an eco-shop online.The results were truly incredible, as soon as I started washing her clothes and sheets with the soap berries, her itching got incredibly better, she stopped scratching herself as much, which used to lead to infections and open wounds and she didn’t find fabric as irritating as before. That was definitely also because of other changes we brought into our lifestyle as a family, from dietary changes to using natural soaps, shampoos and other products, but I am very confident that using Indian berries for laundry had a significant part in it too.

The best thing about soapnuts is that a basic soapnut liquid can become the basis for many recipes, I have tried to put together all the knowledge I have acquired throughout the years to put them all together in a complete guide of soapnut recipes! Hope you’ll find it as useful as we did!Here’s the main recipe you will need for most of the other ones

• All you need is about 4-8 deseeded soapnut shells.
• Put them into a muslin bag, a sock or a washing net (you can even use a thin cotton cloth, put them in the middle and then use some twine around the top to secure the nuts inside).
• Place the soapnuts into the washing machine drummer and select your desired setting.
• When the washing cycle is over, take your soapnuts out of the bag and leave them in an aired place to dry before you use them again.
• You can reuse the same soapnuts 3-4 times before you add them to your compost.