Soap Nuts Basics and a Naturoli Review and Giveaway!!

Cloth diapers will always get the credit as my "gateway" into green living but there is another switch that should get credit for opening my eyes to how easy, affordable and satisfying making more green changes can be-- Soap nuts!

The reaction I had when I first heard of soap nuts and that I get most of the time when I talk about them is something along the lines of 'what are soap nuts', 'how do you use them' and/or 'do they work'. All really good questions. Simple answers; they are berries from a tree, nothing more or less, they are very easy to use and yes they work.
I have been using soap nuts for all of our laundry- family, diapers, delicate- for about 4 months so they have had a fair shot at just about everything now and I am not looking back. I also make a liquid from the soap nuts to use as an all purpose cleaner, again, really easy.
Why soap nuts?
Typical laundry detergents contain a slew of toxic chemicals that leave residues behind on your clothing and can potentially be absorbed by your skin or evaporated into the air for you to breathe in, not to mention being released into the water.

Most laundry detergents contain:

• Petroleum distillates (aka napthas), which have been linked to cancer
• Phenols, which can cause toxicity throughout the entire body
• Artificial fragrances, which have been linked to various toxic effects on fish and mammals
• Phosphates, which stimulate the growth of certain marine plants when they’re released into the environment and contribute to unbalanced ecosystems
• Optical brighteners, which can be toxic to fish and can cause bacterial mutations and allergic reactions

So enough smack talk on those nasty traditional detergents and lets focus on the positive benefits of switching to soap nuts.

1. Healthier for you, your family, the planet
2. Save a ton of money
3. Tons of uses from one product.

Those are good reasons right?

When I contacted Naturoli about wanting to offer a giveaway of their soap nuts to MGF readers they generously accepted and added some extras to make a whole soap nut package- and let me tell you- I love these products just as much as I love soap nuts! Thanks Naturoli for this awesome giveaway!

So what's included in this giveaway;

Soap Nuts and a Muslin Bag
For laundry use simply put about 5 berries in the small drawstring bag and toss in your machine with you wash. The nuts can be reused about 5-7 times.

To make an all purpose liquid
Boil about 7 soap nuts in about 6 cups of water until its a nice tea color- I usually let mine go for about 30 minutes to an hour. This liquid can be used for all purpose cleaning around the house, car, outdoor furniture, windows, mirrors. I have used this diluted in a foaming pump for hand soap and diluted to soak non-organic produce to reduce the surface pesticides and waxes. Oh, and it's a natural mosquito repellent and good for watering plants (I use the laundry rinse water for our flower garden and house plants).

Extreme 18x
This stuff is great- its the liquid soap nut times, well, 18. I have used mere drops of this for diaper laundry and gotten great results. The uses, just like the whole berries are plentiful and it works, great.

Stain Remover
Well hello, where have you been hiding? Oh, this is great. The only downfall to soap nuts is that they do not remove stains, dirt yes, stains no. I had no idea that Naturoli made a stain remover and am so very happy to have this awesome stick in my arsenal! It's in a great little roll up stick that you simply wet and rub on stains. I used this on the toughest stains I have and it got the job done. Love this little stick!

Extreme Shampoo
Great stuff. I decided to join the 'poo free' movement a few weeks ago- scary name but it's referring to shampoo free. Just like almost all cleaners, personal hygiene products are laced with nasty ingredients, including shampoo so I decided to try some natural methods to clean up. I had been using just baking soda and water- and the results were surprisingly good but it was nice to have something with a little bit of body and suds. If you switch from traditional shampoo to this you will notice a significant decrease in sudsing but the results are clean hair. Isn't that what it's all about, not bubbles? Anyway, I could write a book on all the bad stuff in shampoo, why it's bad, why this is better but I won't keep you here that long. This works, you will have pure and simple clean hair. No stringy, greasiness- after all, being a tree hugger is great, but, just because I want to protect my family, my health and the environment doesn't mean I have to look like a dirt ball.

Shampoo Bar
I love the packaging for the bars- it's eco friendly, recyclable and speaks to my rustic side. I had never used a bar to wash my hair before and I felt a little silly for not knowing how to use it. Rub it directly on my head or foam it on my hands and then in my hair. I did a little of both. It got my hair clean but I prefer the liquid extreme shampoo. The bar application is great for my sons buzz cut hair- but for mine it was easier to distribute the liquid extreme shampoo.

Cleansing Bar
Another winner. This soap is great- it soaps up beautifully and has a really pleasing texture that gently exfoliates. It was a nice neutral scent that both my husband and I enjoyed- not perfumed but nice and natural. Love this soap.

Ready to make the switch? Trust me, once you try them you won't go back!

Naturoli provided the mentioned products for review but in no way did that affect my opinions or outcome of this review.


a Rafflecopter giveaway