whats your washing routine with soaputs?

[veganmum2be]

hello,
i am curious to what steps people take to have a successfull soapnut wash

i dont have a baby yet, so its just my clothes/laundry and my pet rats bedding.
all i do is pop 5 nuts in the bag, throw washing in with nuts add a few drops of lavender oil in the drawer and wash at 30 degrees.
its been a success so far.

but i have no idea how well this will work with nappies and tough stains.
i want to love them, but everything i read on the internet brings up some bad point or downfall about them, and mixed opinions.

so how do you make them work for you?

would really appreiciate the replys
xx

 

[Plumfairy]

I will let you know in about an hour when my washing machine cycle has ended. I only just bought my soap nuts so just used them on clothes so far... Am really hoping they work!

 

[Mary Jo]

Before washing I go through the nappies and check for stains - if I have the chance I rinse as much poo off the nappies and liners before they go in the dry pail, but sometimes if my husband has done a change, there is more rinsing necessary. I scrub out as much as I can with Vanish.

Then, I follow the instructions that came with the soapnuts (from inasoapnutshell) and use 8 half shells in the little bag, with 8 drops of lavender oil in the conditioner drawer (though sometimes I forget this). Pop the bag on top of the nappies, do a cold rinse first, then a 60C wash; I used to do another cold rinse at the end but haven't with the soap nuts yet, but might since I was reading that the saponin doesn't come out of the shells at 30C or under.

Not sure if I need to wash at 60C or if 40C will do, have to experiment. But doing it this way I have been very impressed at how clean smelling everything comes out. I usually stick nappies and inserts in the dryer for a short while, and that was when I noticed the ammonia smell, when they were freshly hot, but have not noticed it with the soapnuts. HOWEVER this could be because I recently (three weeks ago) bleached my microfibre inserts, and they were the main offenders. Will have to wait and see if the smell builds up again.

I do have some stains, despite my rigorous use of the Vanish bar, but tbh I still had stains after washing in Bold. It's not really any worse and am hopeful that I'll be able to sun them out sometime.

 

[veganmum2be]

thankyou!

 

[Plumfairy]

Ok.. So Ive had to re wash my nappies because they still stank pretty bad. So I will just keep trying with the soapnuts I think and see... Will be a bit gutted if they dont do the job.

 

[xxxjacxxx]

I do something similar to Mary Jo.

Ive been using them for about 3 weeks now and so far so good. I use vanish bar or spray on my stains then chuck all in the washer, do a 30 min rinse and then a 40 degree wash (soapnuts go in after rinse cycle) I use 5/6 half shells in mine and can get 3/4 cycles from them.
I also use lavender or grapefruit oil in my conditioner tray, but not always x

 

[Drazic<3]

My washing machine is old and won't wash at 30, so I just do a normal wash with about 6 halves and that's it really! Though I did read if you wash at 30, you need to 'activate' them first as they need heat - so just run them through hot water until they start foaming. You can also do this to see if they are still good to use, if they don't foam, it's time to bin them!

 

[veganmum2be]

thanks girls
wish someone would lend me a dirty nappy to wash to see how it goes

love them for my clothes but shall have to wait and see for nappies! xx

 

[princessellie]

i didnt know you could get vanish spray, i have one of those bar things but have never opened it cos tbh it seems too much like hard work

where do u get this spray from? wilkos?

x

 

[Mary Jo]

princessellie, there is a massive range of Vanish products now! sprays, gels, gels sticks, powders, I was completely shocked when I went to look for a normal bar of Vanish in Sainsbury's and they didn't have it but there was about 10 other Vanish things. I have the spray as well, but prefer to use the bar on nappies.

I couldn't do without it, tbh, not now I am on the soapnuts. my days of chucking them all in and hoping for the best are over!