The Dirt on Laundry Soap Round 2: Soapnuts

 My very dear (and insanely wise, and talented, and I could go on forever) friend, Mandy from the Wandering Interrobang left a comment on my last post about Zote Soap about soap nuts. I was not aware that this was even a thing. My homemade laundry detergent started off as a quest to save money, but I know many of you are interested in eliminating toxic products from your homes and using more environmentally friendly alternatives, and soap nuts may be the way to go for you. The vast amount of information about them is very confusing, so Mandy has graciously agreed to explain them for us (and be my first guest post!). 

My wonderful (beautiful, kind, wicked smart) friend Mrs. Bacon has asked me to elaborate on a comment I made on her most recent posting about home made laundry detergent. Basically, I said “I don't use detergent, I use the much cheaper and non-animal-fat-containing soapnuts.” I have been using them for years, and I sometimes forget not everyone knows that they are a thing.
Soapnuts (or soap berries) are a type of fruit that grows on a tree. They are kind of like a cherry in that they are fleshy fruit around a small hard pit.

Where they differ from cherries is that they are not an eating fruit. Their juice is almost pure saponin (the part of soap that does the cleaning). They have been used for centuries as a natural cleanser for clothing and bodies. They mainly come in two different species, Sapundus mukorossi and Sapundus trifoliatus. I've used both and had both work well.

When purchased, they will be dry. This is okay, even though I said it was the juice that has the soap. Like a dried cherry has concentrated sugars, a dried soapnut has concentrated saponin. Some places put value on selling whole berries, but pieces works simply fine. They will have a vinegar smell in the box or bag, but will not transfer this smell to your clothing.

One word of warning here, however. Try not to put a soapnut seed through the wash. They are intensely black in color and may mark your clothing. Fortunately, reputable sellers will have removed them before packaging. Soapnuts are sold by weight, and since the seeds don't help in the washing, they would only serve to beef up the shipping weight. Some may remain here or there, but I've never had more than two in a large bag.
Using them is simple. Place about 4-5 berries in a permeable bag, and toss it in with your laundry. Wash as usual. That's it. Most ship with a small muslin bag, though I use a bigger mesh one as it is easier to locate and remove from the washer.

4 berries should do up to five loads. After each load, pull the bag and rub one of the berries. If it is slippery/soapy feeling, or produces small amounts of suds, they are good for another load. When spent, you can compost them, or just throw them away.

I have been using these for years now, and I would NEVER go back to chemical-y detergent. I have a pretty severe skin allergy to most perfumes and dyes, and soapnuts are great for people with sensitive skin, in particular infants.
If purchased in bulk, the cost is only about 12 cents per load. Putting all those things together, I really never recommend anything else. I love them and use them every time I do laundry. My experiments on using them for dish detergent are not going so well, but I digress.
I kind of hate to recommend a place to buy them, but there are a lot of scammers out there. I personally buy from NaturOli, as they have proven to be consistently less expensive, and yet higher in quality than anywhere else we have found.
Wherever you get your soapnuts, I hope that you will find them as hassle free and inexpensive as I have.

The Dirt on Laundry Soap

Around a year ago, I saw a post from my sister-in-law about homemade laundry detergent, raving about how wonderful it is and how much money she was saving. Saving lots of money? That's something I should be doing! I clicked on the link, and was so surprised by how easy was to make. This discovery has launched my decision to be Sham-free (the trend is also referred to as "No Poo" but that name makes Mr. Bacon uncomfortable) along with my adventures with homemade cleaning products.

A few months ago, I was walking around the small grocery store in town looking for more fels naptha soap   to make more detergent, and could only find this octagon soap instead. This should be an adequate substitute. Laundry soap is laundry soap right? WRONG! Octagon soap is an all-purpose soap that advertises use for laundry purposes, but is not close to being a satisfactory substitute for fels naptha. It smells weird, made the laundry detergent chunky (later research indicated the chunkiness was a result of me using too much in the recipe, but it still didn't get my clothes clean enough), and made my whites dingy.

After using up all of the octagon detergent, I went to Wal-Mart intending to get more fels naptha, but ended up finding  Zote laundry soap (the pink variety).

Pardon the blurry pictures my camera was having issues

The bar was considerably bigger than the fels naptha bar and less than half the cost, so I decided that it was worth a shot. According to the internet, 

• No one is really sure what exactly goes into a fels naptha bar. Zote is made from coconut oil and tarrow (which is a product that comes from cows somehow), and is scented with citronella (which I think smells good). Neither one of these soaps are acceptable for vegans or the extreme environmentalist types
• Not Quite Homemade determined that Zote is an acceptable substitute for fels naptha soap in laundry detergent. She recommends using 1/3 bar in a batch the same size as what I usually make. This means that in theory you can interchange 1/3 bar zote to 1/3 bar fels naptha. The amount of other ingredients that Not Quite Homemade and the Family Homestead are the same, but the Family Homestead uses more water. 

I went ahead and made a half batch of the recipe using the Not Quite Homemade method because I don't have a 2 gallon bucket and the half batch fits nicely into my old laundry jug.

When I went to use my detergent, I was surprised by how solidly the detergent had gelled. I have to shake up the detergent before use to break up the chunks, but the zote soap gets my clothes clean and smelling nice. Not Quite Homemade suggests that if the detergent comes out to solid, to use less soap, but I think I am just going to add more water next time I make it. As you can see in the picture below, the letters on the zote bar work well to determine about how much soap is 1/6 (if you are doing a half batch) bar. Use a kitchen knife to cut between the letters, before the z and after the e and that will divide the soap into sixths. 

Zote soap is very soft which makes it easy to cut and grate, just make sure to clean your knife and grater well before using again for food. Overall, I like it better to fels naptha and will probably continue to use it for my detergent. 

"Empty Words"

Update: A friend kindly reminded me (I wish I was as good at the whole "having tact" thing that she does) that this post could be offensive to people who struggle with depression for reasons other than having a bad attitude (Confession: Every so often I get into funks because my attitude needs regular tuning.) Many people struggle with depression because of trauma or chemical imbalances in the brain, and just trying to be happy isn't always an option. There is no shame in seeking medical attention or other forms of help if you need it. If you end up in the position I was in when this was written, here is probably a better place to go then reading this post. 

The other day, I saw a friend post a video on his facebook wall, asking for people to watch it and pay close attention to the text in the video because he needed help with something and was not sure how else to ask. I kept scrolling because I am a terrible person I had other things that I needed to get done. A few other people had already commented on the post, so I assumed that other people were already taking care of it.

Today, the same friend posts the same video, clearly upset that he did not get the help he needed, just "empty words." I watched the video (here). My friend admitted on facebook that he has been struggling with depression, is not sure how much more he can handle, and that he needs help, which is actually really brave on his part.

How do you help someone who's struggling like this? I can't just snap my fingers and magically take the pain away. I left a comment offering some empty words encouragement, but I can't force him to be encouraged by what I, or any one else, has to tell him. I can't force him to stop listening to whatever horrible voice in his head is telling him that he is not enough. I can't force him force him to stay motivated to beat this. All I can give him are my words and whatever time he wants me to listen to him. That's it. He has to chose to feel encouraged, to stay motivated, to ignore whatever is inside his head that tells him he can't beat this. He has to beat this himself because he wants to choose to be happy, even though life is going to be hard sometimes.

But, that's one of the most awesome parts of life. That you can choose to be happy, even though life is going to be hard. I can't force my friend to be happy, but I can't force him to be sad or angry or afraid either. That's entirely up to him. Try to imagine how awful life would be for everyone if happiness only occurred once you had x amount of dollars, looked like y,  had a companion with z traits, and you never had to do any thing unpleasant or frustrating ever. No one would ever be happy because obtaining all of those things is impossible. Isn't it so empowering that your happiness is controlled by you and not what's going on around you?

For those who are struggling with depression, know that you are loved, that you are strong, and that you can beat it. Know that there is no shame in asking for help. Please, let yourselves be encouraged by the words that everyone else to offer, because that's all they have to offer you.

For those of you who love someone who is struggling with depression, know that it is not your fault. Accept that you cannot take all of their problems away. Lift your loved ones up, but do not let them bring you down. If they refuse to be uplifted, that is their fault and not yours. Know that only they are capable of beating their depression, and that any promised change that is based off of your wishes and not theirs, will not be lasting.

For those of you who are scumbags think that it is cute to pretend to have depression for attention, it's not cute and you need to stop it. Yes, it is tempting to use your tears, your cuts, or threats of  throwing away or taking your life to get what you want, but that is manipulative and emotionally abusive and not how you should treat people that you want to have meaningful relationships with. Being lonely is not fun. I understand that better than most people would think, but in the long run, this behavior will leave you more lonely then you are now and cost you some very precious relationships. If the only thing keeping someone from leaving your life is fear or guilt, you should let them go, and make room for someone else who will actually love (the friendly kind, not necessarily, but maybe romantic kind) you.

I recognize that my words aren't always affective. here are someone else's, Dieter F. Uctorf to be exact, words for you are in a dark place in  your life. I hope that somewhere, you find words that are helpful for you.

Jes

Anyone else think that the whole Mike Jeffries thing is getting a bit old? Yes, what he said was obnoxious and completely uncalled for, but he's the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch. Who is actually surprised that he thinks that way? 

The public reaction has been to attack Jeffries' appearance, which is a bit hypocritcal. Think about it. The public is angry because Jeffries is attacking people for  how they look, but it's ok for the general public to turn around attack him for his looks.( My friend Mandy, from The Wandering Interrobang, has a really insightful post about that here). Then there is that one guy has been buying Abercrombie and Fitch in thrift stores and handing them out to homeless people. 

Jes, from the Militant Baker, decided to take this nonsense to and use it to make a point about body image. She got a really talented photographer, a male model, and got to work. The results (here but be cautious, these pictures are intended to be sexual) are stunning. This girl, who is about a size 22, radiates with confidence and is absolutely beautiful. She uses the contrast with the male model, who could fit in among the "cool kids" to make a point. "Fat" girls can be sexy and desirable too. 

Mr. Bacon got me into the habit of reading comments, and I was rather disgusted with the number of people who chastised Jes for encouraging women to be unhealthy. Really people? Yes, people who are overweight are at higher risk for heart problems, etc., but WEIGHT IS NOT AN INDICATOR OF HEALTH. Some women eat right, exercise regularly, and have otherwise healthy vitals, but still cannot lose weight. I did look around at some of Jes' other posts, and it's fair to assume that she's pretty active. I also think that it is a huge double standard that these people do not chastise thin models for encouraging women to be unhealthy. Someone please explain to me how the "I'm bigger than a size 2, which makes me fat and undesirable" mindset is emotionally healthier than confidence? Also, is anyone aware of what those girls do to themselves to stay that thin? How is that healthier than Jes? Health issues that are related to being under/overweight aside, what's wrong with loving your body? Isn't that what will encourage healthy choices to better take care of it? Think about it. 

Homemade Wheat Thins/Parchment Paper v. Aluminum Foil

It's after 11 o clock at night, and I'm hungry. I made brownie in a cup for Mr. Bacon* but after devouring a chocolate bar,  I decided that I should probably not be eating more sugar (sigh). I looked around my pantry and fridge and noted some leftover avocado sauce that I could use as a dip, but that I had nothing to eat it with. I had been eyeing a pin on my recipe board for homemade wheat thins. The picture looked absolutely perfect for what I needed. I had all of the ingredients and they only need 10 minutes in the oven. Awesome! I mix everything together, open the drawer to pull out the parchment paper, and.... 

I'm out of parchment paper. Figures.... After the day I've had today, of course there is no parchment paper. I'm still hungry and the "dough" is just sitting on the counter. After a quick google search, which said that I could use aluminum foil instead as long as I made modifications to the oven temperature and cooking time to prevent burning. I lowered the temperature to 375 from 400 degrees and baked for the normal time. 

When I pulled them out of the oven they looked alright, but the cracker crumbled after I picked it up. It tasted burnt by itself. I tried it with the avocado sauce and it broke. The burnt was still present even in the avocado sauce. Shame... So, no crackers and dip for me, I'm still hungry. Also, aluminum foil does not always work as a substitute for parchment paper.