Soap Nuts ~ Tips & Tricks
When using soap nuts, there are a few things to remember:
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Temperature - Soap nuts need warm/hot water to activate. However, once activated, they will continue to work until discarded.
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Hard and Soft Water - Is your water hard or soft? If it's hard, try soaking the soap nuts in a water solution first. (Use the same process as cold-only washes.)
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Cold Water Wash - soak the nuts in the muslin bag in hot water first for about 3-4 minutes and then throw water and muslin bag of nuts into the laundry.
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Fabric Softener - Soap Nuts work as a softener, making it unnecessary to add another chemical to your wash. Soap nuts do collaborate well with other products, such as essential oil. Try adding this for extra fragrance.
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Pretreating Stains - To pre-treat stains or soften water, add distilled white vinegar. Or pre-spot with either liquid soap nuts or another pre-spotter. Soap nuts can get stains out but do not stain themselves, despite being dark brown in color.
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For sparkling whites - Add to soap nuts, a scoop of oxygen bleach to brighten fabrics. Be sure to separate whites from other colors.
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For heavily soiled clothes - Use four or more soap nuts, presoaked in a hot bowl. Pour the entire mixture into the laundry.
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Oils - Perspiration leads to the release of more skin oils. Be aware of this when preparing a wash. Use hot water and soap nuts to loosen grime (and consider spot-treating stains)
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For Delicates - Add soap nuts to a basin of warm or hot water and allow nuts to soak. Apply the resultant solution to your clothes as you would any cleaning agent.
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Use in A Controlled Applicator - Consider adding the solution to a spray bottle for controlled application and pre-spotting stain remover.