Save. Spend. Splurge.

Sunday Shopping: The minimalist laundry kit – soap nuts and wool dryer balls

I haven’t purchased laundry detergent (not specialty stuff like for cashmere or silk) in probably 10 years now, and no dryer sheets or . What I have bought instead, is more and more boxes of soap nuts.

What are soap nuts?

They are these, and you can make soap from soap nuts naturally. Read my recipe here.

Soap nuts are a berry, or a soap berry from a tree. It has natural saponins in it, and is fully biodegradeable. I use 4-5 per laundry load, and use the same soap nuts about 10 times before I replace them with another 4-5!

They are easily purchased here – Soap Nuts and you can also buy them pre-cooked / made already as detergent for laundry, face, body, whatever.

I find them too harsh for the body and face, but perfect for laundry.

How about dryer balls for drying?

I use wool dryer balls. These little cuties have lasted me SEVEN YEARS of drying.

I have tried drying with and without them, and they most definitely cut down on the drying time (by half), and keep the clothes loose in the dryer so there is proper airflow.

Little Bun also loves playing with them (as all children do), so think of it as a win win — it’s a toy AND it’s useful.

I don’t use dryer sheets or fabric softener or any of those chemicals because they actually put animal fats in there, which is what gives it that “soft” feel when you take them out of the dryer. It’s basically animal fat, coating your clothes.

Gross.

Plus I don’t like chemicals / fragrances (I am very sensitive these days), and extra stuff in my dryer is just simply not needed.

So, that’s my eco-friendly laundry process!

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