Soapnuts, also known as soap berries, have been used as a natural detergent for centuries.  Soapnuts come from the fruit of the trees of the sapindus genus, from the family Sapindacea.  There are approximately a dozen species; native to India, China, Southern Asia, parts of north and Central America.

Soapnuts are considered a fruit and are a yellow brown color with a diameter of around 1-2 cm and have a black seed.  The shells hold a substance called saponin, usually present in quantities of around ten to fifteen percent.  Saponin dissolves in water to form suds that dissolve fats and oils and help to lift grime out of an object.

Oddly enough, just two to three teaspoons or one cotton bag of soapnut powder can substitute your regular laundry detergent and fabric softener.  A cotton bag that has a few shells in it will last for up to three to four washes and you save up to fifty percent on normal laundry detergent.  So replacing your regular laundry detergent for soapnuts is a great way to save money.  Soapnuts do not have any sort of order and are used a lot in some countries for wool and delicate clothing.

Soapnut powder may also substitute shampoo and body wash and may be directly put on hair or skin without any damage, unless of course you are allergic to nuts; if that is the case you may not want to experiment with this.  Soapnut powder will not lather like normal shampoos and you do not need to use that much; just a tablespoon for longer hair should suffice.

Other things soapnuts can be used for is washing dishes, polishing jewelry, and even in gardens.  If you use soapnuts for your dishes, it is a totally natural soap that is also biodegradable.  Soapnut powder can also be used in a dish washer if needed.  In places such as India, soapnut powder is mixed with water to form a paste which can be used on gold and silver to polish them cleanly.  In gardens, a low dose of soapnut powder can be used to kill insects that may be lurking in your garden.

More great ways to use soapnut powder is washing your cars, floors, and windows.  Just boil a handful of shells into 2 cups of water and let it simmer for about five to ten minutes and it produces a concentrated cleaning liquid.  This cleaning liquid is safe to use on the belongings above and is also good for any surface in your house, saving you money on the different cleaning products you buy for different things around your home.

Soapnuts are inexpensive and can be found online in many different countries around the world including the United States.  You may find this website by typing in soapnut countries in your search engine.  For United States customers, a pound of soapnut shells costs about fifteen dollars which can do about three hundred loads of laundry and around twenty dollars for the powder.  Soapnut powder is just soapnut shells crushed up without any additives.  There are many benefits of using soapnuts and in my opinion we should all use soapnuts instead of the things it substitutes because we would be saving a lot of money.