Earth’s Berries soap nuts (mini-review)

Natural laundry detergent…from the earth (photo courtesy of Earth’s Berries)

THE PRODUCT

Earth’s Berries natural soap nuts (laundry detergent alternative), $10.79 for 250-gram bag.

THE GOOD

Earth’s Berries actually work. I won’t lie: I was skeptical. I thought they would work well for clothes that needed only minimal cleaning but I really wasn’t expecting them to work on the skid marks that have become part of my everyday laundering lexicon. Sorry, it had to be noted.

Is it just me, or is the price not amazing? About $11 gets you a bag that should do 75 to 100 loads of laundry. Let’s do the math: that’s 11 cents a load. You can afford that.

No chemicals. Nothing manufactured. No plastic bottle to toss out after you’ve finished a package.

Soap nuts are really a fruit. And they have naturally occurring suds that clean your clothes just by dropping them in hot water. MAGIC.

THE GAFFE

And therein lies the only real negative about which I can comment, which is that washing your clothes using Earth’s Berries soap nuts is a two-step process. After selecting a small handful of “nuts,” you have to put them in a little bag and soak them in hot water for a minute to activate them. The water goes into the same place you’d put detergent, and the bag of nuts goes into the washing machine drum with your clothes. It takes a minute more and is slightly less convenient than your typical detergent. If you’re used to a more eco-conscious lifestyle, just bypass this comment and go buy some. But if you’re new to using products that aren’t mass-produced and man-made, you need to just ready yourself for the little bit of extra time it takes to live this way. I promise you’ll get used to it.

THE GEARS

4.5/5