Soap Nuts are quickly becoming a popular alternative to the many chemical detergents and cleansers.  Only recently have they washed up on US shores. They are for many of us like an absolute dream come true. However, there's a couple important things to know about using soap nuts in non-traditional forms. Soap nut powders and liquids are showing up more and more by many less than responsible sellers who are racing to get products to the market. There are some very significant issues to be aware of. One is regarding money and the other, more importantly, our health.

There are two points I want to share:

1) Think twice about using soap nut powder. It's becoming increasing popular by many sellers, but is the least economical way to use soap nuts - by a HUGE margin. (Guess some people are deciding not to mention that. huh? Well, at least the math isn't tough.) The problem is that regardless of how finely powdered, the saponin (the all important active ingredient) is not fully released before it ends up down the drain. Not good. Remember this is a fruit - not a synthetic chemical. Compare for yourself. A 1/2 oz of nuts used in the traditional method (avg. wash bags of nuts shells) can do 3, 4, or 5 loads (A friend got 7!) A 1/2 oz of powder does ONE load. Period. That's it. To worsen the problem, sellers are charging a premium for powder. Ouch! If soap nut powder is what you really feel you must have, Try using a coffee grinder and grinding them yourself to the finest dust possible. Try reduce the suggested 1/2 oz to a 1/3 or 1/4 oz. Save pieces that don't grind to use traditionally.

2) Be EXTREMELY cautious of soap nut liquids. This is scary stuff that I'm going to explain. My recent review & analysis of an official "Materials Data Safety Sheet" that was reluctantly provided by an India/Nepal exporter was absolutely frightening. Apparently, in the rush to quickly get a liquid to market, the exporter used less than eco-friendly extraction processes, plus loaded up the solution with the cheapest chemical preservatives they could find. Hopefully you know that a pure soap nut liquid will go rancid with days, unless preserved in some fashion. (One company who must have been in a BIG hurry to get a liquid to market stopped selling it within weeks. I have some. Wow. Gross!) Anyway, essentially this India/Nepal exporter totally destroyed all of the precious saponin's inherent healthy, green characteristics. Essentially everything good about the soap nut is undone. The MDSS read like it was arsenic!!! I was shocked! It should have a bio-hazard label on it. VERY IMPORTANT: This does NOT need to be disclosed to the consumer. One more time in other words: There's no laws requiring companies to tell you this. Folks, please be aware that there's no FDA requirement of full disclosure for detergents & cleansers. AND you can bet on the fact that many soap nut liquids be produced, bottled and labeled in India & Napal. It is by far the cheapest way to produce it. So PLEASE don't expect the label to tell you all this. As usual it will only tell you what you want to hear. So, Caveat Emptor! (Buyer beware!)

Good luck and be smart. We are only talking about our health here, right? One company has made assurances that it will only produce it's own soap nut liquids and other solutions in their US lab. Plus the products will conform with their sworn agreement as a signer of Skin Deep's Safety in Cosmetics Compact. All their soap nut formulations - be it for personal care or household use - will be as safe as their award winning skin washes and cremes. Guess we can soon stop spending money on rubber gloves soon, huh?

Right when we are all stretching our dollars as far as possible, while also being concerned about all possible health hazards, at least some people are taking responsible CONSUMER oriented measures. It's nice to know that some people still put ethics and morals above the dollar - that care about us more than their bottom line.

If you are not familiar with Soap Nuts yet, you can learn quite a bit at www.naturoli.com/soapnuts/   A lot of the fundamental what, where, how and whys are covered. Mother Nature has provided us with another truly remarkable little gem. Now it's up to us and those that are marketing and selling them to do the RIGHT things.