Soap nuts

I'm a wanna be hippy. Total wanna be. My best friend in high school was a hippy and I loved that about her. I loved how she made her own pillows, was a vegetarian, made friends with random homeless teenagers and weird grassroots organizations. I was glad her patchouli faze was a quick one.

But I will never be a hippy. Used clothing stores drive my allergies crazy. I don't make friends with randoms. And I can't list any songs by the Grateful Dead. So when I find anything that remotely appeals to my inner flower child I am all over it. And that's what brings me to my love of soap nuts.

I came across an ad for them last year on kijiji. There are a couple of Canadian websites that sell them. I also found some at Plovers in Halifax and on ebay. Online companies give a ton of info on their websites about them.

Soap nuts are the seed from a tree called Sapindus and people have been using their shells to clean for thousands of years. I've been using them to do my laundry for about 9 months now, and while removing stains isn't their strong suit, they make everything smell fresh and clean and wonderful. And they disinfect. Apparently they're really good for cloth diapers. The big plus is you put a handful of shells into a wash bag and you can use it 5-10 times. Makes laundry easy when I'm in the mood to do any. :)

I think they rock and everyone should use them so I thought I would spread the word. They are cheap, have no phosphates, and come from a renewable resource. Therefore everyone should use them.

Yes, this may be my only hippy tendency. But I always worried my dad would yell at me if I got dreads. He's big and scary. However, I am testing out vegan-ism again, starting tomorrow. That so counts.