Eco Nuts!

Not going to lie, I am very excited about this review. I ordered these last Thursday and have been waiting all  weekend to get them and try them out. Of course as soon as soon as they arrived, I got a load of laundry in! If nothing else thank you, Eco Nuts, for giving me a reason to be excited about doing laundry. ;) 

So what are Eco Nuts, anyway? 

Taken directly from the pamphlet that came in my box; 

Eco Nuts are completely sustainable dried berry shells that come from the Sapindus mukorossi tree in Nepal and India. These berry shells have been used in the Himalayan region for centuries, and are now gaining popularity in America, Canada and Europe as a renewable, biodegradable and organic alternative to chemical detergents and expensive "green" laundry soaps.

Eco Nuts contain saponin, a natural cleaner that works as a surfactant. When agitated in the washer, the saponin breaks the surface tension of the water to penetrate the fibers of your clothing, lifting stains from the fabric and leaving dirt suspended in the water that is rinsed away.

Eco Nuts are gentle on both clothes and skin, making them ideal for those with sensitive skin, eczema, allergies and psoriasis. Because they are so mild and leave little residue, they are perfect for baby clothes and cloth diapers. The quick biodegradability of Eco Nuts also make them great for septic and grey water systems. But don't expect these shells to foam up like commercial soaps, which have artificial foaming agents.  Foam simply does not represent cleaning power. Eco Nuts work in all washing machines with any temperature water. Eco Nuts have been sterilized for consumer protection.

Why did I decide to try Eco Nuts?

When I stumbled across Eco Nuts on the website where I purchased them, I was actually not looking for laundry detergent at all. Truth be told, I was looking for a medicine spoon. I just happened to come across them and the name caught my attention first. I read what was written about them and then Googled some reviews. I was quite happy with the reviews that I read, I was happy about the price, and was thrilled about the thought of the clothes my daughter wears not being washed in chemicals. So I added them to my cart. I will admit that I am doing it for the cost factor as well (I paid $12.99 for 100 loads) but the main reason I decided to try them is because they are organic and natural. We had been using a Free and Gentle version of a detergent on her but it still contained ingredients that I couldn't begin to pronounce. 

Opening the box

This is the box exactly as it arrived at my house. 

When you open the box, first thing you see is the information pamphlet, then the two bags, and the Eco Nuts. Realize what you don't see any of? Plastic! Another benefit.

And here are some random nuts taken out of the box. I'm not going to lie, as soon as I took them out I wondered what I was doing. I mean, they're nuts. Okay, they're berries. And I knew that before I ordered them. But seeing them and holding them for some reason made me doubt their cleaning abilities. But either way, I was about to do a load of laundry and test them out! I'm willing to give anything a chance, so here goes.

The five nuts I was going to use for this wash. Some of the berries in the box weren't whole but halves which is totally fine and you just take two halves and call it one. I just chose to take five whole ones for the first load. It says to use four or five.

It said for heavily soiled loads to place the nuts in a bag and place the bag in a cup of hot water for a few minutes before putting the bag as well as the water in the cup into the washer. While the load I did isn't really heavily soiled, it was my toddlers clothes. For anyone who has a toddler, that's all that needs to be said.

This is the load that I did for my first wash. It said not to over fill the washer which I always take care to not do anyway with my daughters clothes so this is the size I usually wash. Not too bad (at least from what you can see by looking at it) but there were three pieces of clothing that did have days-old stains on them.

Probably weird, but I took a picture of the three things that were stained. One thing I read when I was searching for Eco Nuts reviews was that it was okay on regular wash but it didn't do that good of a job on clothes that were stained. This scared me a little bit (see above: I have a toddler) but I decided to give them a go anyway. Took a picture of before so I can take an "after" picture as well to compare and see for myself how well they do with stains. The stains are about five days old and I couldn't even begin to guess what they are.

Put in the bag of nuts with the water that was in the cup into the water and turned it on and was surprised to see suds immediately. I know that suds means nothing in terms of cleaning power, but I still liked seeing some.

Once it filled all the way I closed the lid and let it agitate for about three minutes and then I stopped it to see what was going on. I was really surprised (and grossed out!) to see the water. When I'd check part way through washes when using the regular detergent it wasn't even this bad, but these clothes were really no less or no more dirty than any other load I've ever done. Though I can't say I have any idea where those Cheerios came from! As gross as it was to see, maybe these little berries do have some cleaning power! 

I really had no idea what to expect when the washer was done. Seeing the little berries made me seriously question their cleaning abilities, but then seeing that disgusting water made me realize they're obviously doing some pretty serious cleaning. I went down to get the clothes and I looked extra close at the shirt and two onesies that were stained.

Not even a hint of what was there. Not even if you try really, really hard to find it. I'm most impressed with the brown onesie. That one was the dirtiest, and the oldest stain. It came out very easily. I didn't pre-soak, I didn't use any stain treatment. I did nothing except wash with these awesome little berries! 

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. The clothes smell purely clean. If you're after that strong chemical stink, you won't like these. I love that these smell just clean. No perfumes, none of that. They're really easy to use, natural, and clean as well (if not better) than the other detergent that we were using. I am going to do a few more loads before I rate them. Right now I would absolutely, hands down give them five out of five stars. That's exactly why I want to test them a few more times, though. I almost feel like it's too good to be true. But right now, there is absolutely nothing I don't like about them, and many many things I love about them!