Making Laundry Nicer

The following is an advertorial. I received a product in exchange for an honest review on my blog.

I hate doing laundry. My townhouse doesn't have washer/dryer hookups, so I have to use the provided laundry facility (expensive) or drive to the laundromat (inconvenient). Sometimes I resort to doing the laundry in my tub, which works out pretty well on warm days because the clothes dry quickly. 

To make hand-washing simpler, I made this contraption (see picture below). It's a toilet plunger from a dollar store. I used a box cutter to cut slits out of the rubber part of the plunger. 

To use the laundry plunger, I put the clothes in a tub or bucket, add soap and fill the tub with water. I then put the plunger in the tub, between the clothes, and lift it up and down. At the same time, I slightly rotate the plunger to mimic the agitation of a washing machine. In addition to washing my clothes, I get a good workout.

Laundry plunger

For soap, you can use regular laundry detergent. I prefer liquid detergent because the powdered stuff doesn't always dissolve well. A soap that I tried recently are liquid soap nuts by Green Virgin Products. 

Soap nuts are dried berries that come from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree in Asia. You can use soap nuts whole in your washing machine or purchase the liquid form of it. The berry contains natural soap called saponin. If you put one of the dried berries in a jar of water and shake it, suds will form. Saponins are non-toxic, won't harm your local watershed and help clean the grey water in sewers. Plus, they're gentle on sensitive skin. 

I was so skeptical about soap nuts when Green Virgin Products offered the chance to review its Soap Nuts Liquid that I had to try it. The first batch of laundry that I did with the liquid detergent was with the dirtiest clothes I had. And, yes, I washed them in my tub. 

The liquid is brown and doesn't smell like much. The soap didn't produce any suds, so I thought I didn't use enough. After squirting more detergent into the tub, I realized that I probably won't see any suds. 

After agitating the clothes with my laundry plunger, I could see the grime in the clothes coloring the water. When the clothes dried, I did a sniff test. The liquid soap nuts got rid of odors. To boost its stain-fighting power, I'd probably pair the soap nut with an oxy-type cleanser. But, all in all, my clothes were clean...and soft. Sometimes line-dried clothes are stiff, but mine weren't at all. 

I'm no longer a skeptic of soap nuts; I'm a fan.

Have you tried soap nuts? What's your experience with them?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.