Day 12: Soapnuts!

I'm living in a house with 5 other roommates. Sounds a little crazy, but it is actually a fairly relaxed atmosphere! And not to mention they have been supportive of my attempt to go plastic free and have been massive contributors to my growing glass jar/container collection to slowly replace all my plastic. And according to the cleaning schedule, it is my turn to clean the washroom.

That got me thinking and researching about plastic-free alternatives to all the cleaning products we have. Green Living Ideas has some pretty good non-toxic organic house cleaning recipes. Although definitely much better than buying toxic products from the store packaged in plastic, some ingredients, such as vinegar, come in plastic containers as well. 

Then I came across Soapnuts, a hypoallergenic and plastic free way of cleaning.  

They aren't actually a nut, but the shells from a tree fruit that releases saponins when soaked in water and are great for cleaning anything. They have been used for cleaning in the past by many Asian and South Asian countries as well as North American Aboriginals. They can be made into laundry detergent, dish soap, or multipurpose cleaner. I wish I had found out about them earlier so I could have ordered them and used them by the time my two weeks were up! But I am going to buy them anyways and try them out because I'm extremely curious about the result.

I've been researching and haven't found a place in Thunder Bay that has them. But there are several stores in Winnipeg that carry them. You can see Orgownic for all their locations. I'm going back home to visit soon, and I'm pretty excited to pick some up!

Maybe even have a post-14 day challenge update?