A Guest Post by Vilate--Washing Wool with Soapnuts {Giveaway}

Fifth Day of a Very Wool Event

Washing Wool with Soapnuts and a Giveaway

So when Nathania approached me about doing a guest post on her blog I asked her what exactly she wanted me to blog about.  This is exactly what she said to me:

"what makes wool wash/ soapnuts safe for wool?"  Haha, I just want to know what makes Wool detergent safe for wool...and why the earth goes round--?

Well the way I understand it the world goes around because of the law of conservation of momentum.... but I could be wrong.  If you google why the world goes around it says ‘Money’.  So it is a toss up I guess.  


As for the wool bit I can be a little more help there.  


Soapnuts?  What are Soapnuts?  Soapnuts are a 100% natural Laundry detergent.  They are a dried fruit shell from the Sapindus mukorossi tree.  

This little fruit contains saponin that is a natural soap.  The saponin is released when it is submerged in water and agitated.  So toss them in your washer and wash away!   They leave very little reside so they are great for your cloth diapers.  How can you use them for your wool?  Well they are a natural cleaner with little to no reside which makes them perfect for cleaning wool.  The cleaner the wool the longer it can work and the more use you get out of it.  We all know though that we don’t throw our wool in the washer so how do we use the Soapnuts?  Why, use Liquid SoapNuts, of course.  :)  This is the perfect detergent to use on wool covers.  The liquid is extracted from the nuts though a cooking process.  It is then super concentrated and easy to use for either your regular laundry or for washing your wool.  

I made up a concoction of Liquid Nifty SoapNuts and lanolin in the right amounts for easy lanolizing for wool covers. My Sheep-in-a-jar Lanolizing Potion #9 is made to eliminate the guess work from the common equation: lanolin+soap+water=perfect woolie  


I did all that for you.  Believe me I HATE math... so it took me a few tries.  LOL!!  
To use the Lanolin Potion you simply dissolve one teaspoon (for 2-4 woolies) of the potion in a cup of hot water (right from the tap) and stir it.  Then you add it to your bowl of warm water stir it around and then add the washed woolie.  Let it soak for 4-6 hours or overnight and then wring the woolie out and hang to dry.  Ta-Da!  All done.  That was easy wasn’t it?
Many people try to use a wool wash with lanolin in it for their woolies, but these do not work as well.  Basically when you combine the two steps you are lanolizing a woolie that is not clean yet.  If you do this your woolie will not be able to function to the best of it’s ability and you will probably be frustrated with it.  We are keeping it two separate steps while still making it easy.

I also have a video tutorial  for lanolizing woolies on my webpage it is done using baby soap and lanolin.  


I hope that I have helped a bit.  Not so much on the world going around but on the wool care.  It really is easy and I think when people finally give it a try they are surprised how little effort it is for such a great thing!   I would love to personally help anyone that has any problems.  My door is always open.  


Vilate is a WAHM with 6 kiddos. She has perfected her cloth diaper design over the 12 years she has been using cloth diapers.  You can find a lot of cloth diapering and wool information on her website.  http://niftynappy.com  Also follow her on facebook, where she has fun themed auctions!  http://facebook.com/NiftyNappy

Giveaway:

To enter please fill out Rafflecopter form.  May take a couple of seconds to load.