Kathryn Ossing

I would like to offer "The Humble Soapnut - A Guide to the Laundry Detergent that Grows on Trees" as a freebie for signing up to the permies daily-ish email.

Thank you!

https://permies.com/t/239101/Humble-Soapnut-Guide-Laundry-Detergent#2217531

Soapnuts are 100% natural, compostable, and they really do grow on trees.
They are safe for infant skin, hypoallergenic, fragrance free, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal.
They leave laundry soft, fresh and clean, and incidentally, insect repellent, and yet using them helps bees!
They work on all fabric types, and can even be used on cloth diapers.
Best of all, they leave no residue on clothing, unlike other laundry detergents.

T A B L E   O F   C O N T E N T S

ABOUT
What are soapnuts? Are soapnuts toxic? Are soapnuts organic? Zero-waste? What about packaging? Do soapnuts really wash clothes? Are soapnuts cost-effective? Why haven’t I heard about soapnuts before?

LAUNDRY
How do I use soapnuts as a laundry detergent? How many times can I reuse the same soapnuts? Are soapnuts safe for different fabric types? What about bright colors? Do soapnuts whiten clothes? Do I need to add a softener? Stain remover?

USES
What else can I do with soapnuts? How can I use soap nuts in the dishwasher? How can I make a multi-purpose cleaner from soapnuts? How do I make a window, glass, and mirror cleaner from soap nuts?  Can I clean jewelry with soapnuts? What about carpets?

GROWING
Can I grow my own soapnuts? How big do soapnut trees get? Do soapnuts grow in my climate zone? What kind of sunlight/water/soil needs do soapnut trees have? How do I start soapnut trees from seed? What companion plants can I grow with them?


PDF ebook
10 pages
Text by Kathryn Ossing
Photos by Kathryn Ossing unless otherwise accredited

photo for ebook

cover pic

photo for profile pic

I live in Spain, and I give English classes online. I used to give them in person, due to COVID they're now online. 20 euro per hour. I give one class every tuesday at 6pm. At the end of the month, I get paid for that month. This month there was a holiday so only three classes, so 60 euro. I asked my student to hold up the pillow he was holding to respect everyone's privacy.

Tradd Cotter of Mushroom Mountain wrote an article on growing mushrooms on cardboard, which has since disappeared from Chelsea Green's website. Where I grew up in Maryland I think it'd be easy due to the humid climate but now I'm in a dry climate I think it might be more challenging to maintain suitable humidity levels. He also wrote an article on growing mushrooms on jeans which is still available Grow mushrooms on your jeans. I'd be curious to know if anyone's tried either of these methods. I live in an apartment so am looking for alternatives to the inoculating logs method.

We have two 100% cotton pillowcases from Ikea that fit zero of our pillows (too small), shown at top of first image. I took out all the seams, and it unfolded into one large piece of fabric, which i then cut in two (the bottom two pieces of fabric in the first image), the smaller of the two became my pillow, and the other will be the pillowcase. The stuffing is leftover 100% merino wool, that wasn't dyed, from sheep here in Spain. dLana wool. I don't have the tools for carding, as raven ranson recommended, so I stuffed it and hoped for the best. It already seems much softer than a pillow I had previously stuffed with cut up bits of old wool sweaters (cut into about 1" squares), inspired by jennifer and inge's posts on the first page of this thread. That sweater stuffed pillow is perfect for a throw pillow, but too lumpy for sleeping on. So excited to try out the new one tonight!

Love doing housework in the morning. I know if I don't do it then, I won't feel motivated to do it at any other time during the rest of the day. Feels somehow like going with the flow to do the day's cooking and cleaning just after breakfast.

Thank you Nicole!! Successfully changed cover and profile pics.