Review on NaturOli Soap Nuts / Soap Berries. 4-Lbs USDA ORGANIC (960 loads) + 18X Travel Bottle! (12 loads) Seedless, 4 Wash Bags, Tote Bag, 8-pg info. Organic Laundry Soap / Natural Cleaner. Processed in USA! by Samuel Kromah

I think this is a great product because it's REALLY eco-friendly. The packaging is a cotton muslin pouch and it is ONE ingredient from certified organic farming. I love that it doesn't come in a petroleum based plastic bottle that gets recycled and ends up in a landfill. Plus, it doesn't even contain many "natural" ingredients that took an insane amount of energy to produce and transport. And it's a great price! Cheaper than most if not all natural cleaning products. If I could give 4.5 stars I honestly would. But for the above reasons I am very satisfied and will use the product from now on. But let me tell you how it works, at least for me: I use 7 nuts in a pack for 4 loads. They recommend 4 or 5 nuts but I have found that this is not enough. I had a few loads that didn't smell clean (some campfire clothes smelled badly after washing). I have a 4 year old washing machine but it's NOT HIM. So if you have a more efficient machine, you might be able to use fewer nuts and maybe still get a batch of those. So it may not be as economical as they advertise, but I think it's still vastly superior to the alternatives. Also, before each load, I make "tea” with nuts in a cup of hot water from a kettle. I let this sit for 5 minutes while the machine fills, then squeeze the nuts to release their soapy juices and the tea turns a light amber color. I put this in the washing machine in COLD water and let it stir for a minute before adding the wash, being very careful not to overfill. Maybe it works better if you use warm water? I'm not sure, but the website says cold water will do, if not better. I also let the laundry mix for 20 or 25 minutes instead of 10-12 just to let the soap nuts do their thing. That being said, adding more nuts helped us get cleaner laundry. It seems to come out as clean as the 7th gen. Soapnuts don't stain at all. Not a drop! I was very surprised to see that most of the dots hadn't moved. So I just pretreated with the leftover detergent and it worked. I'm just not used to pre-treating every single stain and with two young kids that means pretty much everything. Spring. I will still use this and I think this company has very high standards and I stand by them. However, I would like to add that for some reason I contacted them and the customer service had a very sacred tone and unwilling to make any concessions to the customer as if they knew that their product is simply the best in the universe and that they would advertise it almost to the extreme of arrogance. Roll your eyes! Anyway, I really think every household should use them. They are so eco-friendly and wallet-friendly. Their efficiency isn't quite perfect, but then what? I take this slight downside for the endless plastic bottles and processed cleaning supplies. Soapnuts can also be used around the house, simply make a strong "tea" out of ground nuts and use in the bathroom or as a household cleaner.