Making Amazing Soap from Dried Fruit… Are You Nuts?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When I first saw these little round hard nuts in a basket I had no clue what I was looking at.

Reading the information card next to them was an eye opener because although they might be called “soap nuts” they are actually the dried  fruit of the Sapindus Mukorossi tree which is found in the Himalayas.

Apparently these fruits/soap nuts are an excellent cleaning product, since they are natural, organic, biodegradable (in that they can be composted after use) and have the added bonus of having antibacterial properties.

Wow, talk about nature’s basket of tricks and wonders!

A little further research tells me that using these nuts in your washing machine will get your clothes clean, using them in your dishwasher will get your dishes clean and there are even on-line recommendations for use as shampoo and as a general household cleaning  product.

The one thing to get used to is that this stuff doesn’t produce all the bubbles and lather that we are all familiar with our modern cleansing products, but that’s more of an advertising tactic in synthetic compound formulations  to convince consumers that the product is “working”. Therefore a little patience to get used to seeing less bubbles and change of mind-set is needed on the part of new Soap Nut users.

I also read that the nuts can be used as is, a few at a time out of the bag and then composted, or a bulk amount can be boiled down to make a concentrated liquid that you could then use as you would other washing liquids.

Your soap nut liquid can then be diluted for use as shampoo or left concentrated if you want to use it as a household cleaner and then  perfumed as/if you wish with the addition of essential oils.

Another thing that really interests me are soap nuts anti-insecticidal properties: apparently the soap from Soap Nuts repels mosquitoes and other insects. (I love this if it works, because both Kiwi Daughter and myself are allergic to mosquitoes).

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Since both Himself and my families were unwillingly genetically well-endowed with a long list of allergies, I’m also delighted to see that Soap nuts appear to be excellent for people with allergies,  sensitive skin issues or skin diseases such as dermatitis or eczema,

I’ve long since given up trying  beautifully perfumed soaps and entire commercial ranges of cosmetics because after trying a tester (or a product if it happened to be a gift) I’ve often been left with bright red, blotchy, irritated and painfully itchy skin.

Whilst commercial ranges of cosmetics available for those of us with allergies and eczema have grown amazingly in recent decades I still especially struggle with laundry powders, especially when we are away from home and the product used is beyond my control.

I know that it’s not realistic for us to try and bring Soap Nuts back to the Netherlands in our already bulging suitcases, but I will add them to my list of things to find back in The Netherlands and give them a go for myself.  We are however on our way to visit a friend who I know is really into organic products and trying to live a healthier, greener lifestyle so we pick up a bag of Soap Nuts as a gift for her, along with some other natural soaps here in the holistic shop.

Isn’t it amazing the wonders that Mother Nature serves up? … not only in the big and powerful as in the geothermal area we are staying in but also packing an organic clean punch  in little round, soapy packages, that quite literally grow on trees.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Tiles that are So Much More than just Holes in the Wall…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

About a year ago I made a blog post that featured the old fashioned oddity that is our traditional Dutch toilet….

http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/new-post-47/

… And I’m happy to report that yep, it still startles unsuspecting non-dutch visitors.

Not that we hear actual screams like those that one four and a half year old managed upon her first encounter, rather it’s sometimes a wry smile from adults and maybe a comment along the lines of: ” that’s one rather unusual convenience you have there isn’t it?”

As I mentioned in the link, this style of toilet is fast disappearing because  newer styles of bathrooms and toilets are in high vogue …

and not surprisingly this not longer fits with the chrome, stark and chiseled modernism and whiter than white that is all the rage today.

Call me a dinosaur but these  “old fashioned” features nay, lets  do a little re-branding and call them “historical“  features…   … are I believe, something to hang onto.. a heritage that is quickly and easily lost and difficult to replace once gone.

Of course, if you have a modern new-build home then that’s another story completely, but ours is a typical 1930′s Dutch “portiek woning” that happens to have almost every last original feature intact ,so as much as it’s humanly possible we intend on keeping it that way.

Another one of the old features that are fast disappearing from Dutch homes are wall tiles,  which in our house come in two styles:  the soap holders, which we have  in our minuscule kitchen  and also the shower and the toilet-roll holder.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Both are built directly into the wall.

I first tried to take photos of the toilet-roll holder with a full roll on it, but the roll hides the curves of the inner part of the tile and you can’t see any detail, so I tried again with the roll nearing empty …

The original wooden dowel holds the roll, at each end there are two tiny pegs that slot into holes on the sides of the tile.

Ingeniously there is a little spring mechanism inside the wooden dowel, so to remove the roll you simply push it to one end, the spring compresses and the rod pops out so that you can add a new roll.

To put it back, place one peg in the hole, push gently to compress it, slot in the other peg at the other end,  let go,  it resumes it’s normal size and stays in place.

The soap holders have a little hole in the centre of the bit that juts out from the wall, water drains though the hole.

Our hand soap is of the liquid variety so we use the kitchen soap holders as a good place to put the pot scrub/sponge thingy.

I know, I know, I’m easily pleased, but as the saying goes:  “small things amuse small minds“  !

But  it IS part of a very Dutch tradition that is dying out, so I figure that I’m just doing my bit for keeping history alive.

Welcome to the Kiwidutch Museum LOL !

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

To Market, To Market, show me your wares… or Not, as the case may be.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Our time in Hanmer Springs is at a close, we have to say farewell and head back to the  city of Christchurch for our flight tomorrow. The gifts we bought  here for family have been replaced with ones be have received and the suitcases are bulging. The amount of items that we are leaving in storage with my Aunt and Uncle has grown, things like beach towels that we will  need next next time we are here but are not easy to lug back to the Netherlands each time.

We are counting down the days and are still not ready to leave, Hanmer Springs has a hook in our hearts and the line is begging to be reeled in… just not this trip Hanmer, but one day eventually, for sure.

Every Saturday (at least in the Summer months that I know of) there is a small market on the Green in the centre of Hanmer Springs. Stall holders set up with a variety of crafts and services, everything from hand carved wooden bowls to back massage therapy lessons.

I wandered around with my camera in hand and went to pass by some of the  market stalls…  not looking to buy though since I’d been in the centre of town to say our goodbyes to several local people there and Himself was waiting back at the house with the van and the luggage for me to get back to so that we could head out of town.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Then a strange thing happened, I raised the camera to get one of these shots and from behind me an angry woman’s voice demands that I not take photographs…  I first assume I may have accidentally gotten a child in a close up and she didn’t want me taking photos of her kids…  which I would respect and delete the photos immediately, but no, it’s a lady from the stall directly behind me, they are selling handmade soaps, and she’s now angrily accosting me, demanding that I leave and to definitely not take photos of her stall… wow.. I’m in a public place and I wasn’t even taking photo’s of her stall!

Such rude  behaviour I have not struck ever in a market or public place in New Zealand, so first I stand there rather stunned, wondering what on earth I might have done to provoke this outburst?

I tell her “Sorry, but I wasn’t taking photos of your stall“,  then walk away quickly because it’s an uncomfortable situation and I’ve been so caught off guard that I’m not quite sure what to do, and because I’m preoccupied with getting back to Himself  who’s waiting for me and  wanting to get away to Christchurch.

On the walk back to the house I reflect on what just happened…  Your guess is as good as mine as the the reason that the  Soap Lady was so agitated about the possibility that I might take a photo of her stall…

So… If you fancy guessing the possible reasons, I’d love to hear your comments.

I’ll get the ball rolling…  my wild guess: Is it that she’s doing a spot of less than official selling  today and doesn’t intend telling Mr New Zealand Inland Revenue Department mayhap ?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)