disclaimer: this is a blatant plug for a friend of mine, Kristy Bennett.

Kristy runs (among many things ;-) a company called Green & Nutty, selling so-called soap nuts (sapindus mukorossi). Actually, only the nut shells are used and no actual seeds should be part of what you get as per Australian quarantine regulations (the seeds don’t contain the soap compound).

So anyway, you stick one half soap nut shell per kilo of washing in a little bag (provided) and add to washing, and that’s all you need – forget about the old laundry powder/liquid or any other blah. After a handful of washes (depends on washing temp), you add a few more shells into the bag. You can also make shampoo by simply boiling a few shells for a bit; info is on the website.

Anyway, I brought back a bag from Adelaide last week, and have been using them since; works just fine! If you like being a little bit serious about environmentally non-harmful compounds and methods, give this a try.