The truth about suds and cleaning:
Many people are skeptical that something as low sudsing as the saponin in soap nuts can be an effective cleaning agent – but it is! However, first we need to undo all the programming we’ve been exposed to for generations. We have been taught to equate the amount of suds to the degree of cleaning power. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today’s new, high-tech, HE washing machines prove this. (Keep that thought for I will come back to it.)
Why do we think suds equal "cleaning"?
Suds do not equal cleaning power. Commercial manufactures even developed chemicals that would continue to produce suds throughout the entire wash cycle because they did such a great job of teaching us to think suds meant cleaning action. We wanted to see something happening and they gave it to us – in a big way. These same synthetic chemicals are causing for a host of skin irritations for they are very difficult to fully flush out.
Suds will indicate the presence of a surfactant in the water. By definition: sur-fac-tant, n. An agent, for example, a detergent or a drug, that reduces the surface tension of liquids so that the liquid spreads out, rather than collecting in droplets. (Courtesy of Encarta World English Dictionary.) Nearly all surfactants in commercial detergent products and even personal care products are chemically derived. They are a major source for the pollution in our water streams today. Once present, they will infect our water supplies indefinitely.
Think of a surfactant as something that allows oil and water to mix. It occurs almost immediately upon contact. Water is allowed to quickly penetrate the dirt, grease and grime and free it from the surface being cleaned. Once the dirt and grime have been freed and rinsed away, adding more water and a surfactant will produce more bubbles (suds) on the water surface – a lot more. To see suds throughout a wash cycle is totally unnecessary for proper cleaning.
I’d like you to think about when you wash your hair or dirty hands. Notice that there are very few suds upon initially washing – particularly if very dirty? It is when you do a second washing that suds really begin to generate. Why? Because your hair or hands are much cleaner when you wash the second time. The surfactant has already done its job. The dirt, grease and grime quickly consumed the surfactant, and most of the dirt is already gone. Suds didn’t clean your hair or hands. You get much more sudsing on the second washing because there is very little dirt to consume the surfactant. Again, this break up of dirt, grease and grime occurs very rapidly. When the dirt is freed and gone, only then will the surfactant produce a lot of suds. There is little left to consume them.
I realize this is difficult to grasp. It was for me. I’ve come to believe that the recommended “second” washing, is as much for using more product as it is for removing any trace dirt that may remain. You’ve probably noticed that if your hands or hair are not very dirty, you won’t even feel the need to re-wash. But most of us still do. It is what we’ve been taught to do.
In time this will really start to come together and make more sense. This phenomenon is a big part of why it is difficult to find a good HE detergent. Most detergents will gunk up that fabulous new HE machine. The hardware has certainly surpassed the software (so to speak), and the chemical detergent producers are struggling with the problem.
Soap nuts are hands down the best HE detergent on the market – because they are a highly effective natural surfactant that is low sudsing by nature. They do not pollute our water. They are biodegradable. They are even excellent for septic systems. The chemical producers are a long way off from finding something that works as well. This is why many people complain of moldy and musty odors in HE washers (and essentially all front loaders). Excess suds have left residue and build-up that become quite nasty over time. Soap nuts and saponin actually removes such residue. Saponin is that effective.
If this makes you feel better about suds (or lack of them), trust me that saponin will create suds – and a whole lot of them. I had an empty bottle of Extreme 18X that I tried to fill with water. This bottle was “bone dry” empty. It took me four times in filling and rinsing it before I could fill it to the top without suds pouring out everywhere. I barely got an inch of water in it on the first attempt before the suds began overflowing.
Another little test is to wash a load of totally clean laundry (washed with soap nuts, of course). Just wash the same load a second time. You will notice more suds the second time.
Soap nuts release an amazing surfactant (saponin) with tremendous cleaning power – but it is not the suds that are cleaning. If you are still confused, it is quite understandable. I’m trying to undo everything P & G has been teaching people since 1837. That is quite a challenge.
I find it amusing to see how the detergent producers are balancing themselves on the tight-wire of their own creation. The advent of today’s far-better HE washing machines threw a wrench into all their teachings. Those suds from standard detergents can actually damage a new HE machine. The owner’s manual will warn you of this.
Change is so difficult. It took me a long time, and lots of personal experiences and laboratory work to finally get all the falsehoods regarding suds out of my head. And I highly doubt any big company is going to come out and admit the truth. Surely we’ll never hear, “Sorry, we were totally wrong about suds. It did help us sell a lot of soap and detergent though.”
