About 5 years back, I got overwhelmed by the amount of chemicals we are exposed to, in this modern world. I was also shocked to know about the presence of animal fats in my washing bars. So not only these soaps were contributing to the slaughter of innocent animals but also leeching many potent chemicals in the water drained from washing and cleaning, which were harming our mother Earth in several ways. The residual chemicals present in our clothes after washing them are always in contact with our body when we wear them on us. These toxic chemicals are absorbed by our skin and enter our blood stream, causing a lot of long term damage to our health.

Thus I was in search of some natural and harmless solution. I used to wear only natural cotton clothes on my body. I didn’t want to wash them with commercially available chemical detergents or soaps. Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to search for a convenient and practical solution to it.

My search and experiments lead me to a very popular herb mentioned in Ayurveda and widely used in India. It’s called Reetha in Hindi or Aritha in Mewari. I took some dried reetha fruits, de-seeded and soaked them overnight. Then I boiled them. This helps releasing all its saponin content. To it I added a few drops of lemon juice (optional) and used this as a liquid soap. It worked great! I washed my clothes with it, they came out clean too. I started using this liquid for almost all cleaning purposes – cleaning tiles & mirror, doing dishes, cleaning toilet, bathing, shaving and everything. I was surprised with the results. I was happy to find a new all purpose cleaner. I never had to buy any soap from the market anymore.

This liquid can also be used in washing machines. To make it even easier, if you don’t want to go through the process of soaking overnight or boiling, just make a powder of all berries after de-seeding. Now you can put this powder directly in your washing machine’s detergent drawer. Your clothes will come out as clean as any other commercially available detergent. I don’t use any washing machine but I make this powder sometimes when I’m traveling as it’s easier to carry a powder than a liquid. This powder can be used for washing hands as well as clothes.

_{You can always find bottles full of reetha liquid soap in my bathroom}

Not only this reetha soapnuts are eco-friendly, they are cheap too. I used to get them as low as INR 30/- during the season and about 80/- per kg at its peak rate in my city. Rates vary a lot according to the city and country. Many countries don’t have this tree in their country so they import it from India. You can buy it online too. Apart from cheaper ones to buy online you can also buy it from the Daily Dump or Krya websites. Just search for soapnuts or Indian soapberries.

You may be wondering about the washing quality. Let me tell you that I’m exclusively washing my clothes with Reetha for about 5 years now and I wear only whites. I only need white vinegar & baking soda sometimes to get rid of some stains. But for all regular washing, I love and use Reetha. It gives me peace of mind. For some time, my mother too is using it for cleaning dishes as her skin has got some allergy from commercial detergents and she is happy with it. The wash water is free from phosphates and other toxins, thus can be used for gardening too.

Many native people in my city use local water bodies for regular washing and bathing. But the city uses drinking water from the same water bodies. So the city administration had put a ban on washing clothes on the banks of all its lakes. So once I suggested the officials to advise citizens to use Reetha for washing in public. They were very pleased with this suggestion but unfortunately couldn’t implement it.

Reetha has several advantages over commercial detergents and many other uses too. Its seeds can easily be composted after use. It’s also a very good surfactant and can be used for efficient oil and arsenic mining. Since ages, it’s been used by Indian jewelers to clean and shine ornamental jewellery. It’s a popular hair conditioner and used as a shampoo in combination with shikakai & amla. It’s good for treating dandruffs. It’s gentle and soft on your skin.

I don’t find any reason to buy those expensive and harmful detergents from the market. What is your reason to buy them?

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