Thank you!
Alrighty! I already skip the fabric softener. Not to save money, but I can't stand the greasy/ waxy feeling it leaves on my clothes. I use Tide (powder). My husband does asphalt paving and besides being covered in dirt and tar, his clothes are often diesel soaked. I wash in cold water and only the Tide seems to get the diesel out (nothing gets the tar and stains out). Also, he complains of being itchy if I use a different brand. I will get the soap nuts before I run out of Tide. Then I'll run some experiments. His work clothes are already separated before washing, so I'll start of washing my own in the soap nuts. If that works out OK, I'll try a few items of the kids to test for allergies. If that works out, I'll sneak some of his undershirts into my load (secretly) and see if I get any complaints. If it doesn't make him itch and the clothes are clean enough, then I will stop hiding the soap nuts from him. ;)
If all goes well, we'll fully switch to the soap nuts. I hypothesize that the switch will go unnoticed but that the soap nuts won't handle the asphalt loads and I'll have to keep some Tide around to handle that.
I will let y'all know.
By the way, any recommendations on where to buy or what brand?