About Us
Nature’s Wash started as the side project of my family’s laundromat. After both my parents became self-employed and moved to Austin, Texas, they purchased, cleaned, and fixed up an old laundromat. We learned quickly that first week just how bad conventional cleaners are.
Regular exposure to surface cleaning chemicals, detergents, fabric softeners, and bleach ate away our skin and affected our breathing when we weren’t careful. It wasn’t long before we learned an important lesson: always wear gloves and put on a face mask in poorly ventilated areas. Helping out whenever I came into town to visit, I often forgot to wear gloves and paid the painful price.
Having worked as a cell biologist and biochemist, I did some research and was horrified to learn what truly goes into mainstream detergents and softeners. Many of the ingredients would be labeled Toxic or Hazardous in other settings (I know of at least several that, if we worked with them in a lab, would require us to wear goggles, gloves, and operate under a fume hood). But because of favorable industry disclosure and trade laws, the manufacturers are not required to even print the full ingredient list, let alone warn consumers of the dangers.
I started Nature’s Wash originally as an eco-friendly laundry service. Whilst researching different eco-friendly alternatives to the big name chemical detergents, I would periodically stumble across something called “soap nuts.” I finally decided that I needed to import some and try them out to see if they do as rumored. At first, I was afraid this was some crazy gimmick or potentially a trendy fad. But they really work! I was amazed at the difference in my clothes.
Coincidently, we recently returned to those original roots and launched Laundry Elf, our laundry service sister company. Laundry Elf uses Nature’s Wash products for wash, fold, pick-up and delivery laundry service.
Nature’s Wash, our products, and our company philosophy reflect my personal outlook on what green and sustainable business should be: accessible, effective, and sensible.
- A green product that costs 5x more than a conventional product over it’s entire life cycle is not green: it is expensive.
- A green product that only works half as effectively as the old product is not green: it is shoddy.
- A green product that changes only two ingredients or processes out of dozens of equally harmful ones is not green: it is the (slightly) lesser of two evils.
- A green product that harms a distant community to make itself available to us is not green: it is an unnecessary ego salve.
This is not what we are interested in at Nature’s Wash. Whatever we sell, it needs to produce results, it needs to have a net positive effect on not only the environment but the health of our customers and the livelihoods of our suppliers, and it needs to cost a reasonable price for achieving all the above.
Unfortunately, the environmental and health/wellness movement has acquired connotations of elitism, ideological righteousness, or inaccessibility. I believe in practical change and action. It really does not matter what your political or environmental stance: nobody wants to harm their health or that of their family. As the saying goes, we don’t own the Earth, we only borrow it from our children. Nobody wants to return it poorer than when received.
From where we source our products to our day-to-day company operations, we focus not only on the bottom line but how we affect our community and our environment, both locally and globally.
I am excited to have made it this far and am excited about where we can go next. I thank you for coming along for the ride and hope that you’ll join us in helping to change each of our small corners of the world and leaving something better behind.
~David “The Soap Nuts Guy” (not my real last name, but what most people now know me as)
President and Founder
Believe me, soap nuts work. It’s strong enough for his gym clothes, yet gentle enough for my sensitive skin and blankets.
~Smokey
Mascot, Head of Security, and occasional Test Subject