Sapindus saponaria, a brazilian tree species, known as soldier soap, is used in civil construction, landscaping, urban afforestation and reforestation. The objective of this study with this species was to identify the most efficient pre-germinative treatments for breaking the dormancy of its seeds. For this purpose, eight treatments plus the control were tested. The parameters used were the germination percentage and the germination speed index (IVG). As a result, based on the IVG, it was found that the best treatments were: hydrochloric acid, sandpaper and fire, not differing statistically from each other, the first two being superior to the control. For germination and IVG, acetone and hot water showed lower results than the control.