Basic H: The safest, multi-tasking power cleaner you'll ever find
As many of you know, I prefer to do things more naturally, whenever possible. Most people think this also means more time and more money. Not necessarily, though.
I recently read about the harmful ingredients almost all off-the-shelf cleaning products contain. I was even more shocked to find out that when you use any of these cleaners, the chemicals stay in the air of your home for about a week. Since I was using these cleaners on an almost daily basis, this meant we had all sorts of chemicals wafting around waiting to be breathed in. It wasn't a real pleasant thought, especially since I have a toddler and a baby on the way. How dare I wanted to subject their little bodies to breathing in all this bad stuff on a daily basis. It was probably completely counteracting all the good food I'm trying to feed them!
So, I've set out to find a simple and inexpensive solution. Making your own cleaners is one very viable option, but I've not done much of it yet. That is, because I stumbled upon Basic H from Shaklee.
This organic, nontoxic, biodegradable (do all those things means about the same thing?!) formula really works and it's about as safe as it comes. I think my daughter could drink a cup of the solution without any adverse side effects. Do be sure and keep the concentrate up out of the reach of children, though. That stuff, although nontoxic, is really potent.
My favorite thing about Basic H, besides the price (which I'll get to in a minute), is its versatility. You can use it to clean almost anything and everything, eliminating the need for multiple cleaners. You can clean toilets, sinks, mirrors, tile, glass, stains, floors, walls... you get the point. I've used on just about everything. Plus, I let Kathrynne use it, too. Where I used to be so worried about her getting into cleaning products, now she can be beside me spraying and cleaning away all she wants to.
Oh, and did I mention the price? Back when I was buying those really-bad-for-you cleaners, I would pay somewhere between $0.50-$1.00 for name brand cleaners on sale with coupons. Guess what? Basic H, a nontoxic cleaner at that, beats those prices hands-down. A 16-oz bottle of concentrate which sells for less than $12 makes 48 gallons. Yes, you read that right - 48 gallons. It comes out to less than $0.25/gallon, or about a fourth of the price I used to pay or less on a very good deal on those bottles of nasty cleaners. You can buy it in 64 oz. jugs and that's even cheaper, but I don't honestly know that Kathrynne and I could use all of that cleaner in both of our lifetimes!
It works for me!
I recently read about the harmful ingredients almost all off-the-shelf cleaning products contain. I was even more shocked to find out that when you use any of these cleaners, the chemicals stay in the air of your home for about a week. Since I was using these cleaners on an almost daily basis, this meant we had all sorts of chemicals wafting around waiting to be breathed in. It wasn't a real pleasant thought, especially since I have a toddler and a baby on the way. How dare I wanted to subject their little bodies to breathing in all this bad stuff on a daily basis. It was probably completely counteracting all the good food I'm trying to feed them!
So, I've set out to find a simple and inexpensive solution. Making your own cleaners is one very viable option, but I've not done much of it yet. That is, because I stumbled upon Basic H from Shaklee.
This organic, nontoxic, biodegradable (do all those things means about the same thing?!) formula really works and it's about as safe as it comes. I think my daughter could drink a cup of the solution without any adverse side effects. Do be sure and keep the concentrate up out of the reach of children, though. That stuff, although nontoxic, is really potent.My favorite thing about Basic H, besides the price (which I'll get to in a minute), is its versatility. You can use it to clean almost anything and everything, eliminating the need for multiple cleaners. You can clean toilets, sinks, mirrors, tile, glass, stains, floors, walls... you get the point. I've used on just about everything. Plus, I let Kathrynne use it, too. Where I used to be so worried about her getting into cleaning products, now she can be beside me spraying and cleaning away all she wants to.
Oh, and did I mention the price? Back when I was buying those really-bad-for-you cleaners, I would pay somewhere between $0.50-$1.00 for name brand cleaners on sale with coupons. Guess what? Basic H, a nontoxic cleaner at that, beats those prices hands-down. A 16-oz bottle of concentrate which sells for less than $12 makes 48 gallons. Yes, you read that right - 48 gallons. It comes out to less than $0.25/gallon, or about a fourth of the price I used to pay or less on a very good deal on those bottles of nasty cleaners. You can buy it in 64 oz. jugs and that's even cheaper, but I don't honestly know that Kathrynne and I could use all of that cleaner in both of our lifetimes!
It works for me!
posted by Crystal Paine at 7:12 AM
26 Comments:
I totally agree! I got the Shaklee "Get Clean" package for Christmas and ALL the products are amazing and money savers, as well as being organic and good for the environment, safe, etc. I did a review of the whole package on my blog a while ago:
http://catherinewheels78.blogspot.com/2007/01/get-clean.html
I just stumbled across your blog yesterday and absolutely love every post I've had time to read so far! Thank you so much for all of your great ideas and encouraging words of wisdom and advice.
I wanted to also mention that vinegar diluted with water is a non-toxic household cleaner that can be used for almost any surface (and is inexpensive too!) I keep a spray bottle of a solution of 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar under my kitchen sink to use for almost every mess and spill on any surface of the house. You would be shocked at how dangerous the chemicals used in Lysol and other "cleaners" are and to think I used to wipe my kitchen counters and table tops off each day with the stuff! (I am expecting our first child in May and have even read reports that claim some strong household cleaners and pesticides have been linked to miscarriage in some cases.)
Thanks for the great tip! I have been lookin into non-toxic cleaning products as well and have come across the Method brand. So far I've only found Method cleaners in Target stores. I'm going to try out the Shaklee brand now. Thanks :)
Basic H is also great for use as a bug repellent. I spray it undiluted on my kids. It's safe for their skin and washes right off like soap.
I checked out the link to Basic H. I'm familiar with companies like this. Do you have place an order every month in order to keep a membership? I'd prefer using safer products in my home, but the last time I "joined" a company to have said products I had to buy a certain amount of products every month, even if I didn't need them. Is Shaklee different?
Leslie: You can order directly off the website with the links given in this post. Just checkout as a guest and you don't have to worry about signing up as a member. It costs a tiny bit more to order that way, but if you're only wanting to order one thing, I'd recommend going that way. By the way, at the rate my Basic H is going, it will last me for at least 3 years, maybe more. I think that's a pretty good deal - especially to rid your home of all those chemicals!
Crystal,
One question I've had about the natural cleaners is whether they kill germs, or just clean surfaces. Is it important as the name brands make out to clean germs?
To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn
Looks great! Would I order it online or can it be found in a store?
I grew up with all of the Shaklee products, and I remember my mom using Basic H for a lot of things (she now uses Melaleuca instead, for some reason). Yes, it's non-toxic, but it tastes terrible (DON'T ask me how I know that!!)
Krista
Is it a an actual disinfectant? I want a disinfectant for the bathroom.
basic H is the best! nothing else removes stains from clothes quite as well, either... i use it whenever i've run out of other cleaning options, and it always does the trick.
I think Simple Green is organic/non-toxic as well, and it's a highly concentrated solution that lasts forever too! Anyone have conflicting knowledge about that? It seems to work really well for me. How 'good' of a cleaner is Basic-H?
I have heard shaklee is good stuff. The only problem I have with it is the pyramid setup in which the company is run. (join and sell their products or buy from a rep jacks up the cost)
From what I've read, the traditional commercial cleaners, especially disinfectants, are worse for you than the germs they are supposedly killing. I found that interesting. Obviously, I don't want germs, but I also want to kill them in a good way, not do more harm than good in the process.
However, please don't anyone feel as if I'm putting you on a guilt trip. :) That's not my intent at all. Just sharing what has worked for me.
Lindsey (going out on a limb here - you all can dislike me for it!), I'm also not big into MLM stuff just because I've seen a LOT of people get burned through them. However, I don't have a problem with ordering directly through the website and paying a bit more to avoid signing up as a member. I think some MLM's have very highly-priced (i.e. overpriced) products because of the structure of it, however, I also know that every single product which is mass-produced has so many different people and processes up the line which are making money off of it. We just usually don't realize it as much. :) In all fairness, I've seen some families do really well with MLMs, but I've seen so many more families waste a lot of time and money and effort with them, that I always encourage people to be extremely cautious when joining one.
Sounds wonderful, Crystal! I am definitely going to get some of this. I may even toss the last little bits of my chemical cleaners that I've been trying to get used up. (I haven't bought any cleaners for probably over a year, but people had given me so much free stuff...)
I know a lady who is a distributor for Shaklee and sells everything at her price as a ministry to others. Thanks so much for posting this!!
Thanks Crystal! I have been wanting to find an all natural cleaner! I have heard that all the commercial cleaners are not the healthiest to use, but I didn't know where to find anything completely natural! I really appreciate the info!
Thanks for the info. I'm very interested but concerned that they don't tell you what it is. Natural what? How do you know your daughter could drink it? Maybe I'm just blind, but I couldn't find any ingredients actually listed on the website. Thanks. Maybe I'll get some once I know what's in it.
Katie: The USDA does not require any ingredients to be put on cleaning products (from what I've studied) - that's why you don't have a clue what is in your cleaners. Basic H states on their website that the concentrate is derived from naturally sustainable sources - corn and coconuts. If you wanted a very accurate listing of ingredients, just write to them and I'm sure they would send it to you. They have been around a long time and have a 100% guarantee that they stand behind their word on the quality of their product including the fact that it is completely natural, nontoxic, and organic.
Of course I wouldn't let my daughter drink it! But when it is nontoxic and you only put a few drops of the concentrate in a big spray bottle of water to make the cleaner and the concentrate is already nontoxic, I doubt there is any way on earth it could hurt her! :)
By the way, just in case anyone wonders, I don't make a cent off of this if anyone buys. The link listed here is a for a Christian, homeschooling family's business and if you buy through the link here, they will make a very tiny profit off of it. I'm always happy to help support and promote other Christian businesses that I've been very pleased with myself!
This sounds wonderful. Thank you for the tip and the link to the product!
Thanks so much for sharing, I have been wanting something like this! I will save up and get the starter kit next month!
I've been using Melaleuca products for over a year now and I LOVE them... but it's good to know there's something else out on the market too!
Crystal,
I told my husband about this, and it turns out his mom used to use Shaklee products when he was a kid -- so he said go ahead and order some. :)
I did a price comparison on the other cleaning products they offer, and the truth is that aside from the Basic-H concentrate, most of them are actually a lot more expensive per use than the high end products you find in the store. We don't really have the budget for that extra expense, so those products will have to wait a while.
My only other question is what to do with my old cleaners? Should I give them away? Throw them away? It seems like such a waste... We are newlyweds, so the bottles are all mostly full. Anyone have any suggestions?
Hi again. I know you were being facetious about your daughter drinking it. Sorry I sounded so serious.
As to what's in it, I'm always a little suspicious of "natural" since, well, there are a lot of natural things that are not good for you. (Marijauna is natural, right?) But if it is truly nontoxic, that is a helpful description. Sounds like I would probably have no idea what the words were if I had a list of ingredients to look at (ie, chemical derivatives of corn and coconuts...) Thanks for the explanation.
I'm adding my voice to the choir. We were a homeschooling family (last one is now in college), christians, and budget and environmentally concsious folks like many of the rest of you. Have been using Shaklee products and Basic H specifically for about 10 years. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
Totally cleaned out all my toxic cleaners (talk about a nice, tidy sink cabinet!) and rely on Basic H and Basic G (a disinfectant...don't know if they still sell it, I'm still using from the bottle I bought 5 years ago...).
One FANTASTIC use for Basic H that no one has mentioned yet is it's effectiveness at a BUG REPELLENT. In fact, it worked so well on my grandchildren this summer, my daughter went straight to my Shaklee rep (who I am MORE than happy to help support...she's been a willing source for great information in many instances for our family)! Our daughter has now converted her entire household to Shaklee as well.
One side note: our daughter in college had a terrible outbreak of warts on her hands (she's a trumpet student...having hundreds of warts on your right hand is very embarassing for a trumpeteer!) No idea what caused the outbreak, but two rounds of traditional treatment at the clinic yielded very little results (we actually were unable to see any progress...the warts they burned off were immediately replaced by new warts...ugg). Finally after a year of this, she decided she didn't have much to lose by giving our Shaklee rep a chance at it. Well...within 7 weeks the number of warts had diminished to the point that you could actually count how many she had (and the number was BELOW 25!) She was SO AMAZED she even volunteered to pay for her next supply order AND she's now using their cleaning products as well.
We LOVE the company and their products. As with any company, you can probably find some folks who are dealers with only profit motives in mind. I'd recommend you continue to look for someone who's heart and passion is whole-health and know's their stuff ... they will be a blessing to you and your family!
Basic G by Shaklee is a disinfectant. Basic H is great for most cleaning chores, but Basic G will kill the germs. I have a Mexican tile in my kitchen. My housekeeper and I were looking for a cleaner that would clean it effectively. We tried bleach, etc. Basic H did the trick and it is the cheapest and healthiest product.
Hi Crystal, What a delightful site! I have used and shared Shaklee for 30 years. I loooove the products. It is so nice to see all the comments. It is my passion to teach young families how to prevent toxic exposures from household chemicals. I found your site by accident looking for information about the toxic chemicals used in schools. Outside and inside! I am putting a proposal together to present to my grandchildrens schools. It is frightening how overloaded with chemicals we all are. I am very aware of the exposure as a young woman I had overexposure to DDT as a young child an pre teen and 30 years later developed breast cancer. Fortunately for me I am a survivor! I encourage your commentors get past the idea that just because Shaklee is MLM doesn't make it a bad thing. ALL products purchased at markets have distributors and sales people lined up behind each product they make. Shaklee makes the products and we buy(being the middleman) them and yes for the training we give to each person who buys them we do get a small part of the sale. We all have jobs, careers and businesses and all of us earn from whatever we do. Even our Pastors- they teach us the Word and we help take care of them for doing so. It is how our world works and as consumers we need to be able to check things out and select the best value for the money. Shaklee is an awesome value, safe for our babies, nursing moms, toddlers and all the way up. I could go on but you see how passionate I am about Shaklee, safety, economy--there is non better. I Love Jesus, Billie
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