Product Review, frugal cleaning tips

Basic H

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 Hello Everyone! I would like to take a few minutes to introduce myself. My name is Allison and I blog over at Living Frugal (http://www.frugalityexplored.blogspot.com). I started my journey there in the beginning of the summer shortly after my youngest was born in April. My goal in the beginning was to help other mothers and families save money on their groceries. I love writing, so this was a great idea.

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With the whole world turning “greener” it’s time to start thinking about our part. One of the most harmful things we are doing to ourselves and the earth would actually be using harsh cleaning supplies. I know I’ve been cleaning and all of a sudden I’ve realized that the cleaners were burning my lungs. If it was doing this to me as an adult what was it doing to my children and animals?

I found out that the chemicals that were burning my lungs where not leaving the air when I was done cleaning, they where staying in the air for days, weeks, forever considering I was cleaning on a daily basis. After walking in on my one year old daughter spraying a green cleaner in her face I decided we where not going to risk her spraying something harmful at herself or somebody else.

I started looking around for a different cleaner/cleaners to use when cleaning my house, everything needed to go, but what do I buy to replace it all? It took several days of research for me to finally find something that worked for me. Going to the store and buying $3-$4 a bottle “green” cleaners that had a cleaner for the kitchen, for glass, for the bathroom, for this, for that just wasn’t going to do it for me. Even with coupons I would still be paying an arm and a leg for products that didn’t work as well as the commercial heavy duty burn your lungs cleaners. So what do you do? You keep looking until you find what you are looking for.

My purpose in writing this actually has nothing to do with going green, but because I’ve found a cleaning product that works better, is safe, is green, and is truly FRUGAL! I don’t want to keep this little secret to myself.

I came across a cleaner called Basic H and it is produced by Shaklee. Basic H is a highly concentrated cleaner that you dilute. A 16 ounce bottle diluted makes an amazing 48 gallons of cleaner! The cost for a bottle of Basic H is around $20 which includes shipping. Of course if you make a bigger purchase product is cheaper because shipping would be adjusted, but even at $20 a bottle of Basic H is completely worth the money.

What’s even better about Basic H is that it completely replaces a large majority of your household cleaners. You can adjust concentration and it can do any job. It can be used as a window and glass cleaner, a surface cleaner or a heavy duty cleaner, and it does an awesome job.

One last thing that I appreciate about Basic H is the fact that it is completely safe. This is exactly what their caution on the bottle says:

Just to be safe CAUTION: Concentrate may cause eye irritation. Avoid eye and prolonged skin contact. Wash thoroughly after handling, contains surfactants. FOR EYES: Flush with water for 10-15 minutes. If irritation persists contact Physician. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDRED.

I don’t know how many of you have a glass top stoves, but those of you who do know how much of a pain they are to keep clean. Part of my daily routine with 9 people was to clean the stove, and it took a good 30 minutes, a mere forever when you have screaming children running under your feet. Now that I have started using Basic H cleaning my stove has become a breeze! I have a 32oz spray bottle which that I fill with water and at ½ teaspoon of Basic H. I spray the stove just enough to get the surface wet and then I let it sit for a couple minutes. I then go over the surface with a razor blade and wipe the stove top clean. It’s amazing how well Basic H works.

I would like to take just a minute to look at the price difference when using Basic H. If you use one bottle and have it shipped to your door for simplicity sake we are going to say it is $20. The actual cost for the Basic H is $12.15 shipping was around $8. So for $20 dollars you are getting 16oz of concentrate, ¼ teaspoon will make 16oz of basic cleaner which can be used for almost anything (appliances, counters, walls, stainless steel). At this concentration I can make 384 sixteen ounce bottles of all purpose cleaner.

Think about this for a minute 384 bottles of cleaner at even 50 cents (rock bottom price for cleaners with coupons, sales and rebates) is still $194. If you paid $2 per bottle, which is the minimum store price, you are looking at over $700 dollars savings when you buy Basic H. You can make higher concentration solutions of Basic H, but 1 ounce in ½ gallon of water will clean driveways, grills, engine grease, and pots and pans. This is also averaged out by the lower concentration glass and mirror cleaner which takes only 1-2 drops in 16 ounces water.

So if you are looking for a cheap, green way to clean you home and keep it safe from harmful chemicals then look no further than Shaklee’s Basic H. In their own words:

An unbelievable 48 gallons of super-safe, really powerful grease-busting clean come out this one little bottle. We challenge you to use it up any time soon. Basic H literally gives you a thousand ways to try. Some suggestions: Spilled milk, Bug guts on the window, Barbecue grill grunge. That’s three down. Only 997 uses to go.

Clean Credentials: Nontoxic, Natural, Superconcentrated, Biodegradable surfactants, No Phosphates.

If you can’t tell, I’m excited about Basic H!