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 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
