My favorites in healthy cleaning

Update: Between now and April 30, 2012, Shaklee will waive the membership fee (usually $19.95) with any order! That means you can save 15% and get the member price on products. You can email me with any order and I'll do the rest and have it shipped to your home. amymiller@shaklee.net


I've used Shaklee's Get Clean cleaning products for a few years now and love them! I've tried other natural brands and find that shaklee's products just work better. Before I started using these, I'd have to be careful of when I cleaned my house. I had a little trouble breathing after cleaning with traditional cleaners. I wouldn't be able to run well if I cleaned the same day. I had to either run before I cleaned or just do it on different days. The toilet cleaner was the worst for me. But now that I don't have those fumes from cleaning, it doesn't bother me anymore.

I used most of the products but I wanted to highlight my favorites.

Basic H: I use this to clean literally everything. I have 3 bottles with different concentrations to use on different things. A 16 oz bottle of water with a couple drops of basic h is used to clean windows and I use it to dust as well. We have a dog who slobbers on the back window and this works really well at getting that off, too. I do recommend a window cloth so you don't have streaks. Any specifically for windows should work.

Then the two other concentrations are 1/4 tsp and 1 1/2 tsp of basic h into 16 oz of water to clean everything else. I use Basic H on everything from toys and kitchens to floors and bathrooms.

Scour Off: This is one of my favorites. It's a paste and it is great for cleaning sinks, tubs, grout, ovens, even rust. This makes it easier for me to clean my tub. It helps to remove the soap scum. And it smells nice!

I love that I don't need 10 different cleaners to get my house clean. I can clean anything with these.

Another product that I really like is the Nature Bright. I've used this to get stains out of the kids clothes and it works great. I put them in a bucket and let them soak before washing them. I've also used this to get stains out of my carpet. With a dog and two kids, sometimes that is hard to keep up with!

A couple other things I really like are the Dishwash Concentrate and the Dish Washer Automatic Concentrate.

That is a quick overview of the healthy cleaning products I like. Like I said, I've used other natural cleaners and I found these worked better for me.

Energizing Soy Protein and Instant Protein Soy Mix

I love the Shaklee protein drinks. It comes in 3 flavors. The chocolate and vanilla give you 14 grams of protein per serving. The natural flavor gives you 16 grams of protein per serving. The natural flavor is good to put in your cooking and baking. I used to put it in my morning oatmeal all the time. I now like to use the vanilla and mix it with orange juice. I haven't tried the chocolate flavor yet. I can tell you from experience that I can tell a difference in my energy level if I miss my protein drink that day. And this really gives me the boast I need to keep chasing after my 3 year old boy! I like to drink it right after I run, too, to help my muscles recover from the workout.

This protein comes from soy. Here is a word about soy from a newsletter from my director.

Soy Protein - Good or Bad?

This is a question discussed and debated in many places by many people, especially when connected to the subject of breast cancer. Dr. Steven Chaney, PhD, a cancer researcher, recently sent me this report. It so clearly and simply gives the latest SCIENTIFIC findings that I’m reprinting it here in full…

“For years we have known that women in the United States have breast cancer rates that are 4 to 7 times higher than women in China or Japan. We've also known that when Chinese or Japanese migrate to this country their risk of breast cancer is no different from that of any other US citizen by the second or third generation. So clearly the increased risk of cancer in US women is not a matter of genetics. It is caused by the US lifestyle.

“Because soy reduces the sensitivity of breast tissue to carcinogens in animal studies, many experts have suspected that it was the soy content of the Asian diet that was protective - but it has been difficult to prove and it was unclear how early in life soy was important.

“Dr. Larrisa Korde and her colleagues at the National Cancer Institute set out to answer both questions. They studied 1563 women of Chinese, Japanese or Filipino descent aged 20 to 55 years (597 with breast cancer and 966 without) and determined their intake of soy-containing foods during childhood, adolescence and as adults. They then divided the women into three groups – those with high frequency of soy intake (more than 1.5 times/week), those with medium frequency of soy intake (1 to 1.5 times/week), and those with low frequency of soy intake (0 to 1 times/week - not unlike the average American).

“When they compared the high intake group with the low intake group the results were striking. A high level of soy intake in childhood was associated with a 58% reduction in breast cancer. A high soy intake during adolescence and the adult years was associated with a 20-25% reduction in breast cancer (Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 18:1050-1059, 2009). When you couple that with the December 2009 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that soy consumption decreases the risk of breast cancer recurrence in those women who do develop breast cancer it sends a powerful message. Soy is a woman's friend - all the way from childhood on.”

Will ANY Soy Do?

That answer is a resounding "NO"!

How the soy is grown matters - does it have pesticides, fungicides, or anything else on it? Have chemicals been put deep inside it where they can't be washed off - is it genetically modified? That matters.

How the soy is processed matters - have the isoflavones been preserved? Was it put through an alcohol/chemical bath?

Soy products are definitely not all "created equal"!

Shaklee Soy products are SAFE, it's the Shaklee difference.

NY Time story asks "How clean are your dishes."

NY Time story asks "How clean are your dishes.": "NY Time story asks 'How clean are your dishes.'"

Phosphates pose a threat to aquatic life and can end up in drinking-water reservoirs. In response to new laws, more and more makers of dishwasher detergents are reducing the amounts of phosphates in their products. But, according to a recent article published by The New York Times, "Cleaner for the Environment, Not for the Dishes," consumers claim their low-phosphate detergents aren't getting the job done.

Launched in 1991, Shaklee Basic-D® was the first patented phosphate-free dishwashing cleanser. Today, our Shaklee Get Clean® Dish Washer Automatic Powder Concentrate is a patented, high-performing, phosphate-free dishwasher detergent. Its enzyme-activated formula removes tough stains without the need for prerinsing, leaving dishes sparkling clean. Shaklee Get Clean products do not contain phosphates—and never will.

Shouldn't everyone you know be using a phosphate-free dishwasher concentrate that leaves dishes sparkling clean?

Contact me to learn more about Get Clean products that are both safe for the environment and effective. I use the dish washer detergent and the dish wash concentrate and I love them both!

New York TImes Article URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/science/earth/19clean.html