Quatloos!

At least that's the claim being made by Shaklee reps about the multi purpose cleaner they're peddling - fortunately, not the company so far as I can tell. One rep explains it this way:

*Makes water “wetter”- the natural components in Basic-H, activated by water, allows it to penetrate deeper into surfaces thereby releasing dirt and grime.

I haven't studied chemistry, so I can't dispute that claim. But another Shaklee rep goes a step further:

Shaklee's Basic H2 is the king of all cleaners! It's nontoxic, natural, biodegradable, and has no phosphates and can be used to clean absolutely anything (except fish tanks, b/c it makes water "wetter").

You can't clean fish tanks with the stuff because it might make the water "wetter"? Honestly, I'm not making this stuff up - it's right there on the link I gave. What happens to fish if they swim in "wetter" water?

Another rep finds other uses for the stuff:

... It related to sales people hyping their products, things like our "water is wetter than water". That was one of their slogans that my sister was taught. She said that product would remove road tar from the car without scrubbing. I bought it, tried it and it was not a bit better than soap and water.

I suppose though if you're still convinced this stuff can actually make water wetter than water and want to try a bottle to find out for yourself, then I'm not about to dissuade you. But check out the shipping costs before you send in your order. As one rep discovered about the Shaklee Fabric Softener:

The Cons:

Paying $9.00 shipping for a $10.00 bottle of Fabric Softener!! Even if I end up loving Shaklee, this high shipping cost will probably prevent me from ordering more!

Uh, yeah!

Actually, detergents do make water "wetter."

They are among chemicals known as surfactants.

Yup, soap makes water wetter. It's why soap works. Also known as a "wetting agent".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetting_agent

I did a quick google search to try to find the other side of the propaganda of Shaklee's "Basic H", but mainly saw the usual raving positive reviews--must be their image managers are being paid handsomely to slant the facts and prevent due dilligence review about their MLM products. I knew people promoting Shaklee products a long time ago. It seems that many miracle "health" products lend themselves to multi-level marketing unless or until those on the downline wise up to the racket and cut off communication with the promoters, who are generally shameless. "Young living essential oils" has built a huge structure based on outrageous claims about the power of their products, refining the gimmicks used by other "health" companies, but with a platinum price structure. Want an effective cure for all degenerative diseases? Try one of the many YLEO combinations. Male pattern baldness? Gary Young's product can grow hair on a billiard ball. Want a natural alternative to viagra? He's got one of those too. Where will you read the other side of the story? It is out there, but you have to dig. For every BS product, there is a very small percentage of internet-based warning material.

I almost hate to admit it, but we've used Basic H for years. It works great and doesn't take the skin off your hands in the process. And the concentrate you buy will last forEVER!

We had some neighbors that sold some Shaklee stuff growing up and we used to use it also. Was pretty good stuff compared to store brand. Non-toxic so we could use it around the animals without killing them and no fumes to drop us in our tracks. I didnt pay for it so I never paid attention to that aspect.

Consumers often buy things at a premium for very simplistic reasons.

Personally, price may not be as important as some of the other personal factors - which might even include trying to support a novel or just local business. I think I've even done my share of keeping at least one restaurant in business over the years.

I'm confident "sinister" isn't an appropriate label for some of the well-established firms that happen to have multi-level sales structures. It is appropriate for some or they'll crumble under their own dead weight.

Whatever "Basic H" has in it, why hasn't it been duplicated? If you do a search on what it does and is good for there are many anecdotal references. http://www.startlivinghealthier.com/sha ... ke-to-you/

Any good chemist could duplicate the product, call it "Basic H.1" and sell it at a discount. I have used Dr. Bronner's castile soap, it also is natural and more pleasant to use than some other soaps.

There are all kinds of esoteric products out there. Dr. Steiner made a virtual religion out of applying his theories to agriculture, diet and so forth. The horn of a cow is stuffed with manure and preparations are made from that for better results in agriculture: http://biodynamics.in/BD500.htm Phases of the moon and sun are integral to the implementation of this agriculture. Does it get better results than regular organic agriculture? You can be sure a lot of money is being made.

I am all for low-cost, common sense and healthy products. If Basic H is such a great product then why aren't competitors trying to duplicate it?

Number Six wrote:I am all for low-cost, common sense and healthy products. If Basic H is such a great product then why aren't competitors trying to duplicate it?

Uh, they have duplicated it! You can find numerous similar products on the store shelves, as well as from other MLMs like Amway and Fuller, as well as late night infomercials. What makes Basic H different from most store-shelf soaps, is that it's concentrated. I think the concentration makes it more suitable for direct sales than mass market sales. Certainly demonstrating a concentrated cleaner against a regular cleaner is going to be impressive, even if they are both chemically identical.

Judge Roy Bean wrote:Actually, detergents do make water "wetter."

They are among chemicals known as surfactants.

Thanks. As I said, I don't know my chemistry. So then that's the purpose of a detergent - any detergent - to make water "wetter". Whether it's, Tide, Gain, Ivory, Basic-H or whatever.

Procter And Gamble would get laughed out of the market place if they claimed Tide made water "wetter".

Only in MLM does it become a selling point.

You can't clean fish tanks with the stuff because it might make the water "wetter"? Honestly, I'm not making this stuff up - it's right there on the link I gave. What happens to fish if they swim in "wetter" water?

Exactly what you'd expect when fish swim in soapy water--dead fish.

I would hope someone would be smart enough to rinse out the fish tank after cleaning it.

Cathulhu wrote:

You can't clean fish tanks with the stuff because it might make the water "wetter"? Honestly, I'm not making this stuff up - it's right there on the link I gave. What happens to fish if they swim in "wetter" water?

Exactly what you'd expect when fish swim in soapy water--clean dead fish.

fixed it for you