Over the years I have received a lot of questions about Shaklee products. Shaklee recently reformulated, repackaged, and renamed their cleaning products into a new line called “Get Clean”–which has a cleaning product for every need in your home–so I thought it was time to take another look at them.
Shaklee has been well-known for their biodegradable Basic H since 1960, but I have not recommended Shaklee products in the past because I was not able to obtain ingredients lists or MSDS sheets. I still couldn’t obtain ingredients lists, but I did get MSDS sheets and took a look at their website.
In general, the Get Clean cleaning products are advertised to be natural, biodegradable, fragrance-free, and super-concentrated (which makes them very economical to use and reduces a lot of packaging). And, Basic H2, has so many uses, it is truly a wonder of a multi-use product.
Shaklee states that their Get Clean products “do not contain hazardous ingredients.” More specifically they state
- No napthalene
- No kerosene
- No formaldehyde
- No phenol
- No cresol
- No lye
- No hydrochloric acid
- No sulfuric acid
- No petroleum distillates
- No benzene
- No ammonia
- No paradichlorobenzene
- No sodium hydroxide
- No butyl cellosolve
- No phosphoric acid
- No chlorine
0 ingredients that are hazardous to humans.
0 chemicals like phosphates, chlorine, and nitrates that are harmful to the planet are in Get Clean.
0 volatile organic compounds, chemicals that produce noxious toxins and air pollution, are in Get Clean.
Their MSDS sheets do list a few items under “hazardous substances” but there are either minerals, which are considered hazardous because of dust exposure (not toxicity), enzymes (I don’t know why they are considered hazardous) or in the case of the one substance I would consider “hazardous”–ethyl alcohol–are present in very small amounts and is made from plant sources (this is not stated on the MSDS or the website, but I have an email from Shaklee stating this is so).
I have a small sample of the Basic H2 and it basically smells like nothing.
There are no ingredients listed on the labels (which are on the website, by the way, for each product), the “Product Bulletin” for each product tells some of what the products are made from. Basic H2, for example, is made from corn and coconuts; Nature Bright Laundry Booster and Stain Remover is made from natural enzymes and oxygen bleach.
Shaklee says their products are “safe for the planet” because:
- Sustainably sourced natural ingredients
- Biodegradable
- No phosphates
- No nitrates
- No borates
- No animal testing
- Recyclable packaging
- Recyclable wipes
- Recyclable dryer sheets
In addition, Shaklee has zero impact on global warming by offsetting 100% of its greenhouse gas emissions. They were the nation’s first business to be certified Climate Neutral.
And their world headquarters utilize the latest energy-efficient designs and sustainable resource materials. They also print on recycled paper, recycle, offer telecommuting, encourage use of public transportation, and more. They have received many awards for their environmental efforts.
Shaklee does not test its products on animals.
After all these years, I’m happy to have finally gotten some information on Shaklee products I can review, and having done so, decided to put these new Get Clean products on Debra’s List as “earthwise” cleaning products.
