Cost Comparison: Vinegar vs. Shaklee Basic H

Which would you rather buy:

• 24 gallons of vinegar ($40-$120) 
• or just one 16oz bottle of Shaklee Basic H that will make 24 gallons of cleaner ($12)?

I have several friends who previously made their own cleaning products using white distilled vinegar, claiming it is cheaper than buying a product like Shaklee Basic H.

I did the math and I was surprised to find that the cheapest vinegar one can buy costs at least 3 times as much as Shaklee Basic H for all-purpose cleaning.

A 16oz bottle of Basic H costs members around $12 including 7% tax and shipping (when bundled with other products to save on shipping).

For example,

1. For windows/mirrors, use 1-2 drops diluted in 16oz water, which costs less than a penny!
2. For an all purpose solution,  use 1/4 tsp (25 drops) diluted in 16oz water, which costs 3 cents!
3. To make an entire gallon, use 2 tsp (200 drops) in one gallon of water. Can you believe that will only costs you 25 cents for one gallon??
4. The degreaser solution uses 1.5 tsp (150 drops) of Basic H in 16oz water, which costs 20 cents! 

For all purpose cleaning with vinegar, as well as for cleaning glass, you would need 1 part vinegar to 1 part water, so 1 gallon of cleaning solution would use 64oz vinegar plus 64oz water.

Now check this out:

• A gallon of white vinegar ranges in cost from $1.65-$5 depending on brand. It would cost $0.80-$2.50 per gallon of diluted vinegar all purpose cleaning solution (at 1:1 ratio), 
• Or 3-10 times the cost of making Shaklee Basic H all-purpose solution, which only costs 25 cents per gallon!
• For cleaning mirrors and glass, vinegar costs 80 times more than Basic H windows solution! You'd need to buy and carry home 24 one gallon jugs of white distilled vinegar ($40-$120) to equal the cleaning power of just one 16oz bottle of concentrated Basic H ($12)!!! 
• Which would you rather buy and carry home?

I also found this interesting information about cleaning with vinegar and water:
"Vinegar and Water: This system has been used for years and some still stand by it's use. However, vinegar can be acidic for floor/furniture/cabinets finishes. Initially, you may not notice the effects, but used consistently over the years it will affect the shine of your floors and other surfaces. Additionally, using too much water in the actual application always results in problems or ruined wood floors."

Shaklee Basic H is cheaper to use than vinegar and safer to use, as it's not going to ruin your surface finishes over time like vinegar could. And Basic H is unscented, which is a big plus for me!

Here is a great chart of cost comparison between Basic H and other brands.

What do you think? Is this information enough for you to consider switching brands? Or is vinegar and water still your favorite choice?

Oh, and those friends I mentioned earlier? They tried Basic H and love it!

For more information, check out our fantastic Get Clean line, where you can safely and effectively clean your entire home without toxins!