apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My parents used this when I was growing up and I think they really liked it. I remember putting melaluca oil on every cut I ever got :-)

We were a part of this for awhile. Signing up for them was actually the start of our Green Revolution. We loved that we could make money with a product that we could fully stand behind.

Unfortunately, neither my fiance or myself are salespeople and to make it you really had to be. Our mentors had us pester friends, family and neighbors until they cringed when they heard or saw us. So we gave up that hope - some of the business people were just rolling in the dough from selling the products.

We continued to buy the products because... well... it's mandatory. You had to spend so many points a month. If you didn't you had a couple options, they would charge you and send you something akin to a gift certificate for future purchases, or they would charge you and send you a predetermined order of your choice, or they would charge you and send one of their own premade orders. I think you had to spend 35 points every month which translated to about $60. $60 a month is alot for cleaning and hygiene supplies.

Ultimately as I learned new "green" tricks I needed their products less and less. Trying to spend 35 points a month got harder and harder and you only need so many packs of gum and candles.

The straw that broke the camel's back was that they refused to list or give you the full ingredients of their products. The ingredients are not normally listed on the packaging but you could look them up. When I called to ask exactly what the proprietary ingredients were they refused to answer. I didn't feel right supporting a supposed natural company that wouldn't tell me what goes into their products.

I still couldn't tell you whether or not the questionable ingredients were questionable or not, but there's no doubt about what's in baking soda, vinegar and tea tree oil. Speaking of Tea Tree Oil - Melaleuca was the best deal by far. I truly miss getting tea tree oil straight from Melaleuca.

(Sorry about the long post :S )

I used these products for a few years and still have some solumel I haven't finished up yet. I really like the products but like Katie said it is difficult to keep up the monthly requirement to get the price discount. Also, I've pretty much switched to using baking soda, vinegar and a few local cleaning products I love by Bi-O-Kleen because I realized I wasn't really sure how "Green" Melaleuca's products were either given they don't list the ingredients.

I used to work with a woman who sold Melaleuca as a second job. I liked the products because they were very, very concentrated (unusual in the mid-90s), weren't perfume-y, and worked well.

Given what Katie says about the secret ingredient list above, though, I wouldn't bother seeking them out again; there are many other non-toxic cleaning options.

My sister started buying/selling Melaleuca because she didn't want toxic cleaners around my little nephews.

I have some of the cleaning products as well as some of the healthcare products and have been really happy with the products. While I didn't think I would like having to keep re-filling with the concentrate, it wasn't that big of a deal in the end.

My mother swears by their products; she says they're a little more expensive, especially because they're shipped, but they're worth it.
I had heard about the point requirement, but not the fact you could sell it to other people; now I know why my mom is trying to push these products onto my fiance and me as we set up our own apartment.
All in all, especially given the ingredient question, I'd rather use baking soda and vinegar.

My family used to get products from melaleuca, but it was hard to keep up with ordering stuff everytime we needed cleaning supplies, and it was expesive. The thing i miss the most was the sol-u-mel, it worked wonders on our stove and stove top. The beauty products were decent. You could find better products (maybe not the solumel).

Melaleuca may sell progressive products, but certainly isn't that way socially. I live near their headquarters, and have watched as they've slandered the LGBT community by actively campaigning for a very restrictive state amendment and making wild claims that vilified all LGBT people. They also printed full-page newspaper ads on a daily basis where they went on a pedophile witch-hunt against former Boy Scout leaders. This was during the trial of one man who was being accused of molesting members of his scout troop, pretty much ensuring he couldn't get a fair trial.

Here's one example: http://www.pridedepot.com/modules/wordpress/?p=1415
Here's another: http://2thinkforums.org/anyboard/archive/1128.html

I just thought people should have a more informed view of how Melaleuca chooses to practice business.