A new efficient and environmentally friendly procedure for the synthesis of a series of salicylaldehyde-based Schiff bases under conventional method is described. The method is compared with the microwave irradiation method also. The present work involves condensation of salicylaldehyde with various aromatic amines in water under the conventional method. A judicious choice of the solvent and reaction conditions allowed the final products to be generated in excellent yields in a one-step procedure, whereas experiments under thermal conditions led to lower yields with tedious work-up. The conventional method gives advantages like reduction in reaction time, increase in conversion, reduced wastes, and good yields.