Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Borax

My personal favorite brand is “20 Mule Team® Borax” because it is made in the USA, and because there are twenty donkeys on the logo. What can I say, I’m quirky like that. If you’ve never used borax, then I will try to explain to you why it should be added to your cleaning supplies. If you have used borax, then you already know what a great cleaner it is, right?

First of all, borax is a natural cleaner, and is usually found in evaporative deposits of seasonal lakes, but do you really care that California and Turkey have the largest commercial deposits? If you do, Google it. The compounds of borax are sodium, boron, oxygen and water, but these soft crystals can really work their magic.

The most common thing I use borax for is laundering. Our dog is allergic to practically everything, so washing her bedding and blankets in something that won’t cause her skin to break out is a necessity. I usually use ½ cup in place of detergent and fabric softener for anything she will be in direct contact with, or if I have a particularly soiled load, I’ll add ½ cup along with detergent and fabric softener. It is also safe to use with bleach. And because it is so gentle on the skin, perfect for baby diapers and clothes.

I also use it to clean porcelain, whether it be the toilet, sink or even the bathtub. It works great on fiberglass too. Even washing your fine china in borax will help it sparkle like new. Sucio no mas. ¡Esta limpio!

But to be honest, the real reason I originally got borax was when our dog had some bladder control issues because of the medication she was on at the time. I was tired of buying these expensive carpet cleaners, so I searched the cleaning aisles for something else that might work, came across “20 Mule Team® Borax”, and bought it. All I had to do was sprinkle the borax over the urine, rub it in a little, and let it dry until it could be vacuumed up. Anybody with youngins has had to deal with a pee-soaked mattress, and the same cleaning process works for that too.

Now I can’t imagine not having a box of it around. It is inexpensive, very environmentally friendly, has so many uses, and best of all, it works! If you want to learn more about it, I’ve placed a couple links for you to check out.

http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com
http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/borax-20muleteam.htm

1 comment:

  1. wow how cool. I use it in my laundry all of the time but I have never used it for all of the cool other things.. thanks for sharing

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