What is Borax?

Borax is a white dried powder substance that’s also known as sodium borate — or sodium tetraborate.

It is MANY things and usually marketed as a household cleaner, made of boron, sodium and oxygen.. what you also may not know is that it is used as a laundry booster, flea killer, and a “green cleaner,” and it’s been around since the late 19th century.

Powdered borax has exceptional cleaning power when added to washing soda or laundry detergent.

You can also mix borax with many cleaning agents including chlorine bleach. This mixture produces an effective stain removal and disinfectant for domestic laundry purposes.

Or you can create your own DIY all-purpose cleaner by adding equal parts borax and baking soda for fighting grime and mildew around the house.

Borax has a base pH of 9.5, which allows for an even spread of cleaning agent molecules over the stained surface. On the industrial front, borax decahydrate is used as a preservative and in manufacturing insecticides and disinfectants. It is also used in slime making, as a fungicide and is inflammable. Its white crystalline powder has a melting point of 741℃ and dissolves in water to form hydrogen peroxide.