Inexpensive and readily available, powdered borax, also known as sodium tetraborate, is a naturally occurring common boron mineral salt. Borax is a component in a diverse array of laundry soaps, bath salts, hand soaps, cleaning products, and cosmetics. It’s a product homesteaders have used for more than 100 years.
First discovered in dry lakebeds of Tibet in the eighth century, the soft, colorless crystals did not gain popularity until the early 19th century when massive deposits of the mineral were discovered in California and Nevada.
Borax was originally marketed with a name that represented its method of transport from the high desert mines to the processing plant: 20 Mule Team Borax.
Borax is odorless, isn’t absorbed through the skin, costs just pennies per application, is environmentally friendly and has dozens of helpful applications in the home and around the homestead. Read on to discover a wealth of diverse ways that borax can be your go-to, low-cost, environmentally friendly product to use for most any homestead chore.
1. Remove Stains From Clothes
Did you know that borax deodorizes your laundry, softens hard water, removes stains, whitens whites, disinfects, and prolongs the longevity of clothing and linens? As a laundry booster, borax is the best.
To remove the toughest stains, mix the juice of one lemon with 1 cup of borax. Add enough distilled white vinegar to make a thick paste. Spread the paste on stubborn stains, rubbing the stained spot gently with a soft brush. Throw the stained item in the wash. Add one cup of borax to the laundry load, wash, and rinse.
2. Brighten Clothes
硼砂和漂白剂可以安全地混合在一起,帮助你暗淡的衣服变白。这里有一个简单的提示,让你的床单和毛巾变白。用1加仑水,½杯硼砂和1 / 4杯普通漂白剂,将暗淡、发黄或灰色的亚麻布预先浸泡在热水中。
If you prefer to use concentrated chlorine bleach, use just 3 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water. Make sure all items are completely submerged in the pre-soak liquid. Soak for an hour or overnight and then wash and rinse.
If you wish to brighten colored clothing, use the same recipe with warm water and all-fabric bleach, formulated for colors. It is gentler on colored fabric than chlorine bleach.
3. Clean Up Rusty Tools
硼砂是一种强大的除锈剂、清洁剂和天然消毒剂。生锈的工具和农具用硼砂和柠檬汁擦洗后,看起来又亮又新。
将硼砂和柠檬汁混合,搅拌至糊状。用一块布把浆糊涂在生锈的工具上。用混合物擦洗工具,然后用清水冲洗干净。用柔软干净的布擦干你的工具,保存起来,直到你再次需要它们。
Or, dissolve 1 cup of borax powder and 2 cups of white vinegar in a gallon of hot water. Use the solution to scrub down and disinfect garden tools, livestock water tanks, pet dishes, garden furniture, toys, and playground equipment.
4. Clean The Garbage Disposal
Pour a ½ cup of borax down the garbage disposal. Let it sit for 10 minutes, run the disposal, and flush out the build-up with hot water. Your garbage disposal will be sparkling clean, disinfected and odor-free.
5. Remove Toilet, Sink, and Countertop Stains
To remove resistant stains in the toilet bowl, add a cup of borax to the bowl and let it sit overnight. Scrub all the gunk away with a toilet bowl brush and flush the toilet.
On stained sinks and countertops, sprinkle borax powder on a damp cloth and scrub away rust and water stains. Rinse with warm water and polish with a dry, non-abrasive cloth. Using borax regularly provides an added bonus of keeping drains running freely and smelling fresh.
6. Get Rid Of Mildew And Mold
Scrubs surfaces where mold accumulates with a solution of ½ cup of vinegar, ½ cup of baking soda, and ½ cup of borax dissolved in hot water. Do not rinse.
7. Utilizing Borax On Dishes
Equal parts baking soda and borax are an inexpensive homemade dishwasher soap that cuts through grease as effectively as high-priced, chemical-laden commercial products.
If baked-on food makes cleaning pots and pans a challenge, soak hard-to-clean dishes and pots in a solution of hot water and ½ cup of borax.
8. Clean The Dishwasher
If your dishwasher is leaving bits of food, stains, or cloudy glassware, it’s trying to tell you that the dishwasher itself needs a good cleaning. Borax does the job.
Sprinkle a heavy amount of borax powder on the inside door and bottom of the dishwasher. Scrub with a wet brush. Run your next load of glassware, silverware, dishes, and pots and pans as normal. You will be amazed at the difference. For sparking, dazzling dishes every time, add ½ cup of borax to every dishwasher load.
9. Get Rid Of Insects
如果蟑螂、蠼螋、蚂蚁、臭虫、螨虫、蜱虫或跳蚤一直困扰着你的家园,硼砂就是解决办法。
将四分之一杯糖和四分之一杯硼砂粉混合。加入足够多的水,使其变成粘稠的糊状物。在碟子或瓶盖上轻轻擦一点,然后把它放在橱柜和橱柜的后面。当昆虫摄入这种混合物时,它们就会死亡。
To get rid of bed bugs, sprinkle borax powder on your mattress, and allow it to remain on the mattress surface for an hour or longer, then vacuum. Borax also kills dust mites and fleas that often infest bedding.
Keep in mind, borax, in small amounts, is not toxic to pets or people. However, be sure to read instructions and warning labels printed on the packaging.
10. Kill Weeds Naturally
硼砂粉直接洒在植物上可以杀死任何植物。这是一种清除人行道、露台和车道裂缝中讨厌的杂草的简单而廉价的方法。硼砂没有区别对待,所以除草解决方案必须谨慎使用。不要在预报有雨的时候使用,以避免径流伤害其他理想的植物。
To eradicate irritating weeds, mix ½ cup of borax with 1 gallon of water, and apply it to the base of the plant as a liquid herbicide.
11. Clean Carpets
When household rugs and carpeting smell less than fresh and clean, this borax and baking soda solution can help eliminate even the nastiest odors.
Create a heavy, odor-lifting absorbent carpet cleaning powder by combining 3 cups of baking soda, 3 cups of borax, and 20-30 drops of any combination of your favorite essential oils. My personal choice is a blend of an equal amount of frankincense, clary sage, and cedar essential oils. The best way to mix the solution is to place all ingredients in a wide-mouth plastic jug.
选择一个有把手的罐子,这样容易摇晃。摇匀。将清洁混合物均匀地洒在地毯和地毯上。让粉末在地毯上停留至少30分钟,如果你喜欢的话,可以放一整夜,尽可能地吸收气味。
The mixture also soaks up trapped-in dirt and grease. Vacuum rugs and carpets to whisk grime and odor away. The borax in the mixture also kills fleas, earwigs, stink bugs, and dust mites that tend to hide in rugs and carpeting.
12. Deodorize Outdoor Gear
把上面的吸湿粉撒在靴子和野营装备上,以备过冬。这种廉价的粉末不仅能去除霉味,还能防止蜘蛛、虫子和其他令人毛骨悚然的害虫进入你的装备。在使用前,将撒有粉末的物品在室外充分摇晃,以去除任何残留。
References
- Safe Substitutes for Hazardous Household Products, Oldham County Kentucky
- A Century of Ensuring Safe Foods and Cosmetics, US Food and Drug Administration
- Borax, Twenty Mule Team
qadeerzaeemsays
作为洗衣助推器,硼砂是最好的。硼砂和漂白剂可以安全地混合在一起,帮助你暗淡的衣服变白。硼砂是一种强大的除锈剂、清洁剂和天然消毒剂。borax are an inexpensive homemade dishwasher soap that cuts through grease as effectively as high-priced