What’s the Dirt on Borax?
When seeking out natural, DIY options to clean and disinfect your home, the list of ingredients usually sounds pretty familiar: Lemon, baking soda, vinegar, club soda, salt, plus some herbs or essential oils to keep things smelling nice. Oh, and borax.
Borax?
It doesn’t sound quite like the others, does it? In fact, it sounds more like…Windex. Or Oxi-Clean! Or who knows what else. However, Borax is actually a naturally-occuring mineral compound can work as a cleaner, disinfectant, or deodorizer. (When the stuff is mixed with hot water, some of the H2O molecules turn into hydrogren peroxide–interesting, right?)
You can mix 2 tsp. of borax with 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 gallon of warm water for an effective all-purpose cleaner, or create a paste out of equal parts borax, salt, and vinegar for a heavy-duty carpet cleaner (just let the paste sit for a few hours in the carpet before vacuuming up.)
It’s essential to remember though that borax, while natural, isn’t safe for consumption the way lemon or vinegar is. The compound is toxic if ingested in large doses, so keep out of reach of kids and pets.
-Marygrace, KIWI Staffer
Tags: borax, DIY cleaning, green cleaning, natural cleaning
2 comments
great recipes–thanks for sharing them. I add it to laundry and to the lotion recipe i have.
Interesting! What sort of lotion?
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