Borax is a safe pool chemical that helps maintain the ideal pH level in your pool. It can also eliminate algae and bacteria, keeping your pool water clean and comfortable to swim in. It's affordable and readily available, and you only need to add it to your pool water once!
Borax acts as an effective pH buffer and helps prevent algae growth in swimming pools. Plus, it will leave your water looking sparkly and feeling soft.
If your water is full of metals or you have saltwater that has unstable or drifting pH, you should use borax to prevent pH-related pool issues like metal stains, corrosion, cloudy water, calcium scaling, and algae growth. Borax should be used in a concentration between 30–50 ppm.
Use a pool brush to vigorously scrub any pool surfaces covered in algae, including the walls, floors and steps. Apply a green algaecide according to the directions on the label. Let the water circulate for 24 hours, then brush the pool surfaces again. Vacuum or backwash to remove any remaining dead algae.
Borax has a pH of about 9.2 and it will raise the pH of the pool water when added.
Using my borax pool calculator, determine how much borax you need to add to your pool. Your water's chemical composition is what primarily determines this. I recommend adding about 20 ounces of borax for every 5,000 gallons of water in your pool. This amount will help increase the pH by approximately 0.5.
This can make the pH level decrease too much, so you'll need to go through the trouble of raising it again. On the other hand, adding lots of borax to the pool isn't recommended. Borax has a very high pH of roughly 9.5, which can make the pool water's pH level increase too much.
Shock Your Pool
Shocking is the process of adding chemicals to your pool to raise chlorine levels and kill bacteria and algae. We recommend using a calcium hypochlorite shock to treat your algae problems.
We recommend using calcium hypochlorite shock, or cal-hypo shock, as an effective algae treatment. Follow the package instructions to determine the dose for your pool size, then multiply that by two, three, or four depending on which type of algae you've got.
Borax can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if you ingest it by itself, and large amounts can lead to shock and kidney failure. It's banned in U.S. food products. It also can irritate your skin and eyes, and it can hurt your nose, throat, and lungs if you breathe it in.
Not all products react with bleach in that way. I can assure you that borax is NOT one of them! It is safe to mix with chlorine bleach and detergent, which has been proven to improve the cleaning power of both. Think of borax as a maintenance product that will keep white things white.
Using warm water helps the Borax dissolve the stains more easily. Just remember that the more clothes and the more water you use, the more Borax you'll need to add.
First, make sure to keep it away from children's reach. Second, avoid using it as a cosmetic product and handle it with care at all times. This usually means wearing a mask and gloves when using it. Finally, do NOT mix Borax with any boric acid products, such as pesticides.
Borax: Helps to clean and deodorize. Use on wallpaper, painted walls and floors. Use it with your detergent to remove stains and boost cleaning power. Vinegar: Helps remove stains, wax build-up and mildew.
Ants that eat a borax bait will typically die within 24-48 hours.
Bromine has been shown to be an even faster killer than chlorine so choosing a two-part bromine algae system where you add the algae product and follow with a chlorine or a chlorine free oxidizer to produce active bromine. There are also ammonia salt products that can be used along with liquid chlorine as a shock.
There are a lot of reasons why algae keep returning to pools. The most common of these reasons are: Low levels of chlorine or chlorine getting burned up too fast before it gets the opportunity to kill the algae.
Scrub the black algae away with a good, stiff pool brush. This will help break down the protective layer and make it easier to treat. Break a chlorine tablet in half and rub it directly onto the affected areas. The chlorine treatment will kill the algae's roots and prevent it from coming back.
Bleach is great for killing algae (and other organisms that may lurk in your tanks) and for keeping it from coming back.
Your Best Weapon Against Algae
Chlorine—yep, your typical sanitizer—is much more effective at killing algae than algaecide is. Even if your water gets cloudy and your walls get slimy, chlorine can still kill it.
In the same way that baking soda can be a spot treatment for black algae, household borax does the same for blue and green algae. Simply use the borax to scrub away algae that's sticking to your pool walls, then use the brush to dislodge it. Follow up by vacuuming up or scooping out the free-floating algae.
The second way is to use 20 Mule Team Borax product, and an amount of pH decreaser to bring the pH back in line after addition of borax to your pool. You'll need a lot of Borax and acid to do the job. For a 20,000 gal pool, about 60 lbs of Borax, and 4 gallons of acid.
Add to Each Laundry Load
Less expensive liquid laundry detergents are often mainly water and do not contain sufficient active ingredients to leave freshly-washed clothes clean. Add one-half cup of borax to each load to boost the cleaning power of your detergent.
Both baking soda and Borax are effective because they are alkaline and abrasive. But Borax has a higher PH than baking soda, making it a slightly harsher but arguably more effective cleaning agent. It inhibits fungi, mold, and bacteria.