Borax is effective in areas like laundry, where it removes stains and odors well, and in the bathroom where it's excellent at cleaning toilets. Meanwhile, baking soda can be used more in areas like the kitchen where it's great at cleaning sinks and ovens.
I find borax particularly useful for whitening yellowed pillows and stripping oily residues from bed sheets. However, I will note that borax performs best in hot water, so if you normally use cold or warm water in your laundry, you may get better results using washing soda instead.
This method combines one teaspoon of borax and one teaspoon of baking soda in a bowl. Pour half a glass of hot water and stir until the ingredients dissolve. Then, use a sponge or cloth to scrub the paste onto the stain. Together, they are the best way to clean laundry.
Borax is extremely alkaline (pH of around 9.1), which creates a basic solution that can help fight acidic stains (like tomato, coffee, or mustard) when dissolved in water and used as a pre-treating solution. When added to a load of laundry, borax can help get white clothes whiter.
Instead of sprinkling borax in the bottom of your trash can, try baking soda or used (or fresh) coffee grinds, which all work wonders. You can also use baking soda and water to clean your trash can. Throw in some vinegar for extra odor-fighting action.
While the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies borax as being noncarcinogenic, it does pose some risks, including: skin, eye, and respiratory irritation. digestive problems. infertility.
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.
Add to Each Laundry Load
Add one-half cup of borax to each load to boost the cleaning power of your detergent.
Vinegar and Borax Are Safe to Use In HE Washers.
Washing soda (sodium carbonate) has a very high pH level, making it an extreme alkaline compound that is very effective as a cleaning agent. Borax (sodium tetraborate) pH levels aren't as high as washing soda, and it doesn't have the same cleaning power as washing soda.
Oxiclean powder is essentially washing soda with sodium percarbonate, which turns into hydrogen peroxide. It's color safe and works great to get rid of stains and keeps whites white and colors bright. It's also much safer / less toxic than Borax. Borax works well too, helps get rid of stains, and whitens clothes.
Unlike bleach, borax is safe to use on colored fabrics without fear of dye removal or other damage. This general rule applies whether borax is used as a laundry booster in the washing machine, as part of a pre-soak solution, as a spot treatment for stains or as an ingredient in homemade laundry detergent.
OxiClean contains several ingredients, but the important one for boosting and brightening laundry is sodium percarbonate — basically, dry hydrogen peroxide plus washing soda (also called sodium carbonate, which is very similar to but not exactly baking soda).
When paired with your laundry detergent,ARM & HAMMER™ Baking Soda uses the power of pure sodium bicarbonate — a natural occurring substance — to: Neutralize odours by balancing pH levels, and. Soften wash water, so you can use less detergent or bleach— and make it more effective.
Baking soda makes a great laundry product because of its mild alkali qualities. Dirt and grease are easily dissolved, while clothes are softened. It is especially helpful in homes with hard water because it will clean clothes better, and prevent the stain buildup that can come with hard water.
Although vinegar and baking soda shouldn't be harmful to your washing machine if used in moderate amounts, extreme use can impact some of the coatings on the drive shaft components, which are the parts responsible for switching cycles from agitate to spin.
Pour ½ cup of borax powder to every gallon you used. Stir to agitate the borax and dissolve it. Soak your clothes for 30 minutes. Transfer clothes to your washing machine and wash them like normal.
Baking soda is safe to use on black clothes as it won't cause the colors to fade. However, it's a good idea to not use too much baking soda right away and spot test your clothes before washing them. Simply make a solution of baking soda using four tablespoons per glass of water.
If you're looking for a substitute fabric softener, all you need to do is add ½ cup of distilled vinegar onto the rinse cycle. In case you're looking to neutralize odors and whiten your clothes, then add ½ cup of Borax and ½ of vinegar.
Borax has long been recognized for its disinfectant and deodorizing properties. Mix a 1/2 cup of Borax into 1 gallon of hot water or undiluted vinegar and clean with this solution.
Don't use Borax at the same time as vinegar or you'll just create a nice little acid-base reaction and make salt. What is this? When using Borax to help soften or condition your water, for both high efficiency and most top-loading washing machines add 1/2 cup of Borax per load.
Some of the insects that borax kills include ants, flies, and other insect larvae. Borax is an ant poison, and it controls flies around manure piles. It also prevents larvae from growing. The main insect borax kills are termites.
And then there's the fact that you can safely consume baking soda, while borax should not be eaten, inhaled, or even exposed to your skin. That doesn't mean it's not “safe.” Rather, it is to say that baking soda is, on the whole, a milder cleaning agent than borax.
Kill Boxelder Beetles and Other Pests
Ants aren't the only thing borax will kill. In fact, many companies make borax insecticides designed to get rid of household pests. Sprinkle borax powder along the edges of your sidewalk, foundation, and driveway to get rid of boxelder beetles and cockroaches.