Borax
A mildly alkaline borate salt with a long history in laundry and a regulatory position that differs by country. Rated an oxidiser and a health hazard by the sheet that covers it.
Precautions
- Wear gloves
- Keep away from children and pets
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
In detail
Borax is sodium borate decahydrate, and it recurs constantly in traditional and viral cleaning advice — laundry booster, ant deterrent, mould treatment, slime ingredient — with almost none of that advice mentioning that it is a regulated substance. The New Jersey Department of Health's inorganic borates sheet names the decahydrate explicitly among the compounds it covers, describes the family as white to grey powders used in cleaning compounds, glass products, fertilizers, glazes and enamels, rates them 2 for health, and carries the word oxidiser on the hazard banner. Contact can irritate skin and eyes, and the compounds can be absorbed through the skin as well as inhaled. Chemically it is a weak base in solution with some buffering ability, which is the property behind its use as a laundry booster: it holds the wash liquor mildly alkaline, where most detergents work better. Its reactivity is short — incompatible with strong acids. One caution travels with it: supply to consumers is restricted or reformulated in several jurisdictions, so a product sold under the name may not contain it, and the regulator's sheet does not address supply rules anywhere.
Properties
- Chemical name
- Sodium tetraborate decahydrate
- pH
- Mildly alkaline
Why
- Borax is explained by pH in cleaning
Hacks and claims involving this
- Borax for mould Unresolved
Sources for this page
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Borate Compounds, Inorganic (RTK 0241)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2009 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That the sheet covers sodium borate decahydrate, that inorganic borates are used in cleaning compounds, are rated 2 for health and carry an oxidiser banner, and that they are incompatible with strong acids. (states this directly)