Borax is widely used as a household cleaner. It’s a natural product, which is a combination of oxygen, sodium, and boron. People use it to boost the cleaning power of laundry detergent.
Does Borax Hurt Clothes? Unlike Lysol, borax isn’t harmful to your clothes. Therefore, you can use borax for washing both coloured and white items. It boosts the power of regular laundry detergents. Experts opine that borax is an awesome stain fighter and odour remover.
To know about various aspects of borax, read this article.
Let’s start.
Reasons for Using Borax in Laundry
Powerful stain remover
Laundry detergents can hardly fight stubborn stains. There are many powerful detergents that promise jaw-dropping results. However, you might end up with stained items after using them.
To solve this problem, use borax and make white clothes whiter. Most importantly, it works better on coloured items too.
But, how do you use borax? You can use it in two different ways. Firstly, you can use it to pre-treat stains. Make a paste by mixing it with water and applying it to your desired area. Secondly, you can mix it with detergent, when it acts as a laundry detergent booster.
Make white more white
Caring for delicate and white fabrics is tricky. Moreover, if your whites have stain marks, choose stain removers carefully.
In such situations, use borax to solve this bizarre problem. Just mix detergent with bleach and borax to keep the colour of your garments intact. If you don’t have bleach, mix borax alone with detergent and see the magic.
By the way, borax is a mineral salt that contains a 9.5 pH level. This level descends to 8 after mixing it with water, making the water perfect for cleaning.
Make hard water soft
Hard water is a concerning issue in the US. Most of you might face this issue regularly. Hard water can have detrimental effect on your steam iron. That’s why manufacturers suggest mixing tap water with ironing water to reduce the hardness level.
But, is hard water harmful to washing clothes? If you continuously use hard water, clothes may have a greyish look.
According to thespruce, take ½ cup of borax to each load to soften water. Borax provides water softening by producing a soluble calcium complex. As a result, minerals existing in water aren’t available for reactions.
Remove bad smell
Sometimes your only concern is to remove foul smell. You can use borax to eliminate bad smell and keep items fresh.
Fungus and mold infestation may give your clothes a musty smell. To neutralize such odours, use borax. Moreover, it helps you in eradicating ammonia smell from baby outfits, bed pads, and diapers.
Eliminate soap residue
Laundry soap may leave on the surface of your garments. These residues may change the look of your outfits.
To remove soap residues, mix borax with water and thoroughly rinse clothes with this solution. I believe you’ll be amazed at the final look of your stunning denim pants or cashmere scarf.
Remove living organism from clothes
Disinfecting clothes can be a big issue in this pandemic time. However, there is an easy solution. To effectively kill mold, fungus, and bacteria on garments, wash clothes with borax.
Is Borax safe for humans?
According to healthline, some people believe that borax is a green product. Their logic is that it doesn’t contain chlorine or phosphate. Its main ingredient is sodium tetraborate, a mineral salt found mainly in Turkey and the US.
Some people confuse borax with boric acid. The latter, boric acid, is mainly used to kill unwanted animals or organisms. In contrast, borax is a natural product, which isn’t 100% safe too.
Borax may irritate skin and eyes. Most importantly, you never ever swallow borax. If you accidentally do so, visit the nearby medical centre or hospital as soon as possible.
Moreover, borax is associated with the following adverse health conditions. These are-
- Death
- Toxicity
- Irritation
- Skin rash
- Nausea
- Respiratory problem
- Eye irritation
- Mouth infection
- Hormone issues
That’s why you should always handle this product with care. Never allow your children to play with borax. If so, it may result in horrible accidents.
Is Borax harmful to pets?
Borax is harmful to pets too. Your dog may show symptoms like diarrhoea, vomiting, excessive thirst, and stomach pain within two hours of ingesting borax.
Most importantly, chronic ingestion of this mineral salt may result in organ failures of your beloved dogs.
Like dogs, cats are vulnerable to borax too. If ingested, your cats may show some health-related complications. These are-
- Internal organ failure
- Skin irritation
- Poisoning
- Breathlessness
- Allergic reactions
In such situations, bring your pets to vet as quickly as possible. Your vet may pump out borax from stomach of your dogs or cats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use borax as laundry detergent?
You can use borax as laundry detergent to effectively fight stains and retain colour of your clothes. Because of such pros, borax is used as a crucial ingredient in many laundry detergents. Apart from that, borax-
- Always stays gentle on items.
- Boosts the cleaning power of detergent.
- Acts as a water softener.
That’s why you can use borax as laundry detergent. However, you should wash clothes properly after applying borax. Otherwise, it may irritate skin if you have sensitive skin.
