40 Mule Team Borax
reader77
12 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (22)
jannie
12 years agoarkansas girl
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Help -- too much Borax in garden
Comments (15)Before you amend your soil any further by guessing, get your soil tested. Your Extension Service can provide you with soil testing information. Mine was only $9.00, less than the cost of some strictly pH tests, and far more thorough. No guessing at what might need to be added, no money wasted. Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities and horticultural research scientists who have collected data from growing those crops in your state. Your tax dollars are already paying for this service so you may as well get some use out of it. Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area. See how detailed this example is:...See MoreUsing borax to kill ants
Comments (49)Boric acid kills ants not borax. Small black ants like living wood and are tough to get rid of them. I hope she has pulled up those wooden timbers because that's probably where they were/are living. Why do you not want these guys in your garden? They're aphid farmers and will carefully put their herds all over your crops. Fire ants are another big no-no to have in your garden, yard or property for that matter. Fire ants are non-native to North America. These tiny terrors kill 1 or 2 people a year generally people with allergies or the bedridden. But they will strip your garden of anything they want, including squash, tomatoes and few other "water" heavy vegetables during a drought. They will attack you if get near their mound, in a swarm attack, with the mound emptying out to go after the invader. For the person who is not allergic it's a stinging fiery bite, that raises a blister on most people. One is annoying, a few are painful but many may make you sick. Keep Benadryl around if you live in fire ant claimed land. Thanks to fire ants each year agricultural losses run somewhere around 6 billion and we all pay for it each time we shop for food, clothes and medicines. I don't like flagrant use of pesticide but there are times we have to do something to protect ourselves, our families, our homes and our gardens from from insects. I use no more then I must, ground based and carefully. As to why I know about fire ants, I became interested in learning about them after nearly dying from them as a small child....See Moreboric acid v. 20 Mule Team borax
Comments (104)Hoosiergirl... the molecule of borax or boric acid that kills insects is the boron molecule. It takes decades to degrade. Air moisture might cause clumping of the powder and unable to stick to the legs of insects crawling across it but it will remain active as a killing agent for decades. another user, for termites or ants... HOT water is used because boric acid has a low soluble point in water. Using hot water increases the amount that can be dissolved in water. The idea behind this is to dissolve as much boric acid in water as possible then water log the wood so it absorbs the boron molecules. So the insects that eat the wood also eat the poison. It is effective and treated wood you would buy at a store use that method along with pressing it more to make it harder and harder for insects to bite....See MoreBorax or Washing Soda?
Comments (11)OK here's an interesting followup. One annoyance I've always had about laundering is basically: I have a good nose. A lot of people don't realize that standard, scented LD makes the formulation chemist's job a little easier because it will mask that last of the scents that don't wash out. My rich brother has a top of the line FL, he's had a couple actually I think current is a Bosch, and I'm sure uses the best scented Tide PODs or whatever rich people are doing their laundry with. But I've spotted a load of his family laundry after washing one day at his house, looking around to see that nobody was watching and smelled it, and I can pick up the 'base notes' of human odors under the gross faux floral or whatever top notes. Since I've always used fragrance free, I'm used to 2 annoying issues: armpits and socks. Apparently just too many odor molecules get concentrated in those areas, it's hard to get them completely out. With armpits, for my dress shirts back in the olden days when I actually had to go to an office for my IT consulting job 😃 - I would pre-spray with diluted household ammonia, 1/3 mixed with 1/3 IPA and water. This mix seemed to help the detergents attack the under arm odor molecules. (One thing going on I think is that deodorant/antiperspirant actually helps fix the odor to the fabric. So a base and an alcohol helps loosen it. This odor is actually a mix of raw nasty underarm + whatever scent is in the deodorant bar...for me arm & hammer's citrus one) For the socks, I just accepted they would have a slight footy odor even after laundering. If you make the water really alkaline with A LOT of added soda ash or ammonia...like 2 cups of the latter or 2/3 cup of the former, it probably got rid of *more* of it...but that much base is probably bad for the clothes in addition to a bit wasteful. So I spotted Mule Team borax last time I was at my local grocery store and thought, "what the heck...to thumb my nose at the EU, I'm just going to buy this." (LOL, JK...I'm not a brexiter, or a trumper - all my electric power come from solar...but I do hate stupid laws based on pseudoscience) I tried just a small amount in my "test" load...about a tablespoon. I'd already established that Tide Free and Gentle...although it already contains a bit of sodium borate and seems well formulated - still left a bit of sock odor. And <= a tablespoon is not an amount of soda ash/washing soda that would fix my sock odor problem. Well...holy mackerel...lo and behold...cor blimey...I could not believe it...sock odor almost completely resolved!!! I'm sold! I don't know what about the chemistry of borax would be different from other bases but it seems there is. Can't find much in the interwebs specifically answering why it would have this effect other than generally being antifungal in a way washing soda would not be. it does say right on the label "neutralizes odors" har har har...I guess they aren't lying....See Morecocontom
12 years agoreader77
12 years agotimberframe4us
12 years agoUser
9 years agocleangeek
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
9 years agoMichael
9 years agojoey2008
9 years agolascatx
9 years agoUser
9 years agojoey2008
9 years agograinlady_ks
9 years agojoey2008
9 years agocleangeek
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoey2008
9 years agocleangeek
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
9 years agoBunny Safe
9 years agoUser
9 years ago
Related Stories
LIFEThe Top 5 Ways to Save Water at Home
Get on the fast track to preserving a valuable resource and saving money too with these smart, effective strategies
Full StoryGREEN BUILDINGEcofriendly Cool: Insulate With Wool, Cork, Old Denim and More
Learn about the pros and cons of healthier alternatives to fiberglass and foam, and when to consider an insulation switch
Full StoryWHITEWhite Slipcovers for Pure Practicality
With a washing machine and bleach on your side, white slipcovers for couches and chairs keep your furniture looking pristine
Full StoryCOMMUNITYCommunity Spirit: The Neighbors Who Became Family
A collective-living project in Sweden offers the privacy of a home and the benefits of family life, including home-cooked dinners
Full StoryMORE ROOMSHow to Give Your Laundry a Boost
An organized laundry room is a great start. Here's what else you can do to keep your clothes in top form
Full StoryLIFEWe Can Work It Out: Living (and Cleaning) Together
Run a household without fussing and fighting with these ideas for how to work together on household chores
Full StoryPHOTO FLIP94 Dream Bedscapes
Picture yourself in one of these settings for a stylish night’s sleep
Full StoryVACATION HOMESWorld of Design: 10 Great Escapes Built for R&R
These vacation homes from around the globe will make you want to take flight
Full Story
livebetter