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Borax vs Oxy-clean?

15 years ago

What is the difference between these two products? When would you use one over the other?

Thanks

Alexa

Featured Answer

HU-771539008

3 years ago

I know this is 6 months later, but I’m gonna go ahead and offer this. I use regular laundry detergent (Tide with April Fresh Downy, because it makes my house smell amazing) to make my own carpet shampoo. I mix it with (non-bleach) All Purpose Cleaner & OxiClean, and it makes a very effective, very concentrated detergent that does NOT bleach my carpets. Don’t know if this helps, being so much later.

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Comments (11)

cynic
15 years ago
You can interchange them, I have used them together. My personal experience is that Borax does better in the laundry itself and Oxy is better for pretreating. Others swear by Oxy (or is it Oxi?) for whites but I've never been overly impressed.

Borax has a variety of uses and is often forgotten as a good and frugal cleaner. It's much cheaper than Oxy. If you use a lot of oxy, it's a good idea to buy it from someplace like chemistrystore, I think the name is. Plus you get pure sodium percarbonate. Many of the cheaper oxy cleaners dilute the SP with washing soda and it's not as effective so you use more. JM2Â¢W.
i_dig_it
15 years ago
Is Oxygenated bleach the same as an oxy cleaner?

In other words if a detergent states it contains an oxygenated bleach, there would be no need to add oxi-clean?

Janet
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If you have trouble finding washing soda, check places that carry pool chemicals like hardware stores, DIY stores and the like. Washing soda is sodium carbonate and sodium carbonate is used in pools for water treatment. Just look for 100% sodium carbonate and you have washing soda, aka sodium carbonate, aka soda ash. It's ironic that people make dishwasher detergent while I buy it to use as a laundry additive! I buy the stuff for $1 a box with no lemon scent but has enzymes. Great laundry booster. Although I always keep borax around too. Many people add dishwasher detergent to their homemade laundry detergent for an enzyme boost/stain fighter. It does make a big difference in laundry from my experience. I used to use it all the time but now I'm using Tide so I don't need it very often. But occasionally I'll still soak something in it. I've also heard that it's great for soaking crusted pans to get them clean with less scrubbing. I haven't tried it but will. One word of caution, when you make things to be frugal, be sure to calculate out the true cost of it, including energy costs to make it, gas to go get special ingredients, etc then figure out the cost per use. I found that I couldn't make detergent for less than what it cost to buy it. But if you buy the ingredients in bulk and use a lot it can make a difference.
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I have to comment on something I have noticed as a 52 year old guy, The original Tide powder of the late 70's and 80's didn't need help removing stains, The Ariel powder used in Pakistan and the middle East dose not need help removing stains. This is not conjecture but a fact, The first thing I noticed when in Islamabad that to spite filthy conditions with unclean water everyones cloths where brilliant and smelled clean. The water there is pumped from ditches into a huge tank above the roof weekly, sometimes it smells bad and drinking it won't just make you sick it will kill you even if you are from there. It has to be treated and boiled before drinking or cooking with it. It is gravity fed into a old washing machine and a scoop of Ariel dose more work than a whole box of our Tide! It leaves the dirtiest cloths on earth ,sweat, dirt, cooking oil,spices just to name a few, clean white and smelling fresh and sweet. The laundry soaps we get are not the same formula as in the U.K. or any where else in the world. Same with Persil. The stuff we get is very neutered, we pay more for crap and boast how good crap is because we have never known any different. There is no really good cleaning products available in the U.S.A. Some are just worse than others.
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weedmeister
15 years ago
borax = sodium borate. A bleaching agent.
OxyClean = sodium percarbonate. In water, this releases hydrogen peroxide which acts as a bleaching agent.

From what I gather, both of these do pretty much the same thing, acting as bleaching agents by releasing hydrogen peroxide into the wash. HP is less aggressive than sodium hypochorite (chlorox).
cynic
15 years ago
Is Oxygenated bleach the same as an oxy cleaner?
Essentially, yes.

In other words if a detergent states it contains an oxygenated bleach, there would be no need to add oxi-clean?
Well, yes and no. Depends on the amount you want to put in.

And just so there's no confusion, Borax is much more that just a bleaching agent. But I think the comment was intended as a comparison of this feature.
myclementine
15 years ago
So, can you use the 2 together? I have been making laundry det. and use a mix of both of these along with Fels Naptha and Washing soda. Is that overkill?
karlasue1952
6 years ago
Why not just use straight hydrogen peroxide right out of the bottle?
Renee, Michelle Dodson
3 years ago
Hey I know these comments are from awhile ago but I am curious if anyone has more insight on the subject? Thanks
HU-253801628
3 years ago
Is there such a thing as dry hydrogen peroxide? Or is every reference using the common stuff in the brown bottles?
dadoes
3 years ago
Quoted from above --

"Weedmeister 11/5/2008 7:07p: OxyClean = sodium percarbonate. In water, this releases hydrogen peroxide which acts as a bleaching agent."

Sodium percarbonate (which is OxyClean and other such oxygen bleach products) is a dry powder.
claynfilm
3 years ago
Borax vs. Oxiclean vs. washing powder. Can I use one or a combination in carpet cleaning recipe? Worried about bleaching agents though. I will be using water and a shop vac after the initial cleaning.

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