Borax is an ingredient that is often included in many natural cleaning, gardening, and craft projects. In fact, our natural goat milk laundry soap contains borax, and people often ask if it is a safe ingredient to use around children and pets.
Let’s dig into the secrets of this powerful cleaning agent.
What is Borax?
Borax is sodium tetraborate or sodium borate. The important thing to notice is the word "sodium". Borax is a salt of boric acid. Borax is NOT boric acid. These two ingredients are chemically different.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral that derives from the trace mineral boron. It is actually used in the making of boric acid. Both borax and boric acid are borates.
Borates have a low toxicity to mammals (such as humans, goats, cats, and dogs) but are more toxic to insects like ants. This is why borax and boric acid are often used in homemade, natural pesticides because they are a much safer alternative for humans than a can of commercial insect killer.
 "I love it! It's clean and I know my clothes are also clean! Your laundry soap is also saving me money as I don't have to use as much as commercial laundry detergent!" - Denise H. |
Borax vs Boric Acid
Borax and boric acid are natural products. They can occur in nature or can be made in a lab. They are a lot alike in name and chemical makeup. Thus, they are commonly confused because not only are their names similar but so is their chemistry.
But it is important to note the differences between these products. For instance, Boric acid is toxic at far smaller doses than borax if you swallow it.
It is also important to realize that many of the safety studies for borax actually either directly use boric acid or don't specify whether they've used boric acid instead of borax.
So when a borax containing product has a caution label about contact with eyes or skin, recognize that you don't know what ingredient was studied. Also understand that while a product may cause skin irritation, it doesn't make the ingredient unsafe for human use. How the ingredient is used matters.
For example, we would never recommend bathing in borax, but using it as an ingredient in laundry soap, where it completely washes clean, is different as far as safety is concerned.
 "I used the laundry soap for the first time today, I was skeptical that one little scoop would clean kitchen towels and gardening clothes. I was happily surprised, my clothes are clean and so soft." - Janet M. |
Many online articles claim that borax is dangerous because they are talking about boric acid. But they are two very different ingredients. The main thing to remember is that boric acid is generally more dangerous than borax.
Borax Safety Ratings
Borax is alkaline. It can be irritating when used on the skin undiluted, and you probably shouldn’t ingest it. When making craft projects with young children, you might want to steer away from crafts that involve borax, such as slime. Too many toddlers just have to taste it, and the best way to ensure safety is to avoid ingredients that could be harmful. Making slime with older children who can follow directions not to taste the craft project, would be much safer.
Borax has a safety rating of 1 according to the Dial Corporation’s safety data sheet. That means it’s about as safe as baking soda or salt. In fact, in nature borates have the toxicity of table salt. So, if you get borax in your eyes it will cause irritation, as would salt or baking soda.
Borax is listed with a safety rating of 5-6 by the Environmental Working Group. This group warns about skin or eye contact, and long-term ingested or undiluted use. But the studies by this publication are ambiguous because they use both boric acid and borax in the same category.
 "I appreciate the laundry detergent! Towels are soft and fluffy! NO softener!!!" - Janet S. |
Is Borax Safe?
There are a lot of different opinions as to the safety of borax. So, as always, do your research and decide for yourself. But from our research we have found:
- The warnings on borax pertain to eye and skin irritation.
- Ingestion of borax in large concentrations could be dangerous.
- The ECA and the FDA have labelled borax as a substance of concern.
- The European Union has banned the use of borax in products made for children under the age of 3 years, such as baby powders that remain on skin.
- The European Union doesn’t extend this ban to other products such as laundry products.
- As a pesticide, borax is much safer than your average bottle of insecticide.
- We couldn't locate any data proving that using borax in diluted concentrations such as in laundry soap is dangerous.
 "I just started using the laundry soap. I have been very disappointed in the liquid plant based and regular detergents. This soap results in whiter whites and bright colors." - Nancey M. |
What are the Benefits of Borax?
There is no shortage of benefits to using borax in the clothes cleaning process, and here we are going to take you through some of the most prominent and better researched benefits.
1. Borax will make sure your whites stay white.
Borax whitens your clothes without using chemicals or optical brighteners, which are chemicals designed to make your clothes look brighter than they actually are. When mixed with water, borax converts water molecules into hydrogen peroxide, which is a natural whitening agent. When using borax, there is no need for unnatural optical brighteners or even bleach in many cases. And borax isn’t only for white clothes, it will naturally brighten all your laundry, including colors and dark clothes.
2. Borax will get your clothes cleaner.
Hard water is often responsible for causing your clothes to come out of the wash not looking as clean and bright as possible. Since borax is part sodium and sodium naturally softens water, adding borax to laundry soap will help soften the water so your clothes are ultimately cleaner.
 "I love the laundry powder. It cleaned my clothes and smells better than arm and hammer detergent I was using. It also added a nice fluff on my clothes." - Joanna C. |
3. Borax keeps the soap from lingering in your clothes.
All soap, even natural soaps, can leave a residue on your laundry after you wash and rinse it. Try soaking a newly washed towel in water, and watch the residue from your average soap come out in the water. Borax, however, will help to keep the soap part of the laundry soap from sticking around in your clothes. Borax contains borates, which are minerals that will help keep the soap from sticking to your laundry.
4. Borax neutralizes odor.
Sometimes washing machines can leave your clothes smelling musty even though they have just been washed. This is particularly the case if prior to washing, the clothes/fabrics had a strong scent, such as dog beds, diapers or bedding. Borax contains enzymes that will reduce odors, leaving your clothes smelling fresh.
 "I love this laundry soap. I have a lot of allergies and I can use this on everything without concern. It does a great job of cleaning and deodorizing our clothes. With the stain stick, the clothes come out really nice. I use vinegar for softening and peroxide for whitening and brightening." - Tamara G. |
5. Borax is a natural disinfectant.
It keeps many undesirable organisms, mold, bacteria, fungi, and more from growing.
6. Borax removes stains.
Due to its alkaline pH, borax is particularly good at removing acidic stains, such as spaghetti sauce. This makes it a wonderful addition to your laundry soap, where it can help fight stains you didn’t even know existed on your clothes.
 "I ordered a trial size of the laundry detergent and I fell in love. I am anxiously awaiting my full bag. I love how it makes my clothes feel so fresh and clean!" - Tiffany F. |
With all of these benefits, borax is good for more than just laundry. Borax is commonly used as a cleaner in the kitchen, where you can use it to wipe down counters and sinks. You can even use it as a natural pest control while knowing it is a natural product that is safe since it is about as dangerous as baking soda.
As with all cleaning agents, there is a slight risk. Do not ingest borax, get it in your eyes, or use it undiluted.