Borax and Baking Soda – Combine for Cleaning POWER!
1. Laundry Soap
You can make your own laundry soap at home using borax and baking soda, and save a ton of money! This recipe is perfect for anyone who wants to save money.
Simply mix borax and baking soda in equal parts and use 1/4 cup per load in place of the laundry soap you spend so much money for at the store! Your clothes will come out clean, odor-free, and soft! It’s easiest to mix in a 1-gallon container (like an old pickle jar), just leave a little room at the top and shake it to combine.
You can enhance this recipe by adding grated soap (Ivory is good), washing soda, or oxygen cleaner into the mix. You can also add several drops of essential oil such as lavender or tea tree. None of these are necessary for the formula to work!
2. Fleas & Cockroaches
Fleas and roaches are disgusting – and even dangerous! Bites and feces can cause serious illness. Protect your family from both fleas and roaches AND from dangerous petrochemicals (what most insect sprays are made from).
To kill fleas and cockroaches in your home, mix borax with baking soda at a 3/4 borax to 1/4 baking soda ratio. Sprinkle the stuff everywhere you’ve got a problem…. countertops, behind the fridge, on the carpets, under your bed. Use a stiff broom to push the borax mixture into every nook and cranny, and to really work it into your carpet. If you’d like to impart a fresh scent to your home, add a couple of drops of orange or lavender essential oil.
Leave it for 24 hours. Keep pets and young children away from the area. Even though Borax is considered non-toxic (especially compared to commercial pesticides!) it is still not good for it to be in prolonged contact with skin, and it’s dangerous to ingest.
After 24 hours, sweep or vacuum it up, but wherever it’s gotten into cracks or crevasses, leave it. Note that for flea control you must also treat your pet for fleas (not with this mixture!) – consult your vet for advice. For ants, you must seal up cracks in your home that give them entry.
3. Toilets
The toilet is probably the dirtiest place in your house. It’s tempting to pour toxic chemicals in it, in an effort to kill germs. However, it’s dangerous for the environment and for your family!
The all-time best toilet bowl cleaner is a mixture of borax and baking soda! For one toilet mix 2 tablespoons of borax and one tablespoon of baking soda. If you’d like to disinfect, add a few drops of tea tree oil. Use the toilet brush to push the water out of the bowl, and sprinkle the mixture on. Scrub with the brush and flush!! If necessary, scrub and then wait 15 minutes; scrub again. This will remove stains.
Use at the same ratio to clean badly stained showers, tubs, sinks, and tile. Just rub on the stain with a soft cloth, and rinse.
4. Remove Urine Odors
Nothing smells worse than urine (human or pet) that’s soaked into something. You can remove the odor by dissolving two tablespoons of borax and two tablespoons of baking soda in a quart of hot water, and then saturate the area with it. If you’re treating carpet or a mattress, know that you need to wet a larger area than what you see on top… but you need to keep from over-wetting so the area will dry quickly! Let the solution sit for a few hours, then begin the drying process. If you have a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment you’re all set (if not, consider renting one!).
5. Remove Stains from Laundry & Carpet
If the something has stained an item, make a paste of the borax and baking soda (same ratio) and rub (really rub) it into the fabric/carpet. Let it dry (overnight usually) and then vacuum up or toss in the washer.
This can be done in conjunction with the urine odor removal process, above, to remove stains.
Note: This process may not be safe for all fabrics & carpets. Generally speaking it’s perfectly safe for colorfast, washable items.
As you can see, borax and baking soda are very versatile chemicals. Combine them and you get a powerful, safe cleaner for your home!
