Common name: Sodium borate. Sodium tetraborate. Disodium tetraborate.
Chemical formula: B4O7Na2. 10H2O
Borax is a white crystalline powder refined from boron salt deposits that are found in dry lake beds. 20 Mule team Borax is a familiar natural household cleaner and laundry detergent booster available in most grocery stores. It softens water, which makes other cleansers more effective. This product is named for the 20-mule team wagons that were originally used during the 1880s to haul “cottonballs,” chunks of sodium and calcium borate minerals, out of Death Valley in California. Deposits of borax are also found in Romania, Turkey, Bolivia, Chile, and Tibet. Borax is a combination of boron, sodium, and oxygen. It is useful as an insecticide since borax crystals will kill cockroaches, ants, spiders, and crickets if they ingest it. For a fun kids activity, make Slime or Flubber! Borax is one of the ingredients used. You can find some recipes here.
Homeopathic Borax is useful for complaints of the mucous membranes, including ulcers of the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. This remedy is used for oral thrush or candidiasis in both baby and nursing mother. There is a hypersensitivity to noise and fear of any downward motion. Babies will scream when they are put down and they do not like to be tossed up and down. Children will not like to swing or go down stairs by themselves. Adults needing this remedy may be fearful or anxious on a escalator, in an elevator, or during landing when on an airplane.
Keynotes:
- Easily startled by sound, hypersensitive to noise
- Nightmares, child starting and shrieking in sleep
- Fear from any downward motion, fear of falling
- Nervous, anxious, fidgety, dislikes strangers
- Irritable, peevish, especially before stool
- Headache at 10 am
- Mouth ulcers, canker sores, oral thrush, patches are hot, sensitive, and bleed easily
- Stomach pain, cramping and diarrhea after eating fruit, greenish or slimy stool
- Ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract
- Erysipelas, a bacterial skin infection, during pregnancy
- Genital thrush, candidiasis with egg white like burning discharge
- Motion sickness with nausea and vomiting
- Chillblains, cold blue hands alternating with heat of hands
- Eruptions of eczema on fingers
Information contained on this site is for educational purposes only and should not be used to prescribe, diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. Any information provided is not intended to replace medical advice offered by a physician. If you desire or need such advice, you should consult a professional healthcare provider.