Does anyone here use borax?

timothyskinner

Well, I obtained a tub of real (not substitute) borax and.... the fleas didn't seem bothered by it. So, I was left with the last resort of a pest removal company who sprayed the house for £50 then had to come back once (no charge) to re-spray. Flea free house at last. I spent about £50 on spray cans, powders and borax. Another time - I'll just get the pest guys with their insecticide in straight away...

Caterina

timothyskinner wrote: »

Well, I obtained a tub of real (not substitute) borax and.... the fleas didn't seem bothered by it. So, I was left with the last resort of a pest removal company who sprayed the house for £50 then had to come back once (no charge) to re-spray. Flea free house at last. I spent about £50 on spray cans, powders and borax. Another time - I'll just get the pest guys with their insecticide in straight away...

Sorry to hear about your flea problem not being resolved by Borax. I had an infestation of cat fleas in one of our rooms and I just closed the room and starved the fleas for two weeks, then went in and washed the floor with a strong bleach solution. No more fleas.

Where did you buy the Borax please? I use it in my laundry and am now unable to find it anywhere! Thanks.

magsmag

I have tried a number of large and small branches of Boots for Borax....One branch (Feb 2011), the lady at the chemists counter spoke to me in a low voice....saying...it was kept below the counter if anyone asked for it....apparently used for bomb making.....but all the other Boots stores....even the larger branches denied having it....ok....so I won't go back to Boots.

I think most Robert Dyas stores sell it. I bought mine there today....and have seen the boxes in a variety of their stores. It is sold as Borax substitute. I have asked different assistants in Robert Dyas what this meant...no one knew. I looked up the Internet. It said it was just the very same stuff....but had to be called that due to some European Regulation....so I was happy with this....I bought 2 boxes today. I want to use it as I live in a hard water area...to soften the water.....Was looking up the net again tonight and saw a site that mentioned there was a slight difference to it now....You can still use it for laundry/cleaning purposes but not for pest control. There was a very old post on here from someone who tried to use it on the carpet to get rid of fleas.......I thought I would mention this as it does say on the site I was in it is no longer effective for pest control......Mind you....fleas are tricky....they are everywhere and can hibernate for a long period.
Anyway.....I hope my information is correct....if not...I'm sorry....I've only put together what I've read on Google.....but in the uk......forget Boots.....go to Robert Dyas or Amazon.

Red_Doe

You can buy real Borax on Ebay, usually the seller will be listing other chemicals too. The substitute has lost it`s usefulness for quite a few other things due to the removal of an ingredient, something to do with EU regulations (grrr) so when I use Borax for dry preserving bird skins (I`m a taxidermist) it must be the original.
The substitute will be fine for laundry and cleaning purposes but not for pest control or taxidermy

mouldylocks

Thought someone might be interested in these two well reviewed remedies, as above shows borax still available:

Step 1. Vacuum 1st (it stimulates them and sucks up the live ones) and throw the bag out.

Step 2: Wear a mask (not great to inhale while you are putting it down). Mix 2/3 Borax with 1/3 ordinary salt, and fill a homemade shaker with it (Pringles can with many holes pierced etc.) Shake into the carpets/floors/closets - whatever area needs treating.

Step 3: Take a broom and brush it in-this is an important step-again-don't skip this.

Step 4: Leave it in the carpet for as long as possible-goal is 7 days. Why? Because fleas don't die in an hour-Borax will dry the larvae out.

Step 5: Vacuum it all up and throw the bag away-Outside.

Still have fleas? Repeat process. Why? The larvae may be in different stages, so you may have to repeat. Mine was infested and this works. The only reason people are saying it does not work is because they are not giving it time (7 days) and not brushing it in with a broom-the eggs are down in the carpet-not on top.


This WORKS!!! I have used for years, forgot where I found it.
1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1 cup table salt.

Mix well and sprinkle evenly as possible on carpet, area rugs.
Leave overnight, vacuum well the next day. Repeat within 30 days, then as needed. When you find it works, you can mix a large equal batch and save in plastic container.
Non toxic. Repeat as needed.
Works like a charm. we have 2 dogs (extra large ones) indoor/outdoor, and 5 cats indoor/outdoor..NO FLEAS = HAPPY FAMILY

doctordave_2

Borates are currently big news in the chemical industry. New legislation has seen them be reclassified as hazardous and a ban on using them in consumer products is on the cards.

Mollymoonlight

doctordave wrote: »

Borates are currently big news in the chemical industry. New legislation has seen them be reclassified as hazardous and a ban on using them in consumer products is on the cards.

I'm with you on this one, the MSDS for sodium tetraborate shows it to be a respiratory sensitiser. I've just read a blog post which talks about a six year old child making up laundry soap as their chore, and using a whisk to mix it! :eek:

JamesFews

The reason why Borax has been banned is because of the pharma companies. Its a very cheap, extremely efficient way of cleaning clothes and pretty much everything else. Its made up of Borate which is known to cure arthritis in people.

Have a look at this very interesting read. Type 'The Borax Conspiracy' into Google and it should be the first hit. A website called health science spirit . com

We all know how the pharma companies don't like losing money, Boron was going to be a major factor of them losing money so they threw their weight around and got it banned in a lot of places.

Same reason washing machines and any other electrical equipment breaks...if it lasted forever like it used to, the companies would go out of business. This isn't crackpot conspiracy, its basic economics.

Enjoy the read.

MoonJelly

JamesFews wrote: »

The reason why Borax has been banned is because of the pharma companies. Its a very cheap, extremely efficient way of cleaning clothes and pretty much everything else. Its made up of Boron which is known to cure arthritis in people.

Have a look at this very interesting read. Type 'The Borax Conspiracy' into Google and it should be the first hit. A website called health science spirit . com

We all know how the pharma companies don't like losing money, Boron was going to be a major factor of them losing money so they threw their weight around and got it banned in a lot of places.

Same reason washing machines and any other electrical equipment breaks...if it lasted forever like it used to, the companies would go out of business. This isn't crackpot conspiracy, its basic economics.

Enjoy the read.

I think you may be on the right track here. I have bought 3 kettles in the past 5 years. The fridge I bought two years ago (I was assured by the shop assistant it was made in the UK) worked fine the first year (the 'warranty year') but now it's gone on the blink.
I remember we bought a second-hand when I was a girl and twenty years later that fridge was working like the first day.

I used borax against fleas in the past and it always worked. I also used it in laundry and cleaning. The substitue doesn't work as well.
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Carida83

I have found Borax to make slime with my daughter on ebay