Sneaky ways to save the pennies

geordie_joe

squeakyclean226 wrote: »

The article i read was talking about Borates being reclassified, as some tests showed that prolonged consumption of large amounts of Borax can be harmful to unborn babies i think. But the tests they did were on animals, and in one case they gave high levels of borax for 68days to 5 beagles and after 68 days one beagle died and the others showed no sign of harm. I think its all pretty inconclusive and they're just covering their backs really!

I read the same article, and "clutching at straws to keep their jobs" was the phrase that came to mind for me.

After all, a researcher who finds nothing is not much of a researcher. Imagine going for a job interview as a researcher.

"Do you have any experience"

"Yes, I researched XYZ"

"What did you find?"

"Nothing"

"NEXT"

Alternatively it could go like this.

"Do you have any experience"

"Oh yes, I've just completed 3 months research into Borax"

"What did you find?"

"I found it was very dangerous stuff, it can kill"

You don't have to mention that you found it wasn't dangerous in normal use, or that you had to resort to force feeding it to dogs to get it to harm a living thing.

geordie_joe

larmy16 wrote: »

PS. I remember reading about some people using Borax spread in the carpets to get rid of cat fleas. Maybe it is an insecticide and therefore a bit toxic?????

I think you are reading "get rid of cat fleas" and interpreting it as "Kill cat fleas"

Maybe the cat fleas don't like the smell of Borax and simply go away.

You also don't mention if putting Borax on the carpet actual worked?

Please don't think I'm picking on you, or being nasty. I'm not, I actually want to know the answer to the question, is Borax harmful?

liloandstitch

If you put borax into google, you can get the wikipaedia entry. It would appear that it is toxic in large quantities. The scientific values are listed but I am not familiar with those. It is listed as an insecticide which kills ants cockroaches and fleas.

I certainly wouldnt want to eat or drink it, but I think it would be fine to use on laundry if used in small doses - and you dont have sensitive skin.

Lilo

Reverbe

BigMummaF wrote: »

You can usually find borax in a chemist too..just another avenue....

Saldy not in any of our chemists or supermarkets including Boots. ONe thing that annoys me is not being able to buy things in large quantities such as white vinegar, borax, Bicarb etc... yet everyone says you should use these to money save and be green.Why don't stores give us what we want?

Gigervamp

You can buy those things in large quantities from soapmaking suppliers. Try http://www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk/
or
http://www.justasoap.co.uk/catalog/index.php
It also works out cheaper buying in bulk although you do have to pay for courier delivery.

larmy16

geordie_joe wrote: »

I think you are reading "get rid of cat fleas" and interpreting it as "Kill cat fleas"

Maybe the cat fleas don't like the smell of Borax and simply go away.

You also don't mention if putting Borax on the carpet actual worked?

Please don't think I'm picking on you, or being nasty. I'm not, I actually want to know the answer to the question, is Borax harmful?

To be honest I never tried it. I read it as advice on an American frugal website for people who had a cat flea infestation.

From what I remember the fleas remained despite the Borax.

Until fairly recently say in the last two years, I was unable to buy Borax anywhere. I tried chemists and they said it was on a list of dangerous/toxic substances - I forget which sorry:o.

Have you googled to find out if it is harmful?

larmy16

Another thing the Americans used to talk about was using Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning. The same thing - chemists said you could not buy it.

This was in my early days learning about frugal living and I was up for trying anything - I found it all so interesting. That was when I learned about making the washing powder/liquid.

If you look on Youtube, you can see the Americans can buy Borax in huge what look like 2kg boxes. If you search home made washing liquid it comes up. They also buy Bicarb in large amounts.

juno

Isopropyl alcohol is used as CD cleaner, so you can buy it. I got some from the 99p shop. I think it can be used to clean a lot of electronic things.

wizk1

juno wrote: »

Isopropyl alcohol is used as CD cleaner, so you can buy it. I got some from the 99p shop. I think it can be used to clean a lot of electronic things.

Money-saving tip. Instead of buying isopropyl alcohol. I find vodka (the cheaper and nastier, the better) is just as effective.

stephnyc

wizk1 wrote: »

Money-saving tip. Instead of buying isopropyl alcohol. I find vodka (the cheaper and nastier, the better) is just as effective.

Would that work with Gin also? Was given a nasty bottle of the cheap stuff, but didnt want to throw it out