Borax and bleach are two elements that are widely discussed for their properties and working ways. Borax can have a lot of effects if they are added to bleach and add to their cleaning properties.
We will be discussing if you can mix borax and bleach – if mixing borax and bleach is harmful, do they react together, what are the effects they have; and what other things you can mix borax with!
Can you mix borax and bleach?
You can mix borax and bleach. Borax is Sodium Tetraborate or disodium tetraborate, a combination of boron, sodium, and oxygen. It has sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and hydrogen peroxide and acts as a cleaning agent. Mixed with bleach it enhances cleaning properties, stains, and odors.
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Let’s see if you can mix borax with the following bleaches or not –
Oxygen Bleach:
Non-chlorine bleach is also called oxygen bleach. The formula of oxygen bleach or bleach without chlorine is Ca(ClO)2. Its color is white or colorless. Oxygen bleach is a solution that is chlorine-free bleach.
Oxygen bleach and borax can be used on clothing or around the house to clean out stains and odors and act as a disinfectant.
Oxygen bleach solutions get rid of bacteria and viruses and also brighten up every material like the most used conventional bleach, but inhibiting the harmful conditions may lead due to toxicity.
Oxygen bleach and borax also repel out molds and mildews from clothes. They are also a great tool to clean furniture and other materials around the house. In the laundry, they work as great as chlorine bleach, and a lot of people prefer it more as it is toxin-free.
Chlorine bleach and borax:
Chlorine bleach is basically sodium hypochlorite, a strong oxidizing agent available in liquid form, and comes in the color of green or yellow. NaClO is the formula of chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach is a disinfectant mixed with borax, works as a great whitening agent.
They clean out molds very efficiently, and in laundry, they use hot water mixed with borax and chlorine bleach to clean out odors and any stains, bacteria, and viruses.
You can also use them to clean your house and make it stain and bacteria and virus free.
Is mixing borax and bleach harmful?
Borax and bleach mix solution is not considered harmful. They don’t react together. As a result, borax and bleach solution do not produce any toxic fumes or heat and create a chemical reaction to form another material.
Moreover, they enhance the abilities of the cleaning agent by increasing in whitening powers, removing smells and any other kind of mold stains as well. Because of the bleach, they are a fantastic anti-bacterial and anti-virus agent.
But they are supposed to be not put in bright fabrics and black cloths as they could stain them and completely ruin the fabric. They could also be used around the house to clean white materials that would disinfect them as well as keep them nice and clean.
Also, borax is a very good option to remove grease. Drains and sinks, ovens, and the bathroom all can be cleaned with borax and bleach solution mixed with a bit of hot water.
Does borax react with bleach?
Borax does not react with bleach. That is why they make a great combination as a cleaning agent. If they did react with each other, they would’ve formed another chemical solution releasing heat and making toxic fumes.
Borax is a strongly alkaline material making it bad for your hands, so it is better to use hand gloves. Borax is not a very reactive agent. So, you can mix it and use it with a lot of other solutions as well for using.
Borax and bleach have really good anti-microbial properties making them perfect for cleaning your house, clothes.
Bleach is hydrogen peroxide, so to get the best effects, you have to mix it with hot water, and when you mix it with some water, molecules turn into Hydrogen peroxide, helping the bleaching process. Mixing borax adds the extra effect of whitening and stainless.
Can I mix borax with bleach in a bottle?
Yes, you can mix borax and bleach in a bottle. If the bottle is plastic, then it is fine. If your bottle has some metal in it, the bleach might react with it and form a reaction with oxygen creating rust.
This rust may mix with borax and bleach solution, which reduces and impedes the cleaning properties and anti-microbial agents of the mixture.
So, it is better to keep it in a plastic or other material bottle that will not cause any reaction with the borax with bleach solution mixture.
Bleach also eats on rubber, rubbers are porous, and bleach might damage the rubber. As long as the bottle won’t contain any rubber that the bleach can destroy, the bottle would be fine.
Bleach is also sold in clear bottles as they could cause the liquid bleaches to be active because of the high light. The light could make the ingredients break down and create some kind of threat.
What happens if you mix borax and bleach?
Borax and bleach form a liquid mixture that is a really good cleaning agent. They have multiple properties starting from cleaning and whitening to sanitizing materials, types of furniture even clothes. We will discuss some of the properties of borax and bleach mix below:
Whitening Power:
Borax is a boron compound, also known as tetra borate that increases the power of whitening and getting rid of stains easily when mixed with bleach.
Anti-bacterial properties:
Bleach works as an excellent disinfectant. If mixed with hot water, the hydrogen peroxide combines with water molecules and turns them into peroxides.
This process enhances the cleaning process and also adds anti-microbial properties to the bleach solution.
Unreactive:
Borax is a very unreactive agent. This makes it a great option to add bleach to add that extra cleaning power to the solution. In fact, borax is also very unreactive with any other materials as well.
Grease removal:
Borax is incredible in removing grease. If you add borax with a bit of dishwashing liquid in hot water, it will do wonders to clean off grease.
Cleaning bathroom:
The washroom should always be kept neat and white. Borax and bleach are the perfect agents for that.
Their anti-microbial properties would keep your bathroom safe from bacteria and viruses, and also the whitening agent would keep it stainless.
These are some of the properties you can get your hands on if you mix borax and bleach and make a solution.
How do you mix borax and bleach for cleaning?
Mixing borax and bleach for cleaning can be a tough job. We are here to help. We will be showing some steps on how could mix these two agents to get the perfect solution for your clothes and laundry below:
Preparations:
Buy some borax and get some chlorine bleach or oxygen bleach (non-chlorine bleach) and get some hot water to mix with the dirty laundry or the stained area.
Measuring cups:
You will need some small measuring cups available in the market to measure the bleach amount and borax to the water.
Mixture:
Take half a cup of borax and add half a cup of bleach for a normal load, and one full cup of bleach for a full load of the wash. Also, add some hot water to the mixture.
Read the requirements:
Always read the back of the packaging to avoid any kind of missed information, as you should check if there is ammonia in the borax because ammonia and bleach will not work together.
Some other threats may also arise. Be aware of them.
Stains:
The mixtures need to be rubbed and rinsed nicely and soaking it in the mixture for some hours before washing to get out a stain of mustard or tomato stains.
These are ways you could mix the borax and bleaching solution to get the best results to remove stains and use in the laundry.
What can borax be mixed with?
Borax is an excellent detergent for whitening and cleaning. It is a sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. They are pretty soft and colorless crystals that dissolve in the water to form a mixture that’s great for cleaning.
We will be mentioning some other materials you could mix with borax below:
- Baking Soda
- Washing Soda
- Vinegar
- Chlorine bleach
- Oxygen bleach
- Borax Candles
- Borax and Salt to make floam
Borax can be used in many ways. You could sprinkle them over, mix some hot water with them to get an all-purpose cleaner, use a booster for better cleaning abilities, make borax candles out of them and many more.
Borax is widely used nowadays to make floam or, as they call them, slime. Borax and vinegar are great cleaning agents for molds and mildews. Borax and vinegar work best undiluted.
Final Thoughts
Borax and bleach mixture is a known versatile solution for cleaning, removing molds, stains, grease, microbes, and whitening clothes and furniture. Borax has sodium, boron, and oxygen and bleach is hydrogen peroxide. They do not react and work as a great enhancer of each other’s cleaning agents.