The most familiar packaging of borax is as20-Mule Team Boraxfound in mass-market stores and grocery stores.

Below, learn how you could clean your home, control pests, and most with borax.

But it’s still best to handle it with care.

Glass container of borax with soft bristled brush and fabric in bucket

The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

It whitens whites, brightens colors, softens hard water, neutralizes odors, and helps to remove stains.

Many laundry detergent formulas contain sodium borate.

What Is Hard Water?

Materials for using borax around the house

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Hard watercontains a high concentration of minerals, including calcium and magnesium.

Add the dirty items and soak for about 30 minutes in the borax solution before laundering.

Drain the solution from the laundry before washing as usual.

Using borax as a laundry presoak agent

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Use a sponge dipped in the paste to gently scrub the stain.

Rinse the area with warm water.

Turn on the disposal and flush it with hot water for one minute.

scooping baking soda into the washer

The Spruce / Michele Lee

Let it sit for at least 15 minutes (30 is better) and then flush with warm water.

Let the paste remain on the carpet for 30 to 45 minutes, then vacuum it away.

Use a damp sponge to remove any remaining traces of the paste.

DIY gentle wool wash solution with water, soap flakes, alcohol and essential oil mixed with wooden spoon

The Spruce / Anastasiia Tretiak

Shake to mix and label the bottle clearly.

Spray the solution onto the plastic furniture and use a soft-bristled brush or cloth to gently scrub the surfaces.

Rinse well and dry with a microfiber towel.

Using borax as a household cleaner

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

It works not only to clean, but to disinfect, surfaces from your toilet to your sink.

After eight hours, scrub the toilet bowl with a brush to remove stains.

Rinse well and dry the area.

pouring salt down the drain

The Spruce / Lacey Johnson

Borax can clean a dishwasher and boost the cleaning power of your dishwasher detergent.

Clean the Dishwasher

Remove the racks from the dishwasher.

Sprinkle dry borax on the bottom of the dishwasher and on the inside of the door.

Using a baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mixture on a dog pee stain

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Dampen a soft-bristled brush and scrub the inside of the appliance.

Add your regular dishwasher detergent to the dispenser and complete the cleaning cycle as usual.

Use Borax as an Insecticide

Borax can serve as a powerful insect repellent and insecticide.

White plastic chairs sprayed with all-purpose cleaner and wiped with sponge

The Spruce / Sanja Kostic

Just check that kids and pets won’t encounter it as you control pests.

Control Roaches

Sprinkle borax in areas where you’ve seenroaches.

When they walk through it, it has a poisoning and dehydrating effect.

person adding baking soda to the toilet

The Spruce /Taylor Nebrija

Repel Ants

Borax alone will often repel ants.

Sprinkle dry borax around the sides of amattress, bed platform, orfurniturecushions.

You should never use borax in anything that comes into contact with food.

Chrome faucet wiped down with nonabrasive cloth and cleaning solution

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

You should also not use borax to make kids' slime.

While borax and baking soda are similar, borax is much more alkaline than baking soda.

How Safe is Borax?Because Health & Center for Environmental Health.

Using borax for bathroom cleaning

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Borax being scrubbed inside dishwasher door for cleaning

The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Cleaning a dishwasher with borax

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Borax and sugar sprinkled along floor walls to prevent insects

The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Using borax to repel ants

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

sprinkling borax on a mattress

The Spruce / Michele Lee