This week we've talked about high-end green cleaning products and home made cleaning concoctions.  We all know that lemon juice and baking soda and clean about anything, but let's talk about that other cheap box of powder that is an essential part of a green cleaning arsenal: Borax.

Borax is another name for sodium borate, sodium tetra borate or disodium tetraborate.  It's a mineral: a salt that is used in detergents cosmetics, enamels, fire retardants, fiberglass, insecticide, and even caviar!

Chance are you can pick up a big box of Borax at your local grocery store for under $5.00 and it can do a lot of the things you may have thought only baking soda could:

☆ Add a scoop to your laundry to give it a boost and get out tough stains and stinks.

☆ Use it to condition water for hand washing delicates such as baby clothes or lingerie.

☆ If you get a stain on your carpet, blot it as you normally would and then sprinkle Borax on, allow to dry and then vacuum.  The Borax will help suck that stain right out of your carpet!  It even works on red wine!

☆ Borax makes a great scrubber for sticky spills on your countertop, floor or refrigerator.  You can even use it to scrub fine china.

☆ Like baking soda, Borax can be used as a deodorizer.  Put a small open container in your fridge or near your cat's litter box to help suck-up odors.

☆ Borax is great for cleaning-up nastiness at the bottom of your garbage pail.  If you have a liquid leak, just pour borax on it, allow to dry and wipe clean.

☆ Borax does a great job on scrubbing showers, sinks, toilets, shower curtains.  In fact, some say it works better than a lot of the more popular mainstream products you see on TV.

Whew!  Did I miss any? Borax is a great eco-friendly cleaner.  One that dissolves completely in water and that you don't have to feel guilty about when it goes down the drain.  Plus it's cheap, which is always a bonus.

Sometimes the best solutions aren't slick or glamarous.  A box of Borax and some elbow grease are all you need to handle 90% of your eco-friendly household cleaning needs.

» 20 Mule Team