Most homesteaders I know care about two things when it comes to keeping the house clean inside and out: doing more with less and cutting back on creepy chemicals.
Just walk down the cleaning aisle at your local grocery store, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. There’s a specialized cleaner for everything you can think of these days, and a whole lot of things you can’t think of!
They might work miracles—though they probably won’t—but I know for sure that lots of them contain chemicals that can’t possibly be good for us or our families.
You can cut down on the number of cleaners you’ve got to buy and the chemical residue building up in your living space by getting yourself a big box of borax. It’s been around forever, it’s a known quantity, and it can do a whole lot more than just a load of laundry. Read on, and I’ll give you 30 great homesteading uses for borax.
Control Dampness in Basements and Closets
Set a bowl full of dry borax in any area where you’ve got problems with dampness and humidity. It will absorb it readily. Replace as needed to keep them under control:
Clean All Your Cast Iron and Other Cookware
Cleaning mistreated or neglected cast iron cookware can be brutally difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Mix dry borax with salt, put a little squirt of water into the pan to lubricate it, then scrub away with a stiff brush. Don’t forget to re-season when you’re done!
Put Out a Kitchen Fire
I hope you know that you should never pour water on a grease fire or an overheated pan in your kitchen.
Clever cooks know that baking soda can do the trick to smother a fire, but you can also use borax for the same job if that’s all you have handy. Simply pour on as much as you need until the fire goes out.
Kill Weeds Safely
This is an old-timer’s trick that has been around a while, but it still works just as well as it always has. Sprinkle dry borax directly on the root zone of troublesome weeds. The weed will start to die in short order, but repeat as needed until it’s completely dead.
Make sure you reapply after you water or it rains. Just be sure you don’t treat weeds that are very near plants you want to keep!
Restore Depleted Soil in the Garden
Even though borax can kill weeds and other plants, it can also help them in a way by restoring trace amounts of boron. Plants that don’t get enough will remain stunted and often die.
Do a soil test, and if it shows boron deficiency, sprinkle just a little bit of borax over the are, then water it in thoroughly. Retest after a week or so and adjust as needed:
Help Fruit and Ornamental Trees Thrive
Large, mature plants can easily resist the harm that borax can potentially cause but still benefit from that boost of essential minerals we talked about previously. Using it on fruit trees and ornamental trees is another old-school but highly effective trick.
For large, well-established trees, get anywhere from a half cup to a cup and sprinkle it all over the root zone. Water it in and your trees will benefit from the shot of nutrients. Just don’t overdo it, and don’t do this trick more than a few times a year!
Kill Off Cut Stumps
Sometimes we actually do want to stop a tree from growing—or rather, regrowing—and once again borax can help us out.
For any trees that have been cut down or knocked down by bad weather, you can generously pour borax all over the stump to stop it from sprouting again and turning into a scraggly and unsightly bush.
Repeat the application weekly until you notice the shoots slowing down, stopping, and dying back.
Repel Mice, Rats, and Other Rodents
Rodents of all kinds tend to avoid borax like the plague, and that might save you or your animals from catching it!
You can leave a line of borax, or small bowls of it, anywhere that you know rodents travel, sleep, or look for food, and it should drive them away.
Kill Off Ant Colonies
A devastating DIY ant bait can be made by mixing equal parts of borax and white granulated sugar. Sprinkle it generously anywhere you see a train of ants or near their mound. Once the queen gets a little bit, she will die and then the colony will collapse.
Clear Flea Infestations
Borax is a safe and effective way to drive out fleas that have infested pet beds or anywhere else. You can use it wet or dry: if dry, sprinkle it on generously and vacuum it out. For wet use, mix water and borax in a two-to-one ratio, then spray surfaces until moist.
Help Get Rid of Skunk Spray
Those of us who live a little farther out in the country have to deal with visits from skunks a lot more often than city folk! It’s only a matter of time until one of your animals gets sprayed.
Help eliminate the odor from your critter and the surrounding area by mixing a few tablespoons of borax into four cups of warm water with a few drops of dish soap. Wash or sponge on generously, rinse, and repeat.
Spruce Up an Old Carpet
Dingy carpet is the worst, and carpet gets dingy fast on most homesteads. Bring it back to life and keep it looking bright by mixing hot water and borax in a 4:1 ratio. Make as much as you need to take care of a large area or a big rug.
Scrub it into your carpets with a soft brush, let it sit for 30 minutes, then suck it out with a carpet cleaning machine or shop vac.
Make Homemade Fragrance Spray
Air fresheners are some of the worst offenders these days when it comes to harmful chemicals and indoor air quality.
Make your own safe and super-effective air freshener in a spray bottle by combining a tablespoon of borax, one cup of warm water, and a few drops of your favorite fragrant essential oil. Stir everything together, and then spray away!
Freshen Rugs and Carpeting
Borax works wonderfully even when dry to freshen rugs and carpet, indoors or out. Mix it with baking soda in equal parts, then sprinkle generously on the affected area, work it in with your hands or a brush, and vacuum it out.
You should notice a difference right away, but if it still smells funky just repeat the process and let it sit for a short time.
Freshen Musty Furniture
Whether your curtains, pillows, furniture, or anything else are smelling a little funky, you can take care of it with this easy recipe. Grab yourself a spray bottle, pour in a half cup of borax, and add a pint of water.
Shake it up until it’s blended, then spritz the fabric that needs freshening. Works like a charm! Oh, and make sure you test a hidden area to ensure it won’t hurt the color.
Clean and Freshen Your Mattresses
Most people either put up with a smelly mattress or throw it out before it gets too bad, but you don’t have to do either if you reach for borax.
You can use the same recipe we worked up for freshening indoor fabrics to do a great job of sprucing up your mattress: a half cup of borax and a pint of water in a spray bottle is all it takes.
Clear Tough Stains from Clothes
Borax can be used as a safe laundry detergent, but you can also concentrate it to make a potent stain fighter. Simply make a thick paste using a tablespoon of borax and two tablespoons of water, and rub it into the stain. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then wash as normal.
Brighten Old and Dirty Countertops
No matter how much you clean your countertops with antibacterial cleaner, they tend to still look dingy. Borax can fix that.
Mix two parts of white vinegar to every one part of borax in a small bowl or a spray bottle, along with a tiny shot of dish soap.
Stir everything together, spray or mop it on the countertop, and then scrub it with a sponge or rag. You’ll notice even more grime coming off, and the surface will look a lot brighter.
Give Your Floors a Good Mopping
Borax can cut through old, ground-in grime on your floors too. It’s similar to our countertop cleaning recipe above: in your mop bucket, add a quarter cup of borax, a little shot of dish soap, a half cup of vinegar, and a quart or two of hot water.
Swirl everything together, and then mop like you usually would. Your floors will be glowing!
Clean Mold
Borax is excellent at eliminating mold and mildew, two notoriously tough household contaminants. Pour a cup of borax into a quart of hot water and stir thoroughly to combine.
You can spray it on with a spray bottle or mop it on with a rag. Leave the affected area to sit for a couple of hours, then scrub and rinse. No more mold!
Freshen and Clean Your Toilet
Cleaning a grimy toilet is a tough job for any cleaner, but borax can take care of it. Simply pour about a cup of the stuff into a full toilet bowl, give it a little stir with your toilet brush, then walk away for a couple of hours.
Come back, scrub it down, flush, and repeat as needed. You’ll see a big difference!
Take Care of a Clog
A clogged drain won’t necessarily call for heavy-duty, caustic chemicals. Add a half cup of borax to the drain, let it seep down and settle, and then pour some steaming hot water on top of it.
Let it sit, and then try to plunge or snake as needed, repeating the process if necessary. Flush the drain with hot water once it is clear.
Scrub Your Basins, Sinks, and More
Borax works wonderfully as a potent but safe cleaner for kitchen sinks, mudroom sinks, basins, tubs, etc.
Sprinkle dry borax onto the surface, lightly moisten a rag or sponge, then scrub. Rinse everything with fresh water when you’re done. Repeat as needed until the surface is clean.
Make DIY Dish Soap
Washing laundry, washing dishes—there’s nothing that borax can’t do!
Whether you just happen to run out or you want to save a bundle by making your dish soap yourself, all you have to do is mix borax with grated hard soap, equal parts, then stir it into boiling water.
Let it cool, check the consistency, and you’re ready to go.
Bring Old Brushes Back to Life
Brushes, of all kinds, don’t last forever. But when they lose their spring or look too grubby to keep, they probably just need to be cleaned themselves! Scrub brushes, hair brushes, shaving brushes, even paint brushes; borax can clean them all.
Simply fill an appropriately sized container with warm water, a little bit of dish soap, and a quarter cup of borax. Stir and then soak the bristles for 30 minutes. Work off any stuck grime, rinse with fresh water, and dry them. Done!
Decontaminate a Nasty Trash Can
Let’s be real, most of us rarely, if ever, clean our garbage cans! The price we pay is some truly horrendous odor once they get too bad!
You can make this nasty job a lot easier by filling up the offending container with water and then pouring in four generous cups of borax. Swirl everything together, let it soak for a while, then dump it out prior to scrubbing and rinsing.
Pre-Clean Dirty Glass
Have you ever tried to clean a dirty window exterior before? You notice how the dirt, dust, and grime leave swirly track marks no matter how much you wipe? You need to pre-clean first, and borax is the perfect tool for the job.
Add two tablespoons of borax to several cups of water and use that to scrub away the worst of the dirt before you come back around with window cleaner for a streak-free shine.
Scrub Away Rust
Borax has uses in your garage, workshop, and barn, too! You’ll be happy to know that it can do a good job at tackling built-up rust when combined with lemon juice in a one-to-one ratio.
Pour, brush, or spray it on, let it sit for half an hour, then scrub, rinse, and re-oil as needed. You might need to reapply a couple of times to tackle tough rust.
Clean Up Sticky, Greasy Messes
Sap, gum, tar, syrup, spilled soft drink, and a whole lot more: whatever sort of sticky, greasy mess you’re dealing with, make your life a lot easier by mixing water and borax until it makes a thin paste.
Scrub or work it into the mess to start breaking it down and loosening it, and repeat with as much as you need to clean it up. Rinse with fresh water as needed.
Clean Oil Stains Off Concrete
Another good garage trick: make a thick paste of borax and water, then completely cover a stubborn oil stain on concrete. Let it sit for a few hours, up to half a day, then rinse it away with water and repeat as needed.
Tim is a farm boy with vast experience on homesteads, and with survival and prepping. He lives a self-reliant lifestyle along with his aging mother in a quiet and very conservative little town in Ohio. He teaches folks about security, prepping and self-sufficiency not just through his witty writing, but also in person.
Find out more about Tim and the rest of the crew here.