The tedious task of cleaning your clothing can take a total on not only you but on your clothing too – as the more and more you wash the fabric, the more wear and tear the material will collect. The numerous laundry care products that we constantly use in each laundry load will eventually buildup on the fabric and leave the fibers damaged and/or destroyed, leaving the material looking faded, stretched, or even odorous in some cases. Let’s be honest, nobody wants to put on stretched out faded clothing that smells like mildew and mustiness. The use of natural laundry care products, however, have begun to increase in an effort to reduce stretching, fading, and odor problems that can accumulate on the fabric of the clothing and linens. Baking soda, vinegar, and the popular borax are all products that are being routinely used to combat a variety of laundry problems due to their natural elements. But, do these natural products really work to eradicate laundry problems completely and protect the clothing material from potential damage? In this article we are going to learn more about the popularly used borax in laundry washing and discuss which laundry deodorization methods are the best for the worst of laundry odors.

What is Borax (Sodium Tetraborate)

Borax is a natural mineral that is also known as sodium tetraborate, that can be used in a variety of different uses such as in the laundry. This mineral has been mined and used for many years for its use in different household products. This natural laundry booster can also be utilized as a hand soap and sometimes even a toothpaste. When borax powder is mixed with chlorine bleach and detergents it has been shown to enhance the cleaning power in the laundry load to clean the clothing fabrics. This natural cleaner has many different capabilities from disinfecting to whitening, to killing insects, and even fighting mold and mildew. Borax is often lumped in with other natural cleaners such as vinegar, baking soda, and even bleach, which are all used to clean, disinfect, and deodorize a wide range of surfaces and fabrics in the home. One of the most popular uses for borax is as an additive in your laundry routine to deodorize and freshen up clothing naturally.

Uses for Borax

Natural borax cleaner has many uses throughout the home such as to remove odors, stains, mold, and mildew from a range of different surfaces. This product can also be utilized in moisturizers, creams, shampoos, gels, lotions, bath bombs, scrubs and bath salts. Additionally, borax can be found in items such as toothpaste, cosmetics, slime-making kits, flame retardants, glass, ceramic and pottery, and enamel glazes. The most common use for borax in the home, however, is in the laundry wash cycle for stain and odor removal of fabrics. Borax is added into the wash cycle with your laundry detergent to work to clean the fabric and remove stubborn odors from the material.

What Does Borax Do for Laundry – Borax In Laundry Uses

When borax is added into the washing machine to clean laundry fabrics, there are many different benefits that this laundry additive can add to the material. The use of borax can help whiten white fabrics, softens hard water, eliminate soap residue on clothes, disinfects clothes, and even neutralizes laundry odors from the fabric.

• Softens Hard Water: Hard water works as a blocker to prevent laundry detergent from working in the manner in which it is supposed to in the wash cycle. Ultimately, this will leave clothes still smelling and sometimes even dirty after the wash cycle, specifically increasing the likelihood of fading. The sodium tetraborate will help to soften the wash water to allow your clothes to get an optimal clean in wash cycle.
• Whiten White Fabrics: As a washing machine fills up with water, the borax will convert some of the water molecules into hydrogen peroxide creating a whitening agent.
• Eliminates Soap Residue Buildup: Borax uses borates that will work to keep the soap dispersed throughout the load leaving it more likely to rinse off of the material. This will help to preserve the fabric and eliminate unwanted odors on the clothes.
• Disinfect Clothing: Borax will inhibit many organisms such as fungi, mold, and bacteria on fabrics when used in the wash load.
• Neutralizes Laundry Odors: This laundry additive will help to remove the notorious odors of musty smell in clothing fabrics. Borax will inhibit the enzymes responsible for the bad smell to remove the odors.

Borax for Laundry Odors

Does borax remove odors from clothes? The laundry additive borax is a powdered, alkaline natural mineral that dissolves in water and resembles baking soda in its ability to clean fabrics and deodorize the materials. Borax works by absorbing odors and stains while also having the ability to kill mold. When you add this laundry additive into the wash cycle with your laundry detergent it will remove stubborn grease stains, brighten fabrics, and work to deodorize the buildup of odors on the clothing material. Additionally, borax can also be gently rubbed into the material as a paste to work on specific areas on the fabric.

Borax vs Baking Soda

Baking soda is the common name for sodium bicarbonate, and borax is the common name for the naturally occurring sodium tetraborate – with both working as deodorizer when placed into the wash cycle of your laundry routine. Baking soda is commonly used to deodorize a broad spectrum of surfaces and materials due to its ability to trap odors when contact occurs between the baking soda and the odors. Similarly, borax is a deodorizer that will help to break down and neutralize odors from the material because of the solution’s high alkalinity. Additionally, borax will help to improve stain-fighting capabilities and improve the overall cleaning efficiency of the wash cycle on clothing materials.

What is a Substitute for Borax to Remove Laundry Odors?

There are other laundry care products that can be utilized in your washing machine to aid in the removal of noxious odors in your fabrics and stuck in your washing machine – especially odorous front load washing machines. The revolutionary OdorKlenz Laundry Additive is the perfect substitute for borax when it comes to removing stuck on odors including fragrances, musty odors, and even moldy smells built up in the washing machine. The OdorKlenz Laundry Additive is a laundry additive that is able to completely eliminate odors from fabrics including any type of machine washable material. The patented EnviroKlenz technology consists of earth minerals that will contain and neutralize a wide range of odors such as musty, mildew, fragrances, smoke, and other odors from your fabric – without the use of masking agents or chemicals.

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