Confused as to how Borax is EF and septic ?

wildride

I have a book about making your own EF cleaners.. Borax is a major ingredient, but even in the book it says it's poisonous for children and pets... so how is it EF?  Maybe I don't understand the difference between poisonous and toxic...

 Also, does anyone know if Dr Bronner's is safe for septic systems before I run around spraying my bathtub with it?  How about Borax?  Are there any common EF cleaner ingredients that are NOT safe for septic (e.g. natural dishwashing soap)

Thanks ladies!

This is my next step toward greening my life... and here's a zinger.. I told Dh that I want to do cloth paper towels and he just... agreed.  No argument.   He agreed so fast you'd think he had stock in cloth paper towels.  Any recs?

Tambcat

I think you're getting eco-friendly and edible confused.

 

jebuell

Borax obviously is not good to eat.  And since it's such a fine powder it can be snorted or ingested easily by children and animals and therefor is not recommended to be used as-is around them.  Otherwise, I believe it's very safe.

It is also safe for your septic.  Dr. Bronners, too.

pixieprincss

I'm going to C&P myself from my blog...

Some people think Borax is not a good choice for an eco-friendly household because it should not be ingested. But remember that a big part of eco-friendly cleaning is what is produced in an eco-friendly manner and what it does (or rather, does not do) to our water supply after we're done with it. In my opinion, the benchmark should not be if a substance okay to ingest. Borax is eco-friendly in terms of production and being in the water supply, so it gets my seal of approval. After all?you shouldn't eat soap, yet it is a great, safe cleaner. Also, if you have kids, even if you are 100% green clean in your home you should treat cleaning supplies as though they are toxic because your kids will inevitably go somewhere where conventional cleaners are used and they need to have healthy respect for the dangers of those things.

Both should be fine for septic. They are both better for our water supply than conventional/mainstream commercial products.

wildride

I should have clarified - the book said something pretty much like "Borax is not safe for USE around children and pets" and definitely said "poisonous".  I totally did not intend to feed my baby rice cereal mixed w/ Borax; I was thinking more along the lines of cleaning my tub with it and then her bathing in it... if it isn't safER than conventional cleaners I would look for a different homemade cleaner.  ya know?

 

Tambcat

Personally, I'd just clean the tub w/ dish soap and a scrubber if I were trying to be safe.  I did this for awhile, and it worked pretty well.

There is always vinegar and baking soda too.

wildride

Baking soda does pretty well... I'll try it w/ vinegar.  The tub is really challenging bc we have well water and iron stains all over, so I need something tough...  but I also don't want the runoff polluting our lake. 

pixieprincss

I still wouldn't worry about cleaning with borax in the tub. The small amount you'd use in the mix the spray bottle, then rinsed as part of normal cleaning and use, then any residue being very diluted while the bathtub is filled would be such a trace amount at that point. Now, raw borax on the skin + water, that is problematic, but obviously you aren't going there.

wildride

Thanks ladies! this is all mighty helpful for a newbie to making one's own cleaning products... I really really want to do what's best for the environment, safest for my family, most economical, etc etc... but I don't automatically want to buy that just because it's "natural" means it's "safer" etc etc...

 

jebuell

If you mix it with water it should be fine.  It really is because it's such a fine powder that it's easily indigestible and inhaled when used in powder form. 

kelbrian

I use Dr. Bronner's and baking soda to clean my tub, if that helps at all. I'm not a big fan of Borax unless it's for the toilet or getting rid of ants.