Hi all, I came up to this site that promotes the use of Borax as a medical supplement, is this a good idea or total BS. http://www.growyouthful.com/remedy/borax.php
Thanks
All I can say is that we use powdered Borax to kill fleas and roaches. It sure seems like that means it can’t be good for a person.
Take a look at all the things it supposedly cures. The wider the net, the deeper the bullshit.
HOW DO YOU USE IT TO KILL FLEAS!!!
This is important to my life.
Also, I dump it in my laundry. Gets out blood and makes whites whiter! I don’t think it would be good to eat.
Sprinkle it all over the rug, then work it in with a broom.
Let it sit for a bit, then vacuum it up.
The sharp edges are supposed to cut up the flea exoskeleton
You got it. Although I hadn’t heard the sharp edges thing. I always heard it dehydrates them and kills them. Regardless of the mechanism, anecdotally, I can tell you it works.
For roaches, mix the Borax with powdered sugar. We use old yogurt lids. Put one under the stove and in cabinets (especially that one under the sink). Works best on germans (those little red fuckers) and palmetto bugs (the giant black ones that fly). They eat it and it kills them (hence my response to the OP, anything that kills a roach can NOT be healthy for a human).
People use rat poison as medicine all the time. We call it Coumadin. Quantaties and biology matter. 
That’s not to suggest that Borax is useful as medicine.
Well, the author of that webpage doesn’t understand LD50.
“Borax’s LD50 (median lethal dose) score is 2.66 g/kg in rats. This is the same toxicity as boric acid. Table salt is more toxic, with an LD50 of 3.75 g/kg in rats according to the Merck Index!”
If it takes less toxin to kill a rat, that toxin is more poisonous.
And LD50 is one of the easier concepts to grasp: It takes this much substance per animal, measured in terms of the mass of substance (grams, in this case) per kilogram of body mass, to reliably kill about half the test population after a specified length of time. It is, to expand the abbreviation, the lethal dose for 50% of the test subjects.
Obviously* a larger LD50 means a less toxic substance. Some substances, such as botulinum toxin, have an LD50 measured in nanograms per kilogram, where a nanogram is one billionth of a gram. As it happens, botulinum toxin has an estimated LD50 of 1 nanogram/kilogram; water’s LD50 is somewhere north of 90 grams/kilogram.
*(Obvious, that is, unless you think borax is a cure-all.)
Well, yes, but (assuming those figures are right) borax is still, to all intents, non-toxic. You could sprinkle it on your food, as people do with salt all the time, and it would not harm you. (not that it would have any beneficial effects either.)
When I was a kid we used to use something called glycerin of borax (borax dissolved in glycerol) as a topical treatment for mouth ulcers. Presumably it acted as a mild antiseptic. So it does have at least one potential “medical” use. That site’s claims are absurd, though. It is very weird. He can hardly be expecting to profit from it, given that borax is easily available and cheap.
In the machine shop where I work, we wash our hands in it. That said, it appears to be detrimental when taken internally.
Borax-based insecticides work really well (we’ve had great results against ants with Terro), but there is some disagreement about the manner in which it works against insects. This site claims that it must be ingested by the insects, which is contrary to what was said upthread about borax’s sharp edges nicking exoskeletons. Indeed, the ants I’ve seen don’t go swimming in it - they’re dining on a solution of borax, which means there are no sharp edges to be had anywhere.
My understanding is that it dehydrates ***because ***the sharp edges cut up the exoskeleton – which releases their internal moisture.
I believe you are confusing Boric acid with diatomaceous earth. Boric acid kills insects by absorbing water after ingestion causing gut blockage and impeding their ability to breathe. B.A. absorbs 5 or 6 times its weight in water and makes a thick paste in the gut, insects “breathe” by capillary action, so no water = suffocation. I like to think of roaches being really constipated and slowly dying of shortness of breath, this makes me really happy.
D.A. grinds them up from the inside out, its sharp edges coming from the exoskeletons of some algae and other critters. I enjoy this as well.
Both of these substances are ingested by roaches and the like because these critters walk through or get “dusted” and clean themselves, they are committing suicide unwittingly. I also enjoy this.
Capt
Both of these substances are mostly harmless to non insects unless you do something really stupid. I have eaten both to show clients they are safe for pets and kids, I used to be a Pest Control Tech
C
Ok, not to derail the thread, but I don’t have fleas in my carpet. I don’t think? I have them all over my fucking dogs, and the goddamn vet says the medicine ought to work and IT IS NOT WORKING. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Maybe they are in the carpet? We barely even HAVE carpet! How would I know? I’m trying it anyway, can’t hurt. Goddamn fucking fleas. :mad:
Fleas are difficult, I feel your pain. To get rid of them you have to break the like cycle, IIRC they breed and hatch at about two week intervals, so you need at least three treatments about 14 days apart. The little bastards like to hide in carpet and cloth for some damned reason. They are likely living somewhere in your house, in a place that doesn’t get disturbed much, you will have to hunt them down.
Find them, Kill them, repeat three times and you will be rid of them
Best of luck
Capt
“Capt” you seem to have a good knowledge of this kind of stuff, can you give me some instructions on how to use it on a medium sized dog with “Mange”, the stuff I use seems to work only short time, also, can I make some kind of spray to use on his resting places?
Thanks
Sorry, I know nothing about the treatment of Mammals, I killed bugs. If you are looking to kill bugs around the places he beds down, you might want to try something containing Pyrethrin or its affiliates. Your local home improvement store has them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrin
These are quick kill and break down in light or with oxygen, they break down quickly and , if used correctly, are safe with kids and pets. Read the label, follow the instructions and do not over treat, seriously more is not better. Washing pet bedding in hot water is a pretty good killer as well, insect wise.
Capt
How do I know where the fleas are hiding? Will I see them? The only out of the way carpeted place I have is under my bed, which I checked, and I didn’t see anything (except a lot of dog hair dust bunnies (puppies?)).
I’ve been to people’s houses before where you could see fleas bouncing on the carpet, and they would bite your ankles, but I never get that at my house. I never see them, except on the dogs. I mean, occasionally one will bounce on my arm while I’m playing with the dogs, but then it sproings away again. Little fuckers. But this year I just have NOT been able to get rid of the damn things, and my vet basically told me with multiple pets going outside, there wasn’t a lot I could do. :mad:
eta: I vacuumed up the dust puppies, for the record.
Flea larvae live in carpet and all the other soft surfaces your dog gets on. The reason you don’t see them a’hopping is because they get on the dogs as soon as they finish pupating. We had a miserable flea-bitten dog put down once. Two weeks later, the carpet was alive with hungry adult fleas. Advantage or Frontline will kill the adults on the dogs, but several generations could be waiting in the carpet and elsewhere. Flea spray once a week followed by a good vacuuming will really help. I use Black Flag brand flea and tick spray from Dollar General (from the regular insecticide section, not the pet section) and have great results.
Dog fleas generally won’t bite you unless they starving IIRC they are species specific. They will be hiding somewhere at “Dog Height” or ground level. While the nest(for lack of a better term) may be outside it is likely inside. Look for a towel, blanket or the like, that does not get moved often even the inside or underside of an easy chair. If you search hard enough you will find them, treat first then vacuum, throw away the bag because you are unlikely to kill the eggs also they may be living in your vacuum cleaner bag right now. The bag is a perfect place for them. After you find the nest treat every two weeks for a total of three times and you should be good, you need to treat the dogs at the same time.
Good luck and happy hunting
Earlier upthread I talked about proper use of insecticides, use this advice, do not over treat, more is not better
Capt