Borax

Borax is a hydrated sodium borate mineral, commonly identified as sodium tetraborate decahydrate. It is used in cleaning products and as a flux in metalworking and glassmaking.

Sodium tetraborate: An inorganic sodium salt of boric acid, occurring in several hydrated forms and as anhydrous material. Borax is the decahydrate form of this broader chemical compound.
Alkalinity: A solution’s capacity to neutralize acids, commonly associated with dissolved bases and carbonate or borate ions. Dissolved borax makes water mildly alkaline, helping loosen acidic and greasy soils.
Laundry detergent: A cleaning formulation designed to remove soils from textiles during washing. Borax has been added as an alkaline builder and cleaning aid in some laundry products.
Tincal: A naturally occurring, often impure form of borax found in evaporite deposits. Tincal is the mineral form historically mined and traded as borax.
Borax pentahydrate: A hydrated sodium tetraborate with five water molecules per formula unit. It shares borax’s core salt but has half as much crystal water as the decahydrate.
Borate: A chemical species or mineral containing boron bonded to oxygen. Borate groups are the defining chemical units in borax.
Saponification: The alkaline hydrolysis of fats or oils into glycerol and fatty-acid salts. Borax’s alkalinity can support cleaning, though it does not itself saponify grease like a strong alkali.
Glass: An amorphous solid, usually made by cooling a molten mixture of silica and other ingredients. Borax supplies boron oxide to some glasses, changing their melting and thermal properties.
Evaporite: A sedimentary deposit formed when mineral-rich water evaporates and leaves dissolved salts behind. Borax deposits form in arid basins through evaporation of borate-rich waters.
Anhydrous sodium tetraborate: Sodium tetraborate containing no water of crystallization. It is the dehydrated counterpart of borax and behaves differently during heating and storage.

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