What Products Contain Borate?

Agriculture

• Some amount of borate in the soil is essential for plant use and, according to Borax, crop yields can be increased as much as 40 percent by adding borate fertilizer to depleted soils. The crops which seem the most sensitive to borate, and the ones on which borate fertilizer are more commonly used, are coffee, fruit trees, corn, soya, cotton, alfalfa, peanuts, grapes and strawberries. Borate also helps to stimulate faster growth of trees and is used on tree farms and in reforestation projects.

Glass and Ceramics

• Adding borate and boron compounds to glass as it is being made, makes the glass more heat resistant and helps with devitrification. Vitrification is the crystallization of glass; devitrification is the prevention of crystallization, which means clearer glass and a smoother surface. Borate also makes glass more scratch resistant, more resistant to chemical deterioration and lighter. Borate performs a similar function in ceramics, providing them with a more durable, superficial coating. This is more commonly done in functional rather than decorative ceramics.

Treatments

• In wood and other materials, borate provides many of the same heat resistant qualities that it does for glass and ceramics. Borate provides both resistance to ignition in the wood and a reduced spread of flames. This same protection is provided in borate-treated wood products such as paper and agglomerate as well as other fibrous materials, such as cotton. Used in lumber, such as that used on houses, borate also provides protection against insect infestation. In fiberglass it provides not only heat resistance but also water resistance and protection against chemical deterioration.

Household

• Borate is used in a wide variety of household and industrial cleaning products, including detergents, bleaching agents and water softeners. The Sierra Club of Canada lists borate as a safe, environmentally friendly cleaning product that has "antiseptic, anti-fungal, deodorizing and disinfectant properties" and that "inhibits growth of mold and mildew." Although considered safe for household cleaning, borate is still poisonous if consumed in its raw state. Borate is available in the laundry or cleaning products sections of most grocery stores.