Borax: Unlocking the Health Benefits of a Natural Compound

Something I've discovered when using borax on your hair is that a handheld shower makes it a whole lot easier. Particularly if you work in your 1/4 tsp of citric acid in a pint of water and leave it in until you're done washing, then getting the handheld shower right up close to the scalp to rinse it all out. AWESOME!

Until today, I have never read about mixing borax with water for washing hair.

I have long hair, and sometimes only wash my hair once or twice a week. When my diet is less than ideal, my hair gets a bit greasy, and at times I get somewhat of an itchy flaky scalp.

After learning about borax for dish washing (the clearest glass you will ever see! , and it kills the mold in your dish sponge), I decided to try washing my hair with it.

For many months now, I just dump a handful of borax into my palm, and rub it all over, mostly the area subject to be oily where my hair meets my forehead. Borax does not normally foam when you clean with it, but it foams when I rub it into my wet hair. I try rub the powder all over.

The first several times, I would just wash it out with water, but then I started using a diluted alkalizing and natural green soap. At first, the wet hair will have a dry feeling to it, but once it has thoroughly dried, it will be the softest hair. It just looks and feels great after this.

Any dandruff or flaky scalp will be gone for a couple of days after this. If your scalp is really bad, I would recommend following the protocol outlined above where the borax is diluted in water first.

Also, my hair is thinning, and I think, but am not sure, that the thinning has slowed down severely since I started using the borax wash.

Hi. I am addicted to this site, and I've found many helpful posts. So, I wanted to quickly respond to the amount of Borax to use for hair and scalp. Obviously, I'm only speaking from my experience. I use a palmful of borax (2 or 3 TBS.), which I rub into my scalp. I rinse it out and then clean my hair, as normal. At the end, I use a final rinse of 1/8 C Borax mixed in 1 Liter of water (I keep the solution in a rinsed plastic soda bottle). I do not rinse out this mixture. I, then, dry and style my hair as usual. Since the first application, I have no longer suffered with an itchy, flaking scalp. It's been wonderful!

i've been using borax for a hair wash too. i've used it a couple of different ways - 1 teaspoon in a pint of warm water stired and poured on wet hair, then rinse with water - followed by a 1 teaspoon of ACV in a pint of warm water; rinse again with cold water - and i've used it saturated - which means i put about 1/2 inch in a bottle and filled it with warm water, shook it, and let it sit until no more borax would dissolve (they will be some white crystals which is ok) (then used the same as above) - and i really couldn't tell the difference!!!

both methods leave my hair very full, shiny, smooth, soft - better than anything else i have used!!! before this i was using soap bars which started leaving white residue in my hair when our water quality changed. this is not a problem with borax!

it does seem that the saturated solution may be more prone to 'build up' which means that my hair wasn't quite as shiny (still shiny though) as with the less saturated solution - but this could be because i'm only using ACV to rinse - 1/4 teaspoon citric acid in a pint of water is supposed to be a better rinse - but i have yet to find any and love my ACV rinse. also i like the idea of using less borax since i use it for my laundry and other things.

the other wonderful thing borax has done for me is i have a rat named eric who has always had itchy skin!!! i have tried everything - VCO rubs (to kill mites - he hates VCO) - olive oil, ACV, neem soap, etc. and while some of these work the itchies always come back when it is cold and dry.

the last time this happened he was chewing his skin off and i was desperate and decided to try the borax.

i put about a tablespoon or so into the sink and filled it with warm water and soaked him and massaged his itchy spots. then i rinsed him with plain water.

immediately he stopped itching! he was able to sleep all night that night and has been better since. i have only had to do it once more and it has been a few weeks!!! this time i made sure to get it on his head and this has worked even better.

and rats often suffer from a respitory illness called myco - which seems to me to be similar to pnuemonia - and suprise of suprises! eric's breathing is much better after his borax baths!!! he is an older rattie and has allergies - and while i don't think he has active myco - most ratties do carry myco and they can come down with it if their immune system is compromised.

hope this helps someone! my rattie boy now has much energy and is acting like a young rattie again in spite of being almost 2 years old!!! :)

also my bf has had athletes foot for ever. i finally gave him some borax and he wet his feet in warm water and just scrubbed them with the borax granules. he says his feet haven't itched since he did this!!! and if they do he now knows what to do!!! this is funny to me because he was initially very afraid to use borax LOL

borax rocks!!! YAY!

Years ago I picked up a small book of old timey cleaning recipes from the 1900s. In the last century before there was store bought bottles of cleaning concoctions people made their own products. Women with the long hair used Borax Water to clean their hair very efficiently. The recipe I use is 1 cup of Borax to 1 gal of very hot water. Let it sit for 24 hours and shake it occasionally. Use only the water from this jug to wet your hair and just squeeze through, don't scrub. Rinse throughly and if needed do a vinegar rinse to clean any buildup.

When you are low on the borax water I add water and/or borax to keep the level right in the jug.

I hope this helps.

Hi Everyone that reads this,

I've been using the Borax and Water for shampooing my hair for well over a year now. It's kind of hard to get use to in the beginning because it does not foam up but it does get slippery. I am 48 years old, with naturally curly hair, and it is always tangle free and smooth, not dry or oily at all. My one fault is I use a lot of hairspray to keep my hair in place for the day, but the borax and water keeps any buildup from occurring due to the hairspray. I thought why stop there, why not use it all over like a body wash, it's cheap, easy an all in one kind of thing. I can shave my underarms and legs with no problem because it is a slippery solution and the razor just glides on through. I do not have dandruff but never did to begin with so I don't know if it would help with this condition or not.

As far as measurements go, that's hard to say because due to the size of container you are using. Just simply go to the point of saturation, and if there is still some crystals from the borax in the bottom, so what no big deal.

Peace, Rena.

What a wonderful site! I find so much honest mindblowing information on this site. I already know quite a bit about herbs and vitamins but I am really being educated to some incredible healing therapies here. I have fallen in love with borax. I have had an itchy scalp for 10 years. When I say that it sounds pretty benign, but it has dominated my existence, alternating between itching, inflammation, tenderness, prickliness, numbness and downright pain. I noticed that it had a hormonal connection, but because my head "talked to me" with all of the above symptoms, I touched and tugged on individual hairs to calm my head. Of course I knew it wasn't working and it only made matters worse, but there was a "reaction".

I have purchased rogaine, shampoos, conditioners, pills, anti itch sprays, etc and the list goes on. I happened on a diatribe on curezone, and they mentioned borax and also earthclinic. so I went to this site and found a ton of amazing information. Of course the light bulb goes off. The next morning I mixed some borax in water and poured it on my scalp. Small amounts of tingling pain. My hair felt silky but stronger and thicker. My hair looked fantastic, but the other noticeable thing was that my scalp didn't itch. Later on in the day, there were tiny scabs where the small bumps would show up.(I know I didn't mention that earlier, but neither did I mention that my hair didn't feel like it was firmly connected into my scalp either) I knew that I had found a solution to what has been driving me crazy.

I really wonder if the people who pull out their hair are reacting to some of the same conditions that I have been experiencing for so long. I no longer feel like I need to "play" with my hair. when I say play with it, I actually mean that I was pulling a lot of it out. I was not trying to pull it out, but I felt that if I just ran my nail down the length of it that I would somehow "fix the individual hairs, and sometimes they would come out, because as I said they were not firmly rooted into my scalp. I take away the symptoms with the borax and I no longer need to touch the hair. I think they call it tricholotomia or something like that.

I have a question and I don't know if anyone has an answer, but my brother in law has a bone chip on his ankle. He has had surgery once to "fix" it but it didn't work, the pain is back, and he is once again, walking with a cane. I don't know how big this bone chip is, but is there anyway to either dissolve the bone chip, or to get the bone chip to attach to his ankle?

anyway, I am glad this site is out here in cyberspace where people can get real and helpful information and not have to pay 150.00 for either a non answer from a doctor ( I brought my scalp problem up 3 times with 2 different doctors and they would look at my scalp and offer zero advice or help) or an answer which doesn't do crap or hurts you. I don't know about you but when I pay a doctor 150.00 and they either don't answer my question or whatever they do doesn't work, I think I should get my money back. Speaking of doctors, I went to one once because I was sick two days before I was going on a long vacation. I diagnosed myself and knew that I had rocky mountain fever. My father in law had gone hunting and his wife cooked some of the meat that he brought back. They both had come down with it. I had heard my mother in law say how hard it was to diagnose. I had all the symptoms but I tend to get really gassy and nausous. I DID not want to be sick on christmas vacation around family.

I went to dr. before I left, explained what I had, symptoms, and why. He said absolutely nothing to me, gave me some anti nausea meds and sent me on my way. They did nothing. I got some charcoal pills before I left because the dr. hadn't helped at all. I spent 10 days in bend ore. sick as a dog, Toward the end I felt like my insides were starting to dissintegrate. I separated myself from everyone because of the terrible gas. I finally started to have diahhrea just before we left (I have always been constipated) It took us two days driving home in the snow. I went to a check medical as soon as I got home (different doctor) I told the doctor, I know I have rocky mountain fever, just give me the meds, you can run the tests but I can not live with this another day. He gave me the drugs. Two days later, they called to say indeed I had rocky mountain fever. I was so pissed at the other doctor for ruining my vacation. Of course this was about 17 years ago before wonderful access to web information. But that doctor was so arrogant he could not stand having a patient telling him what was wrong. Thank god for the second doctor because I was ready to kill myself by then rather than feel like my insides were literally pulling away from their internal walls, feeling constantly nauseated, but not being able to throw up. Sorry, I am still pretty angry about it and I have never called or said anything directly to that doctor. I simply never went to his office again. sincerely. me.

I learned about borax on curezone for itchy painful scalp and decided to try it. Someone else on this site has mentioned how nice her hair is as a result of using the borax. I have NEVER used a hair product- a shampoo or a conditioner that has equalled the lustruous results I have achieved with borax. My hair was dry and straw like now it feels soft and silky and very manageable. The rats nest is gone! I can now comb and brush my hair again without fear of tearing my hair out. If for no other reason, I think everyone should abondon their shampoo and start using borax to wash the hair. As for my scalp? I was pretty desperate the day I tried the borax. My scalp was very sore, there was an inflamed (swollen) ridge on my part and there were tiny bumps like zits forming. I have a theory that hair pullers are reacting to whatever it is that causes these symptoms I experience. I started messing with my hair when I started experiencing all of the above. anyway. after using the borax, pain and itching subsided. bumps scabbed over that same day. soooo gentle. Have you noticed that if you get it in your eyes, it does not burn? I remember when I was a kid, I had some sort of eye infection so I went to the doc and he said I had pink eye and prescribed boric acid ointment. so of course it would be gentle to the eye. I am anxious to try it internally for some of the other issues I have read here on the site.(arthritis, tmj, fibromyalgia)."

WOW! This is great i never knew Borax could do so much! I've been using it for almost two years to wash my hair and body with. My hair is soft and shiny, like baby hair and i'm 54 years old! I rinse with 1/4 teas. of citric acid mixed in a pint of water. Together they are the best! No more itchy scalp, no more chemically laden shampoo! Now i'm going to try using it to get rid of Candida!

Hi read Jackie's post a week or so ago regarding her results with borax and water to shampoo hair. I gave it a try and my hair felt great. I have long, heavy hair and it felt clean, soft and not dried out at all. Is anyone else doing this? I'm curious to see if anyone else had done this long-term as I want to make sure I'm not going to destroy my color-treated hair in the long run. I found a shampoo recipe online last week that included borax, castille soap, glycerin and a couple other ingredients. It turned out to be a disaster - after using a second time, my hair was a matted mess. I'm thinking it was the Dr. Bronner castille soap - which I love for face cleansing, but not on my hair. I used the straight borax and water this morning and my hair feels soft and clean again.

Hi, i'm using many of Ted's wonderful remedies. The latest is borax for a shampoo. I was scared at first, thought my hair would be a matted, tangled, dried out mess. Well it works better than any shampoo i've tried, and my stick straight thin hair has new thickness and body. So much so, that i was able to get a chin length haircut with bangs which i didn't dare do before. I don't know if i'm right but i use 2 tbsp borax to 2 qts. warm water and pour it over my head about 3 times then massage my scalp then rinse. i almost forgot to mention i don't need a conditioner or detangling rinse. This makes me really happy because i'm trying to reduce or eliminate chemicals on my skin and body.I use borax water to dampen my hair before a hairset too. I have very light gray hair and i'm trying blackstrap molasses everyday to see if i can get some darker hair back. several people who don't know i'm doing this have said my hair looks darker gray, it definetly is darkening at the hairline on the sides and on the nckline after a short time, so i'm hopeful, but just to be able to have body and thickness to my hair is just thrilling no matter what color it is. Thanks so many times for all this information. jackie