Borax Foot Soak: Benefits, Recipes, and Community Experiences

| Modified on Jun 02, 2026
The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Athlete's Foot
Posted by David (Springfield, Missouri) on 11/08/2015
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Borax powder for Athlete's Foot cure

I have not read this one on the site, so thought I would share.

I sprinkle a liberal amount of borax powder, like the 20 Mule Team brand, over inside-out socks, then flip again to get them right side out. I wear them during the workday and after 2-3 days, all crusty feet are gone and I am left with, by comparison, baby-smooth skin on my feet. Amazing cure and much simpler than soaking your feet in ACV, etc.

Typically, I follow up with this every 3-4 months, or when I start noticing any rough skin between my toes, and a few days of this will stop it.

Be advised, if you have severe athlete's foot, you may lose a significant amount of dead/diseased skin on your feet the first day, which can be alarming. I recommended this treatment to a family member who had a very bad case and he was a bit disturbed by the amount of skin coming off his feet the first day. He decided to do borax soaks in a foot bath instead, so the reaction would be slower and less alarming, which it was. It was a complete cure for him in about a week, and he does the 3-4 month powder in the socks follow up as needed.

Other thoughts: Something about the heat, pressure, and moisture on your feet of a normal day's work seems to make this work better, as I have tried follow-up treatments on the weekend with just socks and does not seem as effective.

Also, more powder seems to work better than less, which can feel a bit odd as it seems you are walking with fine sand in your socks, but the sensation is unnoticeable to me in a few hours. I would estimate the quantity per sock at about 1-2 tablespoons. I have tried follow-ups with just a small sprinkling and that does not seem to work as quickly as the 1-2 tablespoon amounts.


Athlete's Foot
Posted by Victor (Wisconsin, US) on 04/18/2015
★★★★★

I had athlete's foot for many years, feet & shoes smelled terrible. One day I was reading the side of a box of borax, & there it stated that it removed odors. So I began to sprinkle borax into my shoes, and also into my socks. It made my feet hot, but in a few weeks it cured my athlete's foot, & has never returned. Now use it occasionally as insurance to prevent return infection.


Athlete's Foot
Posted by Dianna (Austin, Tx) on 02/04/2010
★★★★★

Borax for athletes foot:

After trying everything else you could buy at the store for his pretty much life long athletes foot problem - and not having results my boyfriend finally decided to try the remedy I kept telling him to try... borax - which he thought was poison him instantly but he 'trusted' the OTC stuff at the store!!! LOL

He wet his feet and then took a handful and rubbed it all over his feet.

He said they stopped itching immediately! He was stunned.

A few weeks later I asked him how his athletes foot was and he said: oh wow! It hasn't come back! That stuff totally cured it!!!

Now he tells all his friends about borax ;)


Athlete's Foot
Posted by JS (Asheville, NC) on 05/31/2008
★★★★★

I have been trying to get rid of a fungal infection on my feet that I have had for years. Athlete's foot and now, in the past, 2 years, severely cracked heels (a sign of fungus, I have read). The over-the-counter creams that I have used do work, but they don't work permanently: the infection just moves around and later returns.

After reading up on the many of the remedies on Earth Clinic, I decided to make up my own recipe for a foot bath. So for the past 4 days, I have done the following:
3 heaping tablespoons of borax (20 mule team) dissolved in hot water, then added to a large tupperware storage container (cheap and perfect size for 2 feet).
Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.
Add enough hot water to cover my the bottoms of my feet and ankles.
I soak my feet for 10-15 minutes every morning.

I can't tell you at this point if it will cure the fungal infection. What I can tell you is that after 9 minutes, I get a very powerful taste in my mouth. It is the same taste I get when I am taking supplements to detox from heavy metals. What's weird is that it happens every day at the 9 minute mark. (Coincidentally, oil pulling causes my sinuses to open at the 9 minute mark too). I think that this foot soak may be a powerful way to detox from heavy metals, particularly fluoride. I hope other people will give it a try and give me their opinions. I will report back with more results in a week or two.