Borax suppliers??

Hi all, I would like to try some borax for a small brazing job. Does anyone know where it can be bought locally (Leics.) without having to buy from the Internet?

Pound shops are where I get mine!

Neil

Malc,

It probably depends upon what you mean by 'small' ... but I find that a Borax Cone is a good thing to have.

MichaelG.

Laundry department of the local supermarket.

Mac, I can supply you a small amount in a jiffy bag via post ( I am in South Yorkshire ) if you PM me your details .

Trevor.

I got mine at the garden shop, about $NZ 1.50 for a Kg bag.

Ian S C

This was available in packets from most chemists until very recently....I bought my current packet from Boots in my high street. You can also by tubs of flux for silver soldering which is essentially just borax.

However, I am now told that the EU does not allow us to have borax now as "the borons may go into the environment".

Thanks all for the input. The wife is currently looking round town for me, will let you know !

Malc, you might want to check it when she brings you it as I got"Mrs Artfull" to get me some & she came back with borax substitute from the supermarket, & the lass in the local chemists hadn't even heard of it!, I ended up getting it off the internet, I use it as a cleaning flux for brass in the foundry.

Graham.

The EU is used as a scape goat for every thing now days, true or false. I remember the untrue story about the straight cucumbers and bananas. The paper responsible just laughed it off, but unfortunately folk believed it.John

Borax is brilliant for killing ants. Just a couple of large pinches dissolved with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar in hot water, left in a small bottle with ant-sized holes where they enter the house will stop them trekking all the way into the kitchen - why bother when it's available closer to the nest. It is then carted back to the nest where it gradually poisons the whole population. If you or the dogs ingested it, it's almost harmless but acts as a sort of nerve poison to insects. They lift it out of the ground in the Mojave Desert, IIRC.

Seems to be banned from the high street apart from a few woo medicine outlets - and available from metalworking suppliers.

You can get 100g for £9 or 1kg for £11. Being a Scottish-blooded Yorkshireman, I couldn't bring myself to go for 100g at that price but not sure I'd want to clutter up the house with 1kg....

I got my last tin from a blacksmiths suppliers.

I know the Malc did say not from the Internet, but to give an idea of the prices, I bought from this place last year

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/bioaquatek/?_dmd=2&_nkw=borax

and they charge £5.95 kg free p & p, it's named '20 Mule Team Borax' after the mule team that used to haul it out from Death Valley which as Muzzer said is in the Mojave Desert

John

All this stuff is dissapearing from ordinary shops now. A few weeks back when I wanted some alum the first chemist said it's "too dangerous" and the assistant in Boots in my high street said I would have to speak to the pharmacist....When he came out of his cubby hole his first question was "how's it spelt"....!!?!!

I ended up buying my Alum from India. I could not find anybody in Australia who had a clue what I was talking about !

as a young teenager i used to buy boax and alum by the bucket load for my taxidermy...how times have changed

It's got to be at least as harmful as waahing soda...

Hi Folks, many thanks for the great response. My wife (super shopper) came back with a 500g box for £1.99 from a local cheapie tool shop. However having looked at the box again it does say "Borax substitute" so I will have to give it a try. Thanks again all, an interesting set of replies.

.

Out of curiosity, I looked for 'Borax Substitute' ... and found this

http://www.health-science-spirit.com/borax.htm

I offer it without 'opinion', except to mention that I think Sodium Percarbonate is unlikely to be an effective flux.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/05/2016 22:39:10

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/05/2016 23:07:44