So I bought 20 mule team boraxo put it in a bucket of hot water, it didn’t dissolve, what am I missing
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Borax did not dissolve
- Thread starter pmatter
- Start date
- Jun 24, 2021
- 7,509
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
You can pour slowly into the skimmer and it will dissolve in the filter, you can also pour over the return. Either way, it will dissolve.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Just a comment in case that wasn’t a typo - NEVER use Boraxo! It is mostly a detergent and I’m not sure it even contains borax.
Use ONLY 20 Mule Team brand BORAX or buy boric acid and use that.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 7,509
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60
arvil
Well-known member
If it really is 20 mule team borax, not ‘Boraxo’, I use it to raise pH, minimizes TA increase.
I fill a 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full and mix in a couple of shakes, say a quarter of the box or so. Stir it up for a few seconds, breaking up lumps, then pour it in front of the return, including the undissolved sludgy stuff in the bottom. Most of it dissolves right in the water within seconds, just a bit falls to the bottom. Repeat for the rest of the box. What little falls to the bottom is gone in a few minutes. It’s just that 4 pounds can’t dissolve in 4 or 5 gallons of water, but it will quickly in a few thousand gallons. I usually check pH and TA the next day, give it time to thoroughly mix and the pool chemistry settles. One box a day until I get it where I want it.
I fill a 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full and mix in a couple of shakes, say a quarter of the box or so. Stir it up for a few seconds, breaking up lumps, then pour it in front of the return, including the undissolved sludgy stuff in the bottom. Most of it dissolves right in the water within seconds, just a bit falls to the bottom. Repeat for the rest of the box. What little falls to the bottom is gone in a few minutes. It’s just that 4 pounds can’t dissolve in 4 or 5 gallons of water, but it will quickly in a few thousand gallons. I usually check pH and TA the next day, give it time to thoroughly mix and the pool chemistry settles. One box a day until I get it where I want it.
Just noticed that my post is still active. I did use 20 mule team borax, not anything else. Easy to find in the laundry section of the grocery store or Walmart. I put some of the borax in my skimmer but became concerned that it was not dissolving and since I only have 1 skimmer that it would strain my pump. So I put the rest into a skimmer sock tied it with string to a piece of wood which I anchored and hung the stocking over the edge of the pool in front of a return jet in the deep end of the pool. It was gone in an hour. I think I squeezed it a couple of times. The reason I used the Borax was because I needed to raise my pH without raising TA.
In case anyone else finds this thread:
I added 26 boxes of Borax to my pool a couple weeks ago (it had none prior). I used a 5 gallon bucket, and a large (5 gallon sized) paint stirrer on my drill. I scooped up about 2/3 of a bucket of pool water and dumped in a box, used the paint stirrer to mix it up real well, and tossed the water in the pool. There was only very minimal brushing needed at all.
I added 26 boxes of Borax to my pool a couple weeks ago (it had none prior). I used a 5 gallon bucket, and a large (5 gallon sized) paint stirrer on my drill. I scooped up about 2/3 of a bucket of pool water and dumped in a box, used the paint stirrer to mix it up real well, and tossed the water in the pool. There was only very minimal brushing needed at all.
Well I’m looking at the box of 20 Mule Team Borax and it states on the box, laundry booster and multipurpose cleaner, no wonder y’all say it’s silky, y’all swimming soapy water! What gives?
It’s a way to get borates into your pool if you don’t have boric acid. You have to do it in a combined way with muriatic acid though, as opposed to pure boric acid.
www.troublefreepool.com
Borates in pool - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
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