Where to buy borax

[kirbdoc]

Went to buy borax at the local Wally world and was told they no longer stock it. It was too expensive at the local grocery store. So if anyone is interested I found the 76oz boxes at buy.com for $4.29 no tax with free shipping. The fed ex guy is going to be ******.

 

[gpgyo]

I bought 8 boxes at the Target in my neighborhood yesterday. They were $3.00 a box. Went in the pool this morning and it's looking better already!

Good luck.

 

[kirbdoc]

That's great. They were over 4 at my target and they didn't have enough

 

[JasonLion]

I've seen borax many different places, but few seem to keep it in stock consistently. In addition to WalMart, Target, K-Mart, and some of the big box hardware stores, try a few of the largest grocery stores in you area.

 

[denisbaldwin]

I'll back up Target. Got some for $3.29 the other day. You may also want to check the dollar stores. I think Family Dollar carries it.

 

[whippoorwill]

Publix grocery stores seem to be good about carrying it.

 

[Jonathanm]

I saw this Boric Acid on Ebay the other day. Can anyone comment on its suitability? Other wise on mainland Europe I have no idea where to by it....

BORIC ACID

This ia 25Kg pack of pure Ortho Boric Acid

Packed in a heavy dury plastic bag/scak and shipped in sturdy double wall outer box and labelled with appropriate CHIPS III Label

All products are packd in sturdy outer boxes to ensure safe arrival

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION TECHNICAL

Boric Acid % H3BO3: 99.5 min

Boric Oxide % B2O3: 56.0 min

Impurities

Sulphate ppm SO4: 600ppm max

Chloride ppm Cl: 500ppm max

Iron Oxide ppm Fe2O3: 4ppm max


Thanks,

Jonathan

 

[chem geek]

It's fine to use. A good quality boric acid.

 

[JamesW]

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION TECHNICAL

Boric Acid % H3BO3: 99.5 min

Boric Oxide % B2O3: 56.0 min

How is there 99.5 % boric acid and 56 % boric oxide?

 

[chem geek]

It's really a synonym of sorts since boric oxide (aka boron trioxide) is an anhydrous form of boric acid:

H₃BO₃ --> HBO₂ + H₂O
2HBO₂ --> B₂O₃ + H₂O

The molecular weight of B₂O₃ is 69.6182 g/mole (note the two borons) while boric acid is 61.83 g/mole. So 99.5% * (69.6182/2)/61.83 = 56.0%.

 

[Jonathanm]

It's fine to use. A good quality boric acid.

Thanks for your help - I'll go ahead and get some - I tried several sources in France - ridiculously expensive... It's for sale here in most pharmacies in 30gram sachets - and the chemist told me that its mostly used for killing cockroaches... :-D

 

[bobodaclown]

Local Walmart has it for $2.97 box. If you go to customer service they will special order or pull the amount you need. I'll need 14 boxes. Stopped in Saturday, they called Monday they have them. Just got to ask.

 

[chem geek]

... and the chemist told me that its mostly used for killing cockroaches... :-D

In concentrated form, yes, and you can learn more about why in diluted form it's not a problem for humans, but is for insects in this video. You can read more about borates safety in this thread. The chemist also could have told you that Boric acid is often used in eye wash solutions at around 1% (1750 ppm Boron). For pools and spas, we use only 50 ppm.

 

[VoR]

Home Depot carries it (or at least a year ago they did). I actually had a guy stop me to ask why I was buying 8 boxes of it

 

[pir8radio]

I know this is an old post, but this is the one that is most prevalent in a google search, so I thought I would share my findings here.. 50 lbs of borax for $30.00 Best deal I've been able to find, they shipped the day after I ordered... Shipping was like $13.00 bucks, but still cheaper than I was getting it. Link Below:

Borax | Bulk Apothecary

 

[Lykly]

I bought mine from dudadiesel. Bought the boric acid granules so it did not affect my pH. Very clean looking product quick shipping I thought very reasonably priced.
DudaDiesel - Biodiesel, Chemical & Solar Supplies, Alternative Energy Store



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[AstridN]

Does the math on boric acid granulates work the same as with borax?

 

[Lykly]

On pool math there is an option to choose granules.


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[AstridN]

Thank you!
I didn't notice that option ��

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Boric acid works the same as Borax/MA for adding borates to pool water BUT boric acid is much, much easier to work with and well worth any cost differential. Borax is a strong(ish) base and will raise pH dramatically upon addition. This is why you must add muriatic acid to compensate. Eventually you balance the two but, in the process you create both borate ions in water and lots of excess salt. Boric acid, by contrast, is a weak acid and even with the full 50ppm addition (~40+ lbs for a typical pool volume), the pH will only go down by around 0.3 units. Boric acid also dissolves very rapidly in water and will not cause calcium scale or water cloudiness as borax will.

You can do the calculations on Pool Math but, roughly speaking, adding the full measure of borates using boric acid lowers the pH by 0.3 units. Adding 1/10 th the amount of borax needed to get to 50ppm raises the pH by nearly 0.9 units and thus requires MA to knock it back down. So, you can add all of the boric acid at once OR you can add the borax in 10 batches with MA additions in between.

By far, the boric acid method is a lot easier...