Features of sodium tetraborate. Instructions for use in medicine and at home

Natrii tetraboras, or Natrium tetraboricum are the Latin names for sodium tetraborate, a substance having the chemical formula Na ₂ B ₄ O ₇ . In appearance it is a crystalline, ordinary white powder. It can be added to boiling water, glycerin or diluted with cold water. You need to store in a place where there is no moisture and sunlight. It is known that the substance is in nature in a natural state, but in industry it is produced in huge quantities.

A bit of history

In the old days, when pharmacological products were not so much in demand, as in today, every house had to store a suture with a borax (so trivially called sodium tetraborate) for medical and nutritional purposes. In the Russian Empire, the borax was mined on the Kerch Peninsula or on Taman, digging up hills with volcanic sediments. Later, with the development of the chemical industry, it began to be mass-produced through the reaction between soda ash and boric acid. The obtained substance was called "sodium tetraborate". It found application in various branches of heavy industry, in everyday life and in plant growing, in photography and in the food industry. The natural borer, like the borer obtained by chemical means, has long been and remains a remarkable healer for humans and animals. It has long been used in soap making and leather processing.

Court aristocracy and the fight against cockroaches

Once mistresses skilfully deduced with the help of the given substance of a stain on clothes. About what is sodium tetraborate, how to use it in the farm, how, using it, starched white collars, pantaloons, lower skirts, covers, even the servants knew (for this, one part of the borax with 10 parts of oatmeal was gently mixed). As a result of such processing things not only acquired elasticity, but also had a glossy, brilliant appearance, which was very valuable in the court aristocracy. And how did our grandmother get rid of cockroaches? To prepare a suicidal mixture, they needed one teaspoon of sodium tetraborate. The instruction testified that it was necessary to add to it one spoon of powdered sugar and one spoon of pea or wheat flour. This mixture had to be mixed, scattered on small saucers, leaving for the night as a "food" for bothersome insects.

Industrial and economic application

In modern conditions, radio amateurs and manufacturers of electronic devices all over the world appreciate the properties of sodium tetraborate. The instruction obliges them to process all the conductors and elements before soldering to clean the surfaces of oxides formed by the interaction of oxygen and metals. This substance is actively used in the production of glass. Depending on the amount of borax in its composition, the optical properties of the lenses change.

As a fertilizer for vegetables (especially sugar beet) and other plant crops, a pure technical sodium powder of tetraborate has been added to the soil for a long time. The instruction provides for making up to one and a half kilograms of powder per one hectare of the field. Although these days manufacturers offer more expensive means, instead of cheap borax.

Bura in folk and traditional medicine

Screens of TVs in recent times are constantly intimidating us with milkmaids and are actively advertising quite expensive drugs for treatment. And Candida fungus lived with our great-great-grandchildren, and now lives in every human organism. At times, he begins to multiply actively, reminding people about the need to give themselves and their health a little more attention and choose a suitable diet.

A favorable environment for the development of thrush is an increase in acidity, which is sometimes associated with hormonal changes, mucosal damage, prolonged intake of certain medications, imbalance between certain types of microorganisms in the intestine. There are a lot of folk methods for treatment of candidiasis, but within the framework of this article only the sodium tetraborate potential will be discussed, the instructions for use of which in the fight against thrush were transmitted during the time of our great-grandmothers by word of mouth.

Perhaps at that time very few people knew so much about Candide, as we are now. But in each house it was customary to add a teaspoon of borax to the bucket with drinking water to soften and prevent thrush. In those cases when the fungus was activated and affected the vaginal mucosa or formed foci in the oral cavity, they intensively rinsed, washed, douched with a more concentrated borax solution. And at night, a tampon, soaked in it, was applied to the problem site. Do not think that today this method of treatment has lost relevance. In modern medical reference books, there are recipes that recommend getting rid of unpleasant sensations in exactly the same way.

From prescription reference books

In order to get rid of aphthous stomatitis, the powder is dissolved in glycerol, in proportions giving a 5% or 20% concentration, and smears foci. An aqueous solution containing 2 to 5% sodium tetraborate, the skin is treated, the cavities are washed or the wounds are lubricated. The same solution perfectly removes pigment spots. To care for the skin, glycerine sweeps with borax will also be helpful. For women with oily skin it is useful to wash with a more concentrated solution of this powder (up to 3%), and beauties with a dry skin type should be reduced to 1%. This cover will be soft and silky. Performing these procedures, do not lose sight of hardening, walking, riding a bicycle or boat. Physical activity and a cheerful mood is also an effective remedy, suppressing the vital activity of fungi living in us.

Can sodium tetraborate cause harm?

To answer this question, we turn again to folk wisdom. In anticipation of the birth of a child, during the period of breastfeeding it is desirable not to use any chemistry. No matter how it seemed to us a drill completely harmless, today no one will sell it in the form of a natural volcanic mixture, as it was in the old days, when it was mined, like food salt, in quarries. Industrial production always has a divergence from nature. Caution and moderation will not hurt anyone!