Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with borax

Wither art thou, Slimer?

obiwanwasabi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:25:47 -0800

Science, why hast thou forsaken me? Help me work out why my PVA slime isn't slimy. School holiday time. Thinking of neat science-y things to do with my seven-year old niece. Slime seemed to be the obvious choice. The recipes online all seem much the same - a 50/50 solution of white PVA glue and some borax solution, combine the two solutions, voila, slime.

The first batch was made according to these instructions. I combined both mixtures and waited. There was a turbulent cloudy effect, after which every drop of food colouring I added to the glue solution was ejected. I was left with a strange white putty they yields to gentle pressure but instantly shears or snaps if you try to stretch it.

Some more googling suggested that adding too much borax solution would cause 'cross linking' in the polymer and create hard putty. Using these instructions, I added the borax solution a teaspoon at a time to a half-cup of glue solution. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Then suddenly, the same fleeing of the food dye and the same goddamned putty in the bottom of the bowl.

Is it the glue? It's just white PVA wood glue. Help me, science geeks!

Burning senstation in my finger tips, borax or jalapeno pepper?

Jujee — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:46:10 -0800

I chopped up a half of a jalapeno pepper this evening but later also did a little hand washed laundry with borax. The fingertips in my right hand are burning - was the jalapeno or the borax??? How do I stop this burning? (assuming milk would help, I don't have any!)

Another Flea Question

Shane — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 21:45:38 -0800

When fleas can't nibble on your cats ('cuz you've treated the felines with Advantage or something), what do tehy live on? Fur? Cat food? They should just starve. But they say that if you don't sweep them daily you don't get rid of them... I have four cats. One got outside and brought fleas back in. HELP! Fleas are hell. Especially in a messy house. Do I have to do one massive (impossible) cleaning and sweeping!? Or one room per day?

So I read the AskMe posts and I hear Borax is good and fairly harmless to put down on the rug, mattress, etc and then sweep up.

Right?

Also, tomorrow I'm (hopefully) getting some Advantage (even though it's made by Bayer!) to get rid of the itchy beasts off my cats.

BUT MY HOUSE IS A MESS! There's no way I can clean it all at once. I'm just dealing with cleaning one room at a time, maybe one per day over the next few days, recycling piles of accumulated papers, moving my entire computer station and all the wires and components and sweeping up all the massive dust-bunnies (where most of the fleas seem to be spawning), etc.

Will this kill the fleas? 'Cuz, ya know, they hatch continually.

If the fleas can't get on my cats 'cuz of the Advantage, and I sweep the house over the course of a few days (re-sweeping everything each day as I go), will I get 'em all?

Or do I have to do one massive (impossible) cleaning and sweeping!?

I feel itchy just thinking about this.

Thanks.

Boric Acid (roach killer) safe to use in my cupboard?

bingwah — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 06:49:14 -0800

I'm Using Boric Acid for a cockroach problem - is it safe to put it in my cupboard next to plates and cups? I don't have a huge roach problem but enough to make it a nuisance and me and my wife are pretty disgusted by them. I usually see about 1 or 2 a week in the kitchen only.

I've read this thread:
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/15936 and I'm using three different roach "killers". I layed down boric acid, Combat roach Gel and have put out Raid Roach traps. I don't know how long this stuff is supposed to take to work but it's been almost a month and we're still seeing them.

I purposely avoided my cupboards because I didn't want toxins near my plates and cups. Today however I saw a roach in my cupboard.

Is it really bad to put down boric acid in my cupboard? Obviously I'd wash any plates or cups before using.