20 Mule Team Borax Review & Giveaway {3 Winners}

Well, summer is in full swing and I am loving the cooler weather that we have had this week. It makes working in the kitchen enjoyable and I love to bake and clean when the air is cool. When it is hot and sticky that last thing I want to be doing is working. If this cool weather is any indication of how the rest of the summer is going to be, I am SO ready! :) Cleaning is something that I really do enjoy and when it comes to keeping my house clean, I am pretty good at keeping up with things. I am not OCD about my house though (unless we are talking about toys, then I am terrible!) and it doesn't have to be spotless 100% of the time. My family comes first and if the house needs to wait until tomorrow to be cleaned then so be it. It can wait. Now, at the end of my day, I typically do a walk-through of the house and pick up toys, wipe down counter tops and straighten things up a bit. If there is one thing I do enjoy it is waking up to a clean and ready-for-the-day house.

One of the rooms of my house that just has to be clean is my kitchen. I have a lot of experience with ants and so I know the importance of a clean kitchen. So, when it comes to cleaning supplies for my kitchen I tend to use multi-purpose cleaners. 20 Mule Team Borax Detergent Booster is something that I use regularly for my laundry but did you know that it can also be used for cleaning purposes? I never did until recently and have been using Borax around my house ever since. I have often wondered where the name "20 Mule Team" came from and thought you would be interested in learning more about the history behind the famous name...

Twenty-mule teams were a solution to the transportation problem of moving millions of pounds of borax from remote mines in inaccessible Death Valley to the railroad at Mojave.

Originally, teams of eight and 10 mules were used. But the 165-mile trek proved to be too much for these teams. According to local legend, Harmony Borax superintendent J.W.S. Perry and a muleskinner (or driver) named Ed Stiles came up with the idea of hitching two 10-mule teams together. The result was 100-foot-long team that took 10 days to carry 10 tons of borax one way across the desert.

Three men operated the 20-mule teams, which were actually 18 mules and two horses. The mule teams hauled more than 12 million pounds of borax 165 miles in the five years between 1883 and 1888. During this time not a single animal was lost, nor did a single wagon break down. In 1894, a steam traction engine named “Dinah” was brought in to replace the mules, but she proved less reliable, and was eventually towed back to town by the mules she tried to replace.

After the mules were replaced by a new rail spur, the Pacific Coast Borax company added the name 20 Mule Team to Borax. The symbol was first used in 1891 and registered in 1894.

How interesting is that! I would have never guessed but now, I know! It is also really neat to note that Borax has been used for so many years. You really know a product is good if it has stood the test of time and is still used now!

So, for this review I was sent a box of 20 Mule Team Borax Detergent Booster and also some coupons to give away to some of you! Borax is a regular additive to my laundry and while it is odorless and doesn't seem to add much to my laundry, it does a great job cleaning my clothes and helping my detergent work better. It is also really helps to remove stains in clothing and believe me, with three toddlers we have a LOT of  stained clothing around here!

Because I have never cleaned the drains of my kitchen sinks, I thought that it would be a good idea to use the 20 Mule Team Borax on them to see how well it worked! You can also use this product to clean your disposal if you had one. I had one at the old house and I miss it terribly!! Those things are simply the BEST.

So, all you do is sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons down the drain and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then, flush well with water. That is all you need to do! Any foul odors will be gone and your sink will be cleaner than it was. I have never noticed any bad smells from my drains but it is good to know that now they are clean!

Not only can you use Borax in your sinks, but you can also use it for your laundry (it naturally softens hard water which helps your detergent work at it's maximum capabilities), washing your dishes and even adding it to your dishwasher to eliminate water spots and residue! I love that! I have been noticing water spots on my glasses recently so I may try this out in the dishwasher too.

20 Mule Team Borax Detergent Booster retails for about $3 and can be found at mass retailers around the country. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone! It is multi-functional, practical, natural and VERY effective! Try it out today!

I have some coupons for Free 20 Mule Team Borax Detergent Booster to give away to three of you! Here are your entry options...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I did receive 20 Mule Team Borax for review purposes. All quotes and stock photos are from the 20 Mule Team Borax website and email. Prizes are being mailed by myself. This blog is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged prizes and in this case I cannot replace lost coupons. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine. 

20 Mule Team Borax Review & Giveaway {2 Winners}

As a mom, I do a lot of laundry. You all know this by now because of all my Purex posts. :) I honestly don't mind doing laundry...it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I have done 4 loads in one day. For me, that is something to brag about when hubby comes home from work. :) Most times, when he looks at me and asks what I did today I just nonchalantly tell him "Oh, you know...I laid on the couch, painted my toenails and ate bonbons." Hee hee...can you just imagine what my house would look like if I did that?!?!? I was saying my children make alot of laundry and having three children now has me doing laundry at least 2 times a week for their clothes alone. My children's clothes take a serious beating too. Am I the only parent out there who just cannot pass their clothes down to anyone else because they look too worn out? I wonder how some people do it...I get clothes from them for my children and they hardly look used at all. I have to find out their secret... :)

Because I am a Purex Insider, I am able to frequently review products that are made from Henkel, which is the manufacturer of Purex. Some of these products are new, some have been around awhile. That is what brings me to this post today! How many of you have ever heard of Borax? Well, I have to admit that the first time I ever heard about it was this past July when a friend was RAVING that it is the only thing she uses on her family's clothes. They live on a small farm and their clothes get incredibly soiled and she was SO excited about Borax and encouraged me to try it. Well, I forgot about it until I heard about this review opportunity.   20 Mule Team Borax is a Laundry Booster and household cleaner...all in one powdered form! Here is a bit more about this product...

Borax is the common name for sodium tetraborate: a naturally occurring substance produced by the repeated evaporation of seasonal lakes.

20 Mule Team® Borax is 100% natural, and 99.5% pure (there is about a half of 1% of naturally occurring trace minerals). Once removed from the ground it is washed, dried, and boxed for consumers.

Borates, borax and boron compounds are with us throughout our lives. Families use it to soak and wash diapers and other laundry, but it’s also an ingredient in cosmetics, medicines, ceramics and building materials.

The biggest industrial user of borates is the glass industry (especially fiberglass and gorilla glass). It’s an important ingredient in agricultural chemicals and fire retardants.

In earlier times, borax was proclaimed to be a magical crystal that was used to aid digestion, keep milk sweet and even cure epilepsy. Common sense and modern technology have brought us better solutions to these and other problems, but 20 Mule Team Borax still has a place in your home.

20 Mule Team Borax comes from California where one of the world’s largest deposits was discovered in 1913.

Absolutely nothing is added. No phosphates, per-oxside, chlorine, or other additive chemicals.

SO, now that you know everything that there is to know about 20 Mule Team Borax, let me tell you about my experience with it. :)

For this review I was sent a full-sized box of 20 Mule Team Borax. As soon as I opened the box, I knew that I was going to love this Laundry Booster. Right on the front of the box it says that it is not only a laundry booster, but also a multi-purpose household cleaner too! Now I LOVE a product that can do more than one thing.

On the back of the box, there are clearly outlined directions that tell you exactly how to use this product on different surfaces, rooms and clothing. I love how I don't have to dig for instructions...this is so perfect for me. I enlarged the photo a bit so you can see what I mean. You can use this 20 Mule Team Borax on carpets and rugs, garbage disposals and drains, your dishwasher and even on baby clothes! I love that it will remove stains as well.

For laundry, use 1/2 cup of Borax. Add it in the washing machine at the same time you add your detergent. I do this before any clothes are in the washer. By the way, 20 Mule Team Borax is safe for HE machines too! So those of you who own those fancy-dancy machines are eligible to use Borax too! :) I could definitely tell that this booster worked for my whites, in particular. They just looked a little bit more crisper and cleaner than normal...I unfortunately did not get a photo (baaaad meee!) but trust me, they looked great!

Borax retails for a little over $3, which makes it a very affordable laundry booster and household cleaner. I am very excited to try it out in other areas of my house...especially in our new house when we move (I will finally have a DISHWASHER!!). You may be asking, where can I get Borax? All you need to do is check out their store locator and that will give you a full list of stores that carry this product.  Be sure to also check out 20 Mule Team Borax on Facebook...they would love to meet you! :)

I have two coupons for a FREE box of 20 Mule Team Borax to give away to two of my readers! If you do alot of laundry then you will want to enter this giveaway!! Here are your entry options...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. As a Purex Insider, I did receive 20 Mule Team Borax for review purposes. All quotes and stock photos are from the 20 Mule Team Borax website and email. Prizes are being mailed by myself. This blog is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged prizes and in this case I cannot replace lost coupons. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.