How to make sodium tetraborate with your own hands? Recipes that work!
Sodium tetraborate is the sodium salt of boric acid.
Sodium tetraborate (or borax), due to its huge number of beneficial properties, is widely used both in industrial production and in the household. Thus, sodium tetraborate is currently widely used in the production of licks and slimes. It is thanks to him that these toys have their unusual properties, have an antiseptic base and last a long time. You can buy sodium tetraborate in hardware stores (“borax” - in powder form), or in pharmacies (in glycerin), and also order it on the Internet. Its price varies from 15 to 80 rubles. If there is no opportunity to buy sodium tetraborate, then our article is ideal for solving such a problem. We will provide simple recipes for preparing a thickener, and also offer a recipe for slime with Borax and its alternative replacement. So, how to make sodium tetraborate at home? It is known from chemistry that the production of sodium tetraborate is based on the reaction of ordinary soda, sodium carbonate or hydroxide and boric acid.
Composition and properties
The exact origin of the historically established, trivial name has not been fully clarified. According to the chemical nomenclature, borax is a crystalline hydrate of the sodium salt of tetraboric acid.
If the composition contains 10 water molecules, then the substance is called sodium tetraborate decahydrate. There are types of crystalline hydrate with five water molecules.
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They are called sodium tetraborate pentahydrates. Strictly speaking, the composition of borax is a salt surrounded by a hydration shell of 10 water dipoles.
At 64 ℃, the decahydrate melts and gradually loses water. Complete dehydration of borax occurs at 380°. The resulting tetraborate withstands heating up to 742° and only then melts.
This gradual melting of borax is somewhat confusing to ordinary consumers who are accustomed to the fact that the substance melts strictly at one temperature value. The specificity is explained by the presence of water molecules in the crystalline hydrate. This feature simplifies the use of borax for soldering.
The quality of the substance is standardized by the state standard. There are two grades of raw materials that represent technical borax:
- Grade A is 99.5% salt decahydrate. The remaining 0.5% consists of carbonates, sulfates, and tiny amounts of lead and arsenic compounds;
- grade B - 94% decahydrate, the impurity content of which is 6%.
Both brands are not very stable. The shelf life of technical borax should not exceed six months. It is recommended to use grade B borax as a flux. It fully meets the soldering requirements and is cheaper than grade A raw materials.
Sodium tetraborate slime recipe
- Sodium tetraborate, half a teaspoon
- Stationery glue, 35 g
- Water
- Dye of the desired color.
- Place sodium tetraborate in a bowl of warm water and mix vigorously.
- Pour half a glass of water, glue and dye into the second container. Mix until smooth and uniform in color.
- We take the first container and pour its contents (an aqueous solution of tetraborate) into the second mixture (with glue) in a thin stream. Mix. Our sodium tetraborate slime is ready.
What can replace sodium tetraborate for licks and slimes? In these cases, soda is usually used as the main component, and a number of other components that are responsible for the structure of the toys. These include: flour, starch, glue, shampoo, detergent, toothpaste. Sodium tetraborate itself is replaced with naphthyzine or lens liquid.
Slime recipe without sodium tetraborate
- PVA glue, 65 ml
- liquid for lenses, 35 ml
- soda, three pinches
- water, 125 ml
Pour the required amounts of glue and activator into a bowl-shaped container, which will be liquid for lenses. In the second container, prepare a solution of soda and water. Add one teaspoon of the resulting solution to the adhesive mass. Next, stir all the contents well until the mass begins to move away from the walls of the dish. Let's crush the slime in our palms and make sure it's ready for use. If desired, the slime can be decorated with beads or given color using dye.
What to do if the craft with the activator does not thicken
Sometimes in the process of making slime, the proportions are violated or ingredients that have expired are used. For such cases, there are several ways to save slime:
- Add PVA glue.
- Place in the refrigerator.
- To stir thoroughly.
- Add an activator (barox, lens fluid, starch or air freshener).
Attention! You need to add each ingredient drop by drop, mix everything thoroughly each time and only place it in the refrigerator when cooled.
Ways to save slime
Why is sodium tetraborate dangerous?
This substance belongs to the group of antiseptics, but at the same time can be used as an insecticide. When borax enters the body, it provokes the development of a number of negative reactions, including:
- nausea;
- gagging;
- painful sensations in the abdomen;
- colic;
- fainting conditions;
- dizziness;
- convulsions;
- loss of appetite;
- abnormal heart rate.
Such symptoms do not appear immediately, but as borax accumulates in the body. A special feature of this product is its lack of odor. When used, toxic components are not released. Tetraborate causes harm when taken orally or when the substance comes into contact with mucous membranes. For this reason, precautions must be taken when making slime and when using the plastic mass. It is not recommended for children to play with slimes that contain borax, as there is a high probability that the substance will get into the mouth.
Another danger of contact with tetraborate is the risk of symptoms of irritation. This is a local reaction to borax powder. As a result, redness, itching, and discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract occur. Moreover, such reactions develop when the powder gets on the mucous membrane or after prolonged exposure.
Borax is used to treat skin and mucous membranes as part of complex therapy. For this reason, you should be wary of uncontrolled contact with the drug (for example, when a child takes slime based on this component into his mouth). In addition, irritation often occurs in people with hypersensitivity. With regular contact with borax, there is a risk of developing chronic eczema.
Sodium tetraborate recipes at home
There are different methods for obtaining such a substance at home. Preparation of borax is necessary when you need to use the substance in large quantities, incl. if you plan to make a lot of multi-colored slimes. When deciding how to make sodium tetraborate at home, substances from the alkali group are used. Available recipes:
- Prepare baking soda. To get 100 g of borax, you will need 50 g of the main component. Soda is mixed with boric acid (70 g). However, the entire dose should not be administered at once. Soda should be added in small portions. At the same time, the components are constantly mixed. This is done until the soda crystals dissolve. Then all that remains is to separate the borax. For this purpose, a filtering method is used. A dry cloth will do. If you need to get more borax, the number of components is increased proportionally.
- To make sodium tetraborate with your own hands, consider using another combination: laundry soap, water, boric acid. If you are interested in the question of how to prepare borax, you need to take into account that this will require 200 ml of liquid. Boric acid is taken in a small amount - 5 g. Laundry soap is ground on a grater; for this, a small bar is taken. To make borax, you can use 1 tsp. such shavings. Fill the container with water, then add boric acid and soap. The solution is heated in a microwave oven.
Both recipes are simple. A ready-made solution of tetraborate is used to make slimes. In this case, you must first make a small amount of mass in order to check the properties of the self-made substance.
Forge welding and forging welding
Forge welding of metal is one of the oldest methods of obtaining a permanent connection. At the same time, using such a primitive method, you can connect a wide variety of metals, including stainless steel. But keep in mind that the weld is not strong enough, and this work is considered very labor-intensive. However, forge welding also has its advantages.
In this article we will briefly explain what the essence of forge welding is and what features need to be taken into account in order to comply with the technology.
Sodium tetraborate slime recipe
To make slime at home, consider different methods:
- Classic recipe. You will need PVA glue (35 g), borax (1/2 tsp), water. Use less than 1 cup of liquid and add borax. The substance must be mixed thoroughly. Separately prepare the glue. You need to pour it into a container, add dye in an arbitrary amount. When the consistency becomes uniform, you can mix the substances in one container. Moreover, it is recommended to pour a borax solution into the adhesive, since this allows you to regulate the degree of density of the mass. The material is constantly stirred.
- Slime with borax without glue. Prepare shampoo - 15 g, water - 150 ml. These components are combined and mixed. You need to get some foam. If the shampoo is colored, you do not need to use dye. Otherwise, pigment is added at the stage of mixing the first components. Then flour is added for viscosity. Lumps must be broken up immediately. It is necessary to thoroughly knead the mass, then leave it in the refrigerator for half an hour. After this, the slime must be rinsed in water.
What can replace sodium tetraborate for licks and slimes?
If it is not possible to purchase or make borax yourself, you can use other components. They use boric acid, salt, soda, washing gel, glue, contact lens solution, shaving foam, shampoo, etc. There are many more substitutes. All of them, when properly combined with auxiliary components, provide the desired result. If you are interested in the question of what can replace sodium tetraborate, you can use a common recipe:
- prepare PVA glue (65 ml), water (125 ml), solution for contact lenses (35 ml), soda in an arbitrary amount;
- Mix the lens solution and glue separately;
- in the second bowl, prepare a soda solution: 3 pinches of powder are dissolved in water, but only 1 tsp is used to prepare the slime. finished substance;
- mix the components, knead them until the mass stops sticking to surfaces and hands.
Replacing sodium tetraborate for slime is done in cases where the toy is made for a child.
What drugs and other products can be used as a thickener?
To obtain the correct consistency and a successful slime option, you need to use a polymer and a thickener as the main components.
Substances such as:
- polysaccharide (guar gum);
- glue and other elements.
The thickener is borax, but you can use it instead:
- boric acid;
- lens solution;
- Polish for hair;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- baking soda and others.
You can also use starch or dish soap for slimes without glue.
How to prepare sodium borax tetraborate at home.
When working with metal, be it precious such as gold, silver or non-precious lead, copper, aluminum, iron, sodium tetraborate (borax, borax) is used when melting any metal. The question is why, so that the metal surface has a shiny, bright appearance. To achieve shine when melting, I add sodium tetraborate. It removes all metal oxides and any other dirt from the surface, thereby making it much cleaner. You can buy borax at a chemical store if you need a lot of weight, but if 50 grams is enough for your work, you can buy it at a store that sells radio components. But there are also cases when it is not possible to buy a ready-made reagent; in this case, you should not be too upset; we can easily prepare borax at home.
If you are too lazy to read, you can watch a video that describes in detail how to prepare sodium borax tetraborate at home.
To prepare sodium tetraborate (borax), we need boric acid. The powder, which can be easily purchased at a regular pharmacy in a 10g package, costs about 25 rubles. The price may differ in different regions of the country; it is better to check with your nearest pharmacy the cost of such a bag of boric acid.
The second component we need is regular baking soda, which can be bought at any grocery store and costs about 30 rubles. As you can see, the ingredients for preparing sodium borax tetraborate are cheap.
Now that we’ve got acquainted with the necessary ingredients, let’s prepare our sodium borax tetraborate.
For 100 grams of the final product we need 84 grams of soda and 123 grams of boric acid. If it is not possible to weigh the ingredients, then you can take it in a ratio of 1 to 2. One part baking soda and 2 parts brown acid. Pour 100 - 150 ml of water into the container. heat and dissolve 84 grams of soda in it. After all the soda has dissolved and we have a fairly hot solution, we begin to sprinkle boric acid in small portions. 123 grams is 12 bags of 10 grams. It is very important to sprinkle boric acid in small portions, since during the reaction carbon dioxide will be released, resulting in strong foaming. After all the components are mixed and dissolved in the solution, we need to evaporate all the water from the container. The process may take quite a long time. Just before the end of evaporation, the temperature must begin to be reduced. At the end, when the solution begins to crystallize, it is advisable to leave minimal heating. After successful crystallization, the sodium borax tetraborate crystals can be broken into pieces and ground in a mortar to a powder. After which you can already use it for its intended purpose. To learn more about the process of preparing sodium borax tetraborate at home, watch this video.
How to make sodium tetraborate yourself?
Sodium tetraborate is, without exaggeration, the best thickener for slime, which is also widely used in industry. We are talking about an inorganic compound, the chemical formula of which is Na2B4O7. Among handgamists, this substance is also known by such names as borax and borax. At the same time, slime lovers will agree that this thickener is better suited for making “slime” than lens cleaner and boric acid. Therefore, we suggest you learn how to make sodium tetraborate with your own hands using one of the recipes below.
Conclusion
Lizunov and slimes occupy an important place in the gaming industry. They are interesting not only for children, but also for adults. Their fluidity, plasticity and pleasant texture have a beneficial effect on people's motor skills and emotional state. Making licks and slimes at home is a fun and easy process. It ensures the production of products that are safe for health. The use of sodium tetraborate in recipes for slimes determines their quality, since borax is not only a reaction activator, but also has an antiseptic effect. Another advantage of sodium tetraborate is that you can prepare it yourself by following the simple instructions from our article!
Recipes for making sodium tetraborate at home
There is no reason to doubt that the best slime recipes are made from glue and sodium tetraborate, because even these two ingredients are enough to make slime. As for other varieties, including glossy, fluffy, crunchy, cloud and other types of “slime”, it all depends on the auxiliary components. Therefore, we decided to tell you recipes for making sodium tetraborate at home. It’s worth noting right away that you can buy this substance in almost any pharmacy, but it costs more than the homemade version. At the same time, young craftsmen often spend a lot of thickener on recipes that do not live up to expectations. Why give up your favorite activity? No, it’s better to learn how to make tetraborate yourself.
Recipe No. 1 - boric acid and soda
Boric acid itself is a good thickener. It can be used in its pure form to make simple slimes. But based on personal experience, tetraborate is better and suitable for a wide range of recipes. It is also important to take into account the fact that boric acid is three times cheaper. To prepare sodium tetraborate based on this ingredient, you will also need soda. Prepare as follows:
- Pour a jar of boric acid into the container;
- Add a tablespoon of soda.
Stir until the soda is completely dissolved, and you can start making your favorite slimes.
Recipe No. 2 – borax and glycerin
This option is suitable for people who cannot find sodium tetraborate in the pharmacy. This also happens. Especially in small towns. In this case, you will have to purchase borax (dry powder) at any hardware store. 20 grams of this component is enough.
In addition, you will need 70-80 milliliters of glycerin. To prepare a liquid thickener, mix the above ingredients until the powder is completely dissolved. It feels like sodium tetraborate is no less high-quality than store-bought. In any case, it took us about a minute to prepare the slime from the thickener and Luch PVA glue.
Application of brass and copper powder
Practitioners often use flux that has been stored longer than expected. To solder with brass, the borax must be re-melted. The cooled powder should be placed in a jar with an airtight lid. Neglecting this procedure can ruin the work due to waste accumulated during storage.
At the beginning of soldering, the working area must be heated to a clearly visible red color . Heating should begin first at the edges, and then directly at the soldering site.
Then the heated area should be gradually sprinkled with flux, wait until it spreads in the form of a film along the edges of the part. At this point, the heated brass solder must be dipped into the molten borax so that it is covered with a hot flux film.
As experience shows, the soldering area is red in color, while the borax melt is colored bluish. You cannot keep solder in the flux for a very long time. Oxide residues may form.
Then you should warm up the work area again. The brass will take on an orange glowing appearance. You can proceed directly to soldering. If done correctly, the solder will fill all the gaps.
The soldering area will turn golden. When the process is completed, the hot zone should be sprinkled with borax powder and left to cool. Copper parts in a hot (200 ℃) state can be placed in a mixture containing equal parts acetone and water, or simply in water. It makes sense to immerse the cutters in hot sand.
A correctly made connection has a transparent film with a slight blue tint. There are no solder drops on it. If soldering is performed incorrectly, the seam becomes covered with a black porous crust.
The reason may be overheating of the working area, as a result of which slag is formed, or poor quality of borax-based flux. This is how brass and other copper-containing alloys are soldered.
