Borax vs Sodium bicarbonate: what is the difference?

How they differ

Both are white powders sold in the laundry aisle and they are not interchangeable. Sodium bicarbonate is a simple sodium salt of carbonic acid, mildly alkaline, edible, and used as much in baking as in cleaning. Borax is sodium tetraborate, a boron compound, more strongly alkaline, and not edible: boron compounds carry reproductive-toxicity classifications in the EU and borax is restricted in consumer products there. Borax is the better water softener and stain remover of the two because of that higher alkalinity, and bicarbonate is the better deodoriser because it neutralises acids directly. Their weights are far apart, 201.2 for the anhydrous borax on record against 84.01.

Side by side

Common questions

What is the difference between Borax and Sodium bicarbonate?

Both are white powders sold in the laundry aisle and they are not interchangeable. Sodium bicarbonate is a simple sodium salt of carbonic acid, mildly alkaline, edible, and used as much in baking as in cleaning. Borax is sodium tetraborate, a boron compound, more strongly alkaline, and not edible: boron compounds carry reproductive-toxicity classifications in the EU and borax is restricted in consumer products there.

Is Borax bigger than Sodium bicarbonate?

Borax is the heavier molecule, 201.2 g/mol against 84.01 g/mol for Sodium bicarbonate. Borax is B4Na2O7 and Sodium bicarbonate is CHNaO3.

Which has the lower reported LD50, Borax or Sodium bicarbonate?

Borax, at 2,660 mg/kg (oral, rat), against 4,220 mg/kg (oral, rat) for Sodium bicarbonate. An LD50 is one acute animal measurement, and the two here were not necessarily measured in the same species, so it is a data point rather than a ranking of how dangerous either is to a person.