Borax info

20 Mule Team Borax is what you are looking for, in the cleaning section of grocery store. 20 Mule Team is the brand, Borax is the product. Do not get Boraxo, which is a detergent with borax in it, the soap will mess you up. For what the Borax does, there is a possibility that boric acid (the boron without the sodium) will work and it is available from ceramic supply places, drug stores, and hardware stores where it is sold as roach killer powder (cheapest at ceramic, most costly at drug stores) If the fungicide really is Borax with nothing stupid added, and it could be from other uses of borax and boric acid, then it should be perfectly usable. I will warn you that borax is hard to dissolve if you try for too high a concentration - use hot water and follow the directions you have - too much, like trying to make a paste, and you get a hard crust solid at the bottom of the liquid which probably reproduces the salt lakes it was dug from.

Take a look at that:

gives all the info you are looking for.Deet

Makes sense. From the original post:

water. (The

decahydrate.)

Now, sodium is obviously sodium; tetraborate is boron and oxygen; decahydrate is (ten parts) water. So, sodium-tetraborate-decahydrate IS sodium, boron, oxygen, and water.

(Makes a good insecticide, too. And relatively harmless to pets.)

Thanks all for those tips etc, I have a good chance of finding this when I'm dashing about in the next few days. Good link to warm glass info, I had this from previous surfing, (but many thanks all the same). I've also read a few drops of dishwashing liquid is good, and after the initial mix to dissolve, let settle a little and decant into another container to get rid of the stubborn particles of Borax. Will post my experiences and results. BTW, I meant to ask, does it leave any sort of residue on the glass, or become like a permanent glaze ? Regards, Les

snip

the soap is to let the water flow out better, as it lowers the surface tension. it will be ugly until fired. let dry before firing. don't get any on the bottom as it will cause wash to stick. it acts like a low temperature flux, and is actually a new glass surface. you need to take it over 1430, ime, to get it to flow out well and disappear.

Hey Charles, thanks for the extra info, especially the temp tip. I have never taken my kiln to 777oC before, so will be interesting. Someone once told me it's good for the elements, stretches 'em out and relaxes them.

Looks like I'll have to use kiln wash on the shelf. I have some kiln wash powder, but don't use it in the way the directions say (usually I use it to powder between glass to STOP them sticking, when doing multiple bending). I have had to odd plaything (experiment) stick to the floor of my kiln, or partially on a shelf, brick, or fibre ceramic board etc, but I don't generally have a problem with float at up to 720oC / 1328oF that much.

I have had great success just sprinkling the powder very lightly, and brushing dry on a tile, for example, before placing the glass, it stops it sticking, and you just wash the residue powder off later under water.

Has anyone else tried this at the 720oC / 1328oF ? If so, was it successful ?

Regards, Les

Borax is used as a flux for welding expecially with brass. Try a welding supply company. LEE Gundlach

Well, found Borax at one of my local supermarkets, and here are the results of the first trial. Mixed up as directed, one teaspoon per cup (plus one extra in 3 cups for good measure), added a little diswash liquid (about 6 drops) to allow dispersion on the glass surface, sprayed a range of bottles to test on.

Found the mixture didn't hold well on the surface when sprayed, maybe I'll add a dozen drops of detergent next mix, but is certainly stopped devit in regards to the usual way it has formed to date. It even removed devit on a couple of previously flattened bottles, that I sprayed and included to test.

There was minor devit in a couple of spots on the new ones, probably where the mix dispersed when sprayed, but is really not too noticeable.

I cooked it at 750oC (1382oF), rather than the 777oC (1430oF), as a test, and there is no remains that I can see re the coating.

The powder brushed and sprinkled on the bricks / tiles (rather than traditional kiln washing), worked to a certain degree, 2 out of 10 that didn't have enough on did stick and crack, but this will obviously work. The powder just washes off with water and a light brushing.

Regards, Les