Sustainable Process
Sodium Borate
The safety of our customers is extremely important to us. For that reason, we wanted to
discuss one of the ingredients that’s used in some of our products: sodium borate. The
EWG database lists this chemical as a “moderate concern” for users. The EWG
database provides customers with a great “first glance” at an ingredient selection, but as
with everything, the real story is more nuanced.
It’s important to remember that any chemical can be toxic. Things as innocent as table
salt and water can, in high enough doses, be hazardous. The amount of exposure, and
the method of exposure (inhalation, dermal, etc) are all critical factors in determining if
something poses a genuine danger. Consider vinegar, as an example. Most people would agree that a tiny amount of
vinegar sprinkled onto some types of food is desirable. However, most people would
also agree that swallowing a bottle of vinegar would not be a good experience. The
amount of exposure makes a difference.
We only use very low amounts of sodium borate (borax) in our products. Also, most of
the safety warnings for sodium borate are related to inhaling the powdered dust, not
from dermal exposure. We feel confident that our products are safe when used as
directed. As we move into the future, we’ll continue to monitor safety findings and will
make adjustments, for any ingredient, as new information becomes available. This
matches our commitment to offering quality products that are safe and enjoyable to use.
For a more in depth look as to how Sodium Borate is used in our products (and to further verify its safety) - read on below.
The safety of our customers is extremely important to us. For that reason, we wanted to
discuss one of the ingredients that’s used in some of our products: sodium borate. The
EWG database lists this chemical as a “moderate concern” for users. The EWG
database provides customers with a great “first glance” at an ingredient selection, but as
with everything, the real story is more nuanced.
It’s important to remember that any chemical can be toxic. Things as innocent as table
salt and water can, in high enough doses, be hazardous. The amount of exposure, and
the method of exposure (inhalation, dermal, etc) are all critical factors in determining if
something poses a genuine danger. Consider vinegar, as an example. Most people would agree that a tiny amount of
vinegar sprinkled onto some types of food is desirable. However, most people would
also agree that swallowing a bottle of vinegar would not be a good experience. The
amount of exposure makes a difference.
We only use very low amounts of sodium borate (borax) in our products. Also, most of
the safety warnings for sodium borate are related to inhaling the powdered dust, not
from dermal exposure. We feel confident that our products are safe when used as
directed. As we move into the future, we’ll continue to monitor safety findings and will
make adjustments, for any ingredient, as new information becomes available. This
matches our commitment to offering quality products that are safe and enjoyable to use.
For a more in depth look as to how Sodium Borate is used in our products (and to further verify its safety) - read on below.
Beeswax ❤️ Sodium Borate
So first, let’s talk about emulsifiers. Oils and water don’t like to mix. If you take a glass
and fill it half way with water, then pour the other half full of vegetable oil, the oil and the
water aren’t going to mix together. The oil is going to form its own layer, pooling on top
of the water. The root cause of this is the molecular structure of the oil and water.
Molecules only like to interact if they have things that they can offer each other. Similar molecules like to hang out together. Table salt for example, is very agreeable towards
dissolving in water because it can offer water some attractive interactions and water can
offer salt some beneficial interactions as well. Oil doesn’t have this same relationship
with water, and so it’s going to shun the water molecules and stay all by itself.
Consider the following picture:
We start out with the vegetable oil (Phase B) floating on top of the water (Phase A). It just pools up. If we stir it vigorously (resulting in picture B), the oil droplets break up and
scatter into the water. Remember though - oil doesn’t like water, so it does its best to
get away from it. Since oils are less dense than water, it floats to the top, forming
picture B. The only way to get this arrangement to permanently mix together, where the
oil droplets are suspended in the water phase and stay suspended (picture D), is to add
an emulsifier.
An emulsifier is a molecule that sort of likes to dissolve in water, and sort of likes to
dissolve in oil. Different parts of the emulsifier molecule are hydrophilic (water-loving)
and hydrophobic (water-hating). If you add an emulsifier to a mixture of oil and water
and mix it up, you get a situation where the emulsifiers interact with the oil droplets and
present a “friendly face” to the surrounding water molecules. That way the oil droplets
no longer feel like they’re in a hostile environment. All the oil sees are the hydrophobic
end of the emulsifier molecules, so they’re stable. All the water sees is the hydrophilic
end of the emulsifier molecules, so they’re happy.
See the following picture.
