20 Mule Team Borax is a brand of cleaner manufactured in the United States by

The Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods, and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products, and is a ...

, a subsidiary of Henkel.Hildebrand, G. H. (1982) "Borax Pioneer: Francis Marion Smith." San Diego: Howell-North Books. The product primarily consists of

borax Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form ...

, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, and is named after the 20-mule teams that were used by

William Tell Coleman William Tell Coleman (1824–1893) was an American pioneer in the settlement of California. Early life William Tell Coleman was born in Cynthiana in Harrison County, Kentucky on February 29, 1824. He was educated at St. Louis University in Misso ...

's company to move borax out of

Death Valley, California Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North A ...

, to the nearest

rail spur A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An indust ...

between 1883 and 1889.

Ingredients

When

is added to water, it converts some

molecules A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

in the water to hydrogen peroxide, and changes the pH level from a neutral 7 to a more basic 8. Borateem is 98.7 percent borax with

tribromsalan Salicylanilide is a chemical compound which is the amide of salicylic acid and aniline. It is classified as both a salicylamide and an anilide. Derivatives of salicylanilide have a variety of pharmacological uses. Chlorinated derivatives includ ...

, a microbiocide, and

sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate Alkylbenzene sulfonates are a class of anionic surfactants, consisting of a hydrophilic sulfonate head-group and a hydrophobic alkylbenzene tail-group. Along with sodium laureth sulfate, they are one of the oldest and most widely used synthetic ...

, an insecticide. Boraxo is a powdered hand soap.

History

20-mule teams were first used by

Francis Marion Smith Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco ...

to move borax out of the desert. Smith subsequently acquired Coleman's holdings in 1890 and consolidated them with his own to form the

Pacific Coast Borax Company The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King". History The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east ...

. After the 20-mule teams were replaced by a new rail spur, the name ''20 Mule Team Borax'' was established and aggressively promoted by Pacific Coast Borax to increase sales. Stephen Mather, son of J. W. Mather, the administrator of the company's New York office, persuaded Smith to add the name ''20 Mule Team Borax'' to accompany the famous sketch of the mule team already on the box. The 20-mule team symbol was first used in 1891 and registered in 1894. In 1988, just over 20 years after the acquisition of

U.S. Borax The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King". History The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east of ...

by Rio Tinto Group, the

Boraxo 20 Mule Team Borax is a brand of cleaner manufactured in the United States by The Dial Corporation, a subsidiary of Henkel.Hildebrand, G. H. (1982) "Borax Pioneer: Francis Marion Smith." San Diego: Howell-North Books. The product primarily co ...

, Borateem and 20-Mule Team

product line Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Prod ...

s were sold to

Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods, and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products, and is a ...

by U.S. Borax. Dial is now an American consumer products unit of Henkel.

Radio and television

The Pacific Coast Borax Company sponsored '' Death Valley Days'', a radio and television anthology series dramatizing true stories of the old

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, particularly the Death Valley area. The radio program was created in 1930 by

Ruth Woodman Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

and broadcast until 1945. At the end of the show's run, the company sponsored a similar radio series called ''Death Valley Sheriff''.

References

External links

Dial's product information pageRio Tinto's 20 Mule Team Borax official site
{{Henkel Cleaning product brands Death Valley Dial Corporation brands Products introduced in 1891 Borates