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 for ...

, 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 Mis ...

'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 in the

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

, and changes the pH level from a neutral 7 to a more basic 8. Borateem is 98.7 percent borax with tribromsalan, 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 Francisc ...

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 of ...

. 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 Stephen Tyng Mather (July 4, 1867 – January 22, 1930) was an American industrialist and conservationist who was the first director of the National Park Service. As president and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company he became a million ...

, 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 by Rio Tinto Group, the Boraxo, Borateem and 20-Mule Team product lines 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 ...

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 ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', a radio and television anthology series dramatizing true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. The

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

was created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman 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