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
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 ...
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 ...
to
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%â ...
,
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
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 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