RE: sodium metaborate, to make?


John Melanson (john@audiologic.com)
Thu, 29 Jul 1999 09:21:58 -0600


Sorry for the confusion.

To make 100ml 10% sodium metaborate solution, start with 80 ml cool water,
add 6.9 gm 20 mule team, stir, add 1.45 gm red devil, dissolve, and add
water to bring up to 100 ml. With stronger solutions (20%), you may have to
warm the final solution to get everything to dissolve. For one liter 10%,
69.2 gms borax, 14.5 gms lye. If your measuring is off a little, there is
no significant effect on the pH - that's a great thing about borates. But
you will be inherently more accurate if you mix up a liter. And it's really
cheap, so why not.

Again, be really careful with the lye. When I was growing up, we made
homemade soap. Soap is basically lard reacted with lye. When the lye
concentration was a little to high, the stuff really cleaned - all of the
dirt and about one layer of skin. It's strange to remember that it was
worth that much effort to save the price of soap- but it helped on an early
start on chemistry interest.

John Melanson

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sandy King [mailto:sanking@hubcap.clemson.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 9:58 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Subject: RE: sodium metaborate, to make?
>
>
> Curiosity may be a bad reason to mix chemicals but it is the greatest
> motivator of my free time.
>
> I am still confused by your directions. If I want a 10% solution of sodium
> metaborate I mix 10g of sodium metaborate with 100ml of water. How would I
> determine % equivalents mixing 20 mule team and red devil lye in solution?
>
> Sandy King

I'm trying to pass on the info without being irresponsible about chemical
safty.



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