What is Boric Acid Used For?

Orthoboric acid, hydrogen borate, Boric acid are all common names of the H3BO3 chemical compound. This commonly used acid primarily comes in two forms: either a white powder or colourless crystals.

Boric acid, as a boron compound, has many uses in industry, cosmetics, and even medicine. It is a common and extremely useful compound, and in this article, we'll go over some of its major uses.

#1 Pesticide

Due to the acidic nature of the compound, boric acid acts as an effective pesticide against a variety of pests in the garden including rats, cockroaches, etc. You can find boric acid as a pesticide in liquid, powder, and tablet forms.

Boric acid works entering the insect's body, poisoning it from its stomach, and quickly killing it. This is why it is one of the more effective pesticides on the market, and it is regularly used in traps used to capture and kill pests.

#2 Swimming Pool and Spa Chemical

Boric acid is often used in swimming pools and spas for a number of reasons:

• Boric acid acts as a pH buffer that prevents the water's pH from changing too much during use. This ensures swimming pools remain comfortable.
• Boric acid inhibits the growth of algae and reduces the spread of bacteria and viruses to a limited degree. This keeps the water cleaner.
• Boric acid protects swimming pools and spas from corrosion -- this is a well-known property of a lot of acids.

buy chemicals for your swimming pool, you should definitely have boric acid on your list.

#3 Medical Uses

Aside from questionable, but widespread homoeopathic uses of boric acid, the compound has also legitimate medical uses as well. A boric acid solution can be used to treat ear infections, particularly a condition that's known as a swimmer's ear.

Boric acid uses for ears aren't limited to humans, as well. It is used to treat ear infections of animals as well. Although, due to the strength of the compound, it is recommended you don't use it on children and small animals.

Outside of ear infections, boric acid is also used as a disinfectant. Thanks to the antiseptic and acidic properties of the compound, it acts as a cleaning agent, and it helps small wounds and cuts heal slightly faster. Although not the most commonly used disinfectant by itself, you'll see boric acid as an ingredient of many popular disinfectants out there.

#4 Removing Foul Odour

Boric acid is an excellent choice for removing foul odours. This can range from using boric acid solutions with talc to remove foul odours from feet with excessive smell to using boric acid suppositories to treat vaginal odour resulting from bacterial Vaginosis.

Due to the pH balancing properties of boric acid, it is a very potent medicine for bacterial Vaginosis, which can ruin someone's life if it goes untreated.

#5 Cleaning Agent

Boric acid isn't just an excellent cleaning agent and disinfectant for wounds, but it can also be used as a cleaning agent for households, factories, etc. Due to its poisonous qualities for insects and some plants, it works great at removing moulds.

boric acid powder is mixed with water and other ingredients to create commercial, readily-usable cleaning agents for households and industries.

#6 Lubricant

Lubricants are essential for protecting machinery from wear and tear, especially machinery that continues to operate for a prolonged length of time. By mixing boric acid with canola oil or petroleum, you can create a powerful lubricant that is widely used in industries around the world.

In fact, some studies show that boric acid lubricants perform better than almost all other lubricants on the market. This not only ensures the machinery continues to operate at full performance, but the boric acid lubricant protects it from wear and tear and extends its shelf life.

#7 Preservative

Boric acid powder is turned into a solution that can be used as a preservative in a variety of circumstances. Companies often use boric acid as a preservative in caviar in Europe, and this is due to its effectiveness against yeast, mould, and bacteria.

But foods like caviar isn't the only place where boric acid finds itself being used as a preservative. No, various organic matter and liquids are preserved in labs by adding this acid.