borax in natural cleaning recipes. is it safe?

[ourdayourjourney]

in wikipedia here and it states in the toxicity section that in Europe they have classified Borax as toxic for reproduction. i see so many natural cleaning recipes with borax and I wonder if it is safe?

[crunchy_mommy]

I wonder this too. I got some a while back and used it to clean dishes once or twice -- BAD IDEA. The dishes shined but I could taste the residue on them!! So now we use small amounts in laundry and some surface cleaning but mostly we stick to things like BS & vinegar... Curious what others have to say about this...

[ollyoxenfree]

I use it diluted for washing floors, scrubbing toilets and other occasional heavy duty cleaning jobs around the house (laundry tub after the kids have been dying stuff, buckets, garden tools etc.). I've already given up chlorine bleach. For some jobs, I need something that I feel is strong and effective. 

I wouldn't use it to clean kitchen countertops, anything for food prep, the refrigerator or cook surfaces, or bathroom counters and sinks. 

[mamayogibear]

I use borax for scrubbing the toilet, scrubbing the dogs crate after an accident and a small amount in cloth diapers. I am trying to cut it out of the diaper routine but it really makes things cleaner. And for the toilet I think it's necessary if I only clean once a week, I try to just do a light scrub with a little vinegar every day or so but that only happens sometimes. It is pretty toxic, it kills ants afterall but I don't think it has fumes and that it gets washed off all the way so it's not too bad.