Borax, otherwise known as sodium borate, is a crystalline boron compound used to clean laundry, glaze pottery, preserve and embalm, and even make fiberglass! Just don’t give it to your pet ant farm, because it mixes with water to make boric acid, which shuts down an ant’s digestive system! The mighty borax was a major industry in the area around Death Valley, but I always wondered what made the first explorer go “Eureka! It’s borax!”