20 Mule Team Borax is a trade name for a borax used primarily for cleaning purposes. The name was first registered in 1894 when deposits of borax were discovered in Death Valley, a desert that makes other deserts envious. In order to economically move the ore to a place where there was enough water to refine it teams of twenty mules pulling two ore wagons and a water tank weighing a total of 36 1/2 tons (one metric ton) were used. The one way trip was about 160 miles, climbed 2000 ft and took 10 days. Muleskinners earned $120 a month at a time when 50 a month was a high wage. Borax or Hydrated sodium borate, Na2B4O7 -10H2O, is a mineral ore of interlocked chains of boron, hydrogen, oxygen , water,and sodium. It is often found in dried playa lake beds. A playa lake is one that fills with rain water thern dries out leaving various salts.The simplest refining method is to boil the ore in water, add carbonated soda which causes the borax to disolve and impurities to settle out. The water borax mixture is poured off and cooled, borax crystals form and are collected. Borax is a water softener, cleanser, whitener and disinfectant. But the fortunes that were made from the Death Valley deposits were due to its use in other industrial processes, such as metal refining, glass and ceramic making, medicines, cosmetics, insecticides, in agriculture, treating lumber and other materials against rot, fungus, termites, and fire. Borax is also used in making boric acid and the metal boron, both of which also have many uses. In the fifties and into the sixties the TV show Death Valley Days was sponsored by 20 Mule Team. One of the hosts of the show who introduced the 'based on fact' Western stories was Pre-presidential Ronald Reagan. Imagine driving 20 Mules! I bet the muleskinners had to invent whole strings of brand new cuss words just to get um to pull. Then at the end of the haul Ol' Ronnie Reagan would wash their mouths out with 20 Mule Team Borax.