what was  borax originally used for
Cleaning & Laundry. 20 Mule TeamÂ® Borax was first discovered in Tibet, and was imported via the Silk Road to Arabia around 8AD. 20 Mule TeamÂ® Borax is used in detergents, cosmetics, pottery, metallurgy...All sorts of things! 20 Mule TeamÂ® Borax was used in the Philippines in the 1900s to extract gold from mines.