Borax Crystal

General Procedure

The most general way to grow a crystal includes forming a supersaturated solution by heating up water and adding in the crystal medium. This is an example of creating a supersaturated Borax solution.

For a general procedure, the following link can be used: [1] [2]

The following is the procedure that I followed:

1. Obtain Borax Detergent, a 250 mL beaker, a stirplate/hotplate, and a stirbar.
2. Begin heating up the water on the hotplate and add the stirbar.
3. Once hot, begin adding the Borax Detergent (It will take some time for it to dissolve, but it eventually will).
4. Keep adding until the Borax will no longer dissolve
5. Use pipe cleaners to create a shape in which you want the crystals to form on
6. tie a string to the pipe cleaner to a wooden skewer or some object that can drape across the diameter of the beaker
7. dip the pipe cleaner into the supersaturated solution several times to release air bubbles
8. suspend the pipe cleaner in the beaker so it is completely submerged but doesn't touch the bottom or sides
9. Cover the finished solution with something(a watchglass or paper) and let it sit overnight.