Cockroaches are malicious pests, along with flies, ants, bedbugs, etc. One of the effective means of combating them is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, or sodium bicarbonate). How to properly use soda against cockroaches and what areas should be treated? What are the most effective baking soda recipes? And how to prevent pests from appearing in the house?
Photo: Depositphotos.com. Author: Tanagron.
Types of apartment cockroaches
There are 2 types of cockroaches living in Russian apartments:
- blacks, who have long lived in wooden huts, sensitive to heat, which indicates their southern origin;
- red-haired, with a narrow body and a long mustache, brought in the mid-18th century from Europe with troop convoys returning home after the Seven Years' War, and called "Prussians".
Nimble “tenants” can appear in any house or apartment, using ventilation shafts, garbage chutes, sewer pipes and all sorts of cracks to move around.
In addition to the unpleasant sight of insects scattering in all directions, the owners of infested apartments are faced with another phenomenon - cockroaches litter their habitats with excrement:
- books;
- furniture;
- household appliances and dishes;
- products;
- baseboards;
- cracks in walls and wallpaper.
Some doctors believe that chitin residues and cockroach egg shells influence the development of allergies and asthma in children living in the same room with insects.
Existing methods of controlling cockroaches include the use of insecticides and traditional methods of exterminating these insects.
Toxic substances for the disinfestation of premises began to be widely used after the 2nd World War - since that time, cockroaches have developed insensitivity to many types of poisons.
Traditional methods are not addictive (although they do not act as quickly as aerosols) and do not harm people.
Sagebrush
Another effective natural insecticide, wormwood can be used as an alternative to tansy. Most people characterize the smell of this herb as pungent, but not repulsive, so there is no need to leave the room while processing. And for cockroaches it is almost unbearable.
Wormwood is used both fresh and dried. Its decoctions and tinctures give the desired effect. If the owners of the apartment have the opportunity to leave it for 2-3 weeks, greenery is spread like a continuous carpet on the floor in all rooms, including the bathroom and kitchen.
Benefits of Baking Soda for Insect Control
Baking soda, familiar to all housewives, has many uses in everyday life - from cleaning kitchen utensils to adding to baked goods.
The ability of a powder that absorbs water well to come into contact with acidic solutions and disintegrate into water and carbon dioxide has been known for a long time - it is used when cleaning kitchen utensils with soda and vinegar, bleaching, baking, or to fight cockroaches.
Chemical insecticides that are used to clean the house from insects:
- have a specific smell, even if flavoring is added to them;
- harmful to people and pets - volatile elements of aerosols, when inhaled, cause allergies, asthma attacks, and skin irritations;
- require constant use, since most products do not act on insect eggs from which the larvae emerge;
- scented baits can be eaten by animals or small children;
- constant use of insecticides develops cockroaches’ insensitivity to poisons;
- insecticide treatment is effective only when all neighbors simultaneously carry out disinfestation.
Soda is free from these shortcomings - even if children try to eat it, there will be no harm from it.
The effect of the substance on cockroaches is based on its properties to emit carbon dioxide, so the insects do not become accustomed to the drug.
Sodium bicarbonate is not dangerous for the person working with the substance; the only thing that is required is to use gloves to protect the skin of your hands from drying out.
Mechanism of action of drugs
Baits containing NaHCO3 become good prey for annoying insects that are not able to quickly transfer their experience throughout the colony.
When this substance penetrates with water into the body of a cockroach, slow decomposition occurs and carbon dioxide is released. It leads to the death of the cockroach. The time when death occurs is 2-3 days.
Expert opinion
We recommend!
Over time, insects lose interest in the trap and begin to bypass it. Therefore, it is advisable to regularly change the composition.
If the colony is not too large, then in a month you will be able to get rid of all the pests. With extremely large numbers, it is unlikely that an alternative to insecticides can be found.
Soda based recipes
Sodium bicarbonate does not taste like food and cannot attract cockroaches, so in order to prepare the bait, you need to mix soda with strong-smelling food products that will attract insects.
Another requirement for food bait is compactness. Powder scattered around the kitchen or in cabinet drawers is not liked by neat housewives and makes cleaning difficult.
Therefore, it is advisable to use a sticky binding base from which balls can be formed and placed in places where insects accumulate.
By eating the bait, the cockroach eats a poisonous substance that kills it.
Onions and soda
The combination of onion and baking soda is used in several recipes for baiting cockroaches.
Recipe No. 1
You need to take:
- 50 g powdered sugar;
- 50 g flour;
- 50 g coarsely grated white onion;
- a pack of baking powder for dough;
- 100 g sodium bicarbonate;
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil;
- enough water to form a thick dough.
The dough is formed into small balls the size of a pea and placed in areas where cockroaches are common.
Recipe No. 2
Take equal parts of baking soda and onion, cut into small pieces, and mix. The mixture should be poured in an even layer onto paper strips up to 5 cm wide and spread in places where cockroaches accumulate.
Reviews
Tatyana, 42 years old. On the recommendation of a neighbor, I made balls with soda and egg yolk. After two weeks there were fewer cockroaches.
Irina, 36 years old. I cleaned the kitchen sink with baking soda every day. Eventually the cockroaches left.
Tamara, 55 years old. There are a lot of cockroaches in our dacha. I prepared a baking soda + vinegar and water spray and sprayed all possible places. After 10 days of regular procedures, there were almost no insects left in the house.
Natalya, 44 years old. To get rid of the Prussians, I made bait from potatoes and soda. A month has passed and it seems to be helping.
Yolk with soda
To prepare the bait you need to take:
- 3-4 boiled yolks;
- 3-4 teaspoons of soda;
- a tablespoon of powdered sugar;
- a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Thoroughly grind and mix all the ingredients, make pea-sized balls and place them in places where cockroaches gather.
From time to time the condition of the bait is checked and replaced with a fresh one.
How to get rid of cockroaches using homemade traps
In addition to means that are destructive and expel cockroaches, you can make a trap for them. After the homemade trap is filled with insects that have fallen into it, they can be destroyed.
We use Vaseline
- Apply Vaseline liberally to the cardboard;
- Place something edible in the center;
- Place the cardboard where cockroaches are most active and leave it for several days;
- As soon as the trap is full, destroy the cockroaches;
- Place new traps.
We use coffee
Ground coffee paste attracts cockroaches, so it is also an effective trap for them.
- Prepare a jar half filled with water;
- Add some ground coffee to the water;
- Place several of these cans throughout your home;
- Check back in a week;
- If the jars are filled with cockroaches, discard the contents and replace them with new coffee traps.
Soap trap for cockroaches
- Take a plastic bottle and cut off the top;
- Place the top, neck down, into the remaining bottom of the bottle.
- Secure the edges with tape;
- Mix water with soap (or dishwashing detergent) and pour into the bottle without touching its base;
- Place the trap in areas where cockroaches gather;
- Insects will crawl into it and suffocate.
Soda and sugar
To prepare the bait, mix sugar (powdered sugar) and sodium bicarbonate in equal proportions.
The powder is scattered in places where cockroaches accumulate. It is advisable to use strips of thick paper for this - this makes it easier to clean the room.
The condition of the mixture is periodically checked and replaced as necessary.
Ammonia
Not as toxic as kerosene or turpentine, but also an effective remedy against cockroaches. Ammonia has a less pungent and pronounced odor, but it is still not recommended to remain in the room after treatment. It is better to “preserve” it for about an hour.
To treat an apartment against cockroaches, ammonia is diluted with water in a ratio of approximately 1:3. A pungent odor drives insects out of the room, but when it dissipates, they can return. Therefore, treatment alone will most likely not be enough. In order for cockroaches to consider an apartment uninhabitable, daily “sessions” are needed for 3-4 weeks.
Processing includes:
- washing the floor in the apartment with the prepared solution;
- wiping all surfaces in the kitchen;
- pouring liquid into the toilet, kitchen sink, or bathroom drain;
- laying out rags soaked in the solution in places where cockroaches appear most often.
Important! As an alternative to ammonia, medical ethyl alcohol or any strong alcohol is used. The latter has a less pronounced odor, so it is diluted with water 1:2 or 2:3.
Where to put the poison?
The effectiveness of the fight against cockroaches depends on the correct actions of the apartment owners - a well-made bait should be placed in places where insects accumulate.
Before laying out the bait, you need to clean up the kitchen - clear all cabinets and shelves in the kitchen, bathroom and pantries of crumbs and food residues.
Spreading poison will be ineffective if the paths through which new insects enter the house are not blocked.
In order for the effect to be greatest, you need to change the composition of the bait every week, alternating the poisonous substance - soda with boric acid.
Cockroaches live in families containing individuals of different ages, including larvae. You can track where such groups have settled by suddenly turning on the light in the room and studying the route of the insects. Usually this:
- kitchen cabinets;
- space under the sink;
- the place where the trash can is;
- kitchen cabinet drawers;
- back panels of household appliances - microwaves, stoves, refrigerators;
- corners with water pipes;
- cracks behind baseboards, in the floor and walls;
- corners and crevices in bathrooms and boiler rooms;
- books, clothes, bags that have not been used by their owners for a long time.
Bait balls are placed in places where insects accumulate or appear. If there are children or animals at home, the poison peas or powder should be scattered so that they are inaccessible to them.
Bait with soda is safe, the maximum harm from it to a person or animal is stomach upset.
After the bait is laid out, you need to follow some simple rules to prevent cockroaches from having an easy life:
- all cracks, holes, loose baseboards and wallpaper must be repaired;
- food supplies stored in kitchen cabinets must be packed in airtight containers;
- the trash can must be tightly closed with a lid and must be emptied at night;
- Do not leave dirty plates or untidy half-eaten food in the sink overnight;
- all work surfaces, cabinets, and shelves must be cleaned at night;
- plumbing in the bathroom and kitchen must be in good working order;
Scattered bait should be periodically checked and changed; it is advisable to periodically treat kitchen surfaces with soda solution.
How to prevent the problem
For the use of bait to be effective, you must follow simple rules:
- Ensure that the flooring and walls are in good condition, seal cracks and holes, and repair decorative items.
- To store food, use containers that are hermetically sealed.
- Empty the trash can regularly and close it in the evening.
- Do not leave dirty dishes and household items in the sink.
- Clean cabinets, drawers, furniture and interior items.
- Get your home's plumbing in order.
