Outside the window, the twenty-first century and, it would seem, the chemical industry, which produces all kinds of insecticides, has long reached unprecedented heights, but the fight against insects in the apartment for many people is still very relevant. Insects still bother people with their bites, carry diseases, spoil food, furniture and clothes. In addition, they very quickly adapt to the means intended for their destruction, and it is this fact that makes scientists around the world constantly look for more and more new methods of insect control that would curb the growth of pest and parasite populations in modern megacities.
Some unprepared citizens seriously expect that their fight against insects will end quickly after they puff some Dichlorvos or walk once shallowly on the baseboards of the apartment. Practice shows that such a superficial approach to the issue in most cases gives the most minimal result, or does not give it at all.
It should be understood that the destruction of insects in the room is, first of all, a complex procedure:
- Often, the necessary actions must be carried out in a strictly defined order so that not only adult insects, but also their larvae and eggs are killed, which will prevent a second restoration of the population;
- When fighting one or another type of insect, it is imperative to take into account the relevant biological characteristics (for example, bed bug nests are most often located closer to the places where a person sleeps, but cockroaches try to stay closer to water sources. Flea larvae, which many people generally do not know anything, often swarm in the dust in the corners of the apartment);
- As a rule, a combination of different types of means and methods of control gives a greater result than in the case of using only one means or method.
And now the question is - what do you think is the most important thing when dealing with insects in an apartment? High efficiency? No residual odor? Acceptable price? No, no, and again no: the most important thing is safety, and it should never be forgotten about. There are many cases when the fight against ordinary cockroaches ended tragically not only for the unlucky wrestler, but also for pets, neighbors, children ...
Accordingly, when dealing with domestic insects, a number of different nuances must be taken into account, which we will discuss in more detail below.
On a note
The word "disinfestation" (this is what the fight against insects is called) comes from the Latin word insectum - insect and the French des, which means destruction or removal. The complex of measures includes the impact on pests and parasites with special chemical, physical and biological means.
Popular insect control methods
Among the methods of insect control today, the most common and effective chemical, that is, with the use of special chemicals - insecticides. Often with their help, you can be guaranteed to destroy pests and parasites in just a few hours.
In accordance with the method of penetration of the poison into the body of an insect, the following types of insecticides are distinguished:
- Intestinal - enter the gastrointestinal tract of an insect (for example, with food, water, or during self-cleaning of paws and antennae with jaws);
- Contact - penetrate the body through the chitinous cover with simple contact;
- Fumigants - affect the insect through its respiratory system;
- Mixed action (for example, contact-intestinal).
Physical methods of dealing with household insects include:
- exposure to temperature (cold or heat);
- mechanical destruction (including not only sticky traps, but also the banal shaking out of clothes, the use of a vacuum cleaner);
- exposure to electricity (for example, electric cockroach traps, “electroshock” lamp traps for flying insects, etc.);
- exposure to ultrasound (mainly ultrasonic mosquito repellers).
On a note
For example, against bed bugs, it is sometimes effective to treat infected objects with hot water or steam: bloodsuckers die at a temperature already of the order of + 50 ° C. Freezing an apartment at -25 ° C can also give a good effect - you just need to protect the radiators from freezing. You can also pull the furniture out into the cold and hold it like that for a couple of days.
Clothing infested with body lice can be effectively rid of parasites and nits by simply ironing it with a hot iron or washing it in hot water. Or hold on a frosty balcony.
Freezing is effective against cockroaches - temperatures of -8 ° C and below are detrimental to them.
However, high and low temperature treatment has its own inconveniences and does not guarantee a positive outcome in the fight against insects in the apartment.In particular, sometimes it is impossible to freeze the entire apartment without the risk of damage to the heating pipes, and the removal of individual pieces of furniture to frost may not always ensure the complete destruction of insects in the room. In addition, not all items of clothing and interior can be exposed to high temperatures.
Many folk remedies for insect control are not reliable enough, and sometimes simply dangerous to use: treatment with kerosene, denatured alcohol, dust, boiling water, herbal extracts. It should be borne in mind that watering a baseboard or a sofa with kerosene, gasoline or alcohol can create much more problems for yourself than the same bugs represent - especially if the vapors accidentally ignite.
And, of course, a very effective way to say goodbye to insects for a long time in your apartment or in the country, having received a guaranteed result, is to contact a professional insect control service. Today there are experienced exterminators in almost every city, and sometimes there are dozens of such services within many large cities.
And further: List of blood-sucking insects that can bite you in bed or on the couch (the article has more than 20 comments)
Insecticides and traps
Typically, pest control chemicals are manufactured and sold as aerosols, liquid concentrates, gels, powders, soaps, sticks, and spray solutions.
Examples of aerosol products produced in cans: Dichlorvos (today there are different types of them that differ significantly from the old Soviet Dichlorvos), Reid, Neofos, Raptor, Kombat, Prima-71, Armol and others.
Some concentrates of modern insecticides, in particular the so-called microencapsulated products, are very effective and economical in application. Such concentrates are adapted for domestic use, diluted with ordinary water, after which the finished solution is sprayed, for example, from a conventional spray gun.
Examples of concentrated broad-spectrum preparations positioned by manufacturers as microencapsulated: Xulat Micro, Delta Zone, Lambda Zone, Get, Hangman, Cucaracha. The first four of these products, moreover, are characterized by an almost complete absence of smell and show good results in the fight against insects in the country (wasps, hornets, garden ants, flies, etc.)
Microencapsulated products are often used by professional pest control services. In cases where an unpleasant odor is not critical, Tetrix, Diazinon, Sinuzan, etc. are also involved.
For insects that feed on the remnants of food from the human table, insecticidal gels are used in the form of poisoned baits - they are effective in combating cockroaches, wood lice, silverfish and domestic ants. For example, gels such as Globol, Exil, Clean House, Dohlox, Anti-cockroach, Absolute, Great Warrior, etc. are used.
As for insecticidal powders, which are also collectively referred to as dusts, they are usually scattered in places of greatest accumulation and possible appearance of insects. Well proven, for example, Koba powder, insect dust Chisty Dom, Neopin.Powders help to destroy not only cockroaches, but also fleas, ants, bed bugs (if there is a contact action in the composition of the insecticide).
Insect pencils are also very popular today - they rub surfaces inside and outside furniture, draw lines on walls, floors and ceilings, door and window frames. Among the insecticidal pencils in Russia, the most famous, of course, is the chalk from cockroaches and bedbugs Masha.
On a note
Insecticidal soaps are used less often than other forms of drugs when fighting insects in an apartment. For example, soaps can be used when washing clothes infested with body lice. The most famous are dust soap and green soap.
More recently, the insecticidal Get bed bug soap based on chlorpyrifos has also appeared on the market.
When fighting cockroaches or bedbugs in the house, permethrin smoke bombs can also give an excellent effect. (for example, Quiet Evening, City) - this method is little known to anyone, however, in terms of its effectiveness, it is comparable to the professional treatment of an apartment with the so-called cold fog, and at the same time it will cost almost five times cheaper. The insecticidal smoke generated by the checker evenly fills the entire room, destroying adults and insect larvae even in the most secluded cracks and hard-to-reach places.
In addition, when dealing with domestic insects, one should not forget about various types of traps, a classic example of which is sticky fly paper. However, it should be borne in mind that the action of traps is usually extended in time and cannot provide a quick effect in the fight against insects.
In residential premises, the following types of traps are most often used:
- Sticky (hanging against flies and food moths, as well as folding sticky traps for cockroaches and ants);
- Electric ("houses" against cockroaches, lamp against night butterflies and for combating flying blood-sucking insects, including in the country).
With the right approach, some folk remedies for insects can also provide a good effect. Here, first of all, it is worth highlighting borax, boric acid and dry chamomile powder (otherwise called pyrethrum powder - it contains natural pyrethroids).
The procedure for processing an apartment from insects
In many cases, it is useful to clean the room first before cleaning the apartment. If you plan to spray the drug, then it is advisable to pack clothes, dishes, children's toys and other small things hermetically in plastic bags. Furniture is moved away from the walls, freeing access to skirting boards and sockets. Windows and doors are tightly closed before starting treatment.
During processing, there should be no residents and pets in the apartment. Be sure to use personal protective equipment. The drugs should be used in accordance with the instructions.
Here are just a few common processing errors:
- The drug does not smell, which means I will not use a respirator;
- Why dilute it so much, it’s better to make the solution harder, 10 times more concentrated than it is written in the instructions, then the effect will be better;
- But what will happen to the cat, she is not a cockroach;
- Why process everywhere, because I see insects only in one corner - therefore I will process only there;
- So I treated the apartment from bedbugs, they really disappeared for a month, then small larvae appeared again - that's it, that means the drug didn't help, it's a dummy, it doesn't work.
Etc.In general, who is in what much. There are many mistakes during self-processing, but if you follow the instructions for the appropriate drug, use personal protective equipment and study the process in more detail in advance (for example, on the Internet), you can save yourself from 95% of possible problems.
And further: We catch bedbugs and put deadly experiments on them - this is a must see!
During the treatment, all surfaces, including the floor, walls, ceiling, door and window frames, furniture and objects in the apartment are sprayed with the drug. Particular care should be taken to treat the places of possible shelter of insects, as well as the ways of their movement and places of possible egg laying (in the case of bedbugs) - baseboards, corners, edges of the floor covering, various cracks, furniture upholstery folds.
After two hours, and in some cases after two or three days, the apartment is ventilated and a general cleaning is carried out in it with a thorough removal of dead insects. It should be borne in mind that if pets subsequently eat disoriented or already dead insects, they can get serious poisoning.
If poisonous baits are used (including those with boric acid), then they are laid out on the paths of movement of insects and in places of possible shelter. The gel is applied here in the form of dotted lines. From time to time, baits need to be renewed, and the gel must be reapplied, as it dries out over time and loses its attractiveness to cockroaches and ants.
Fighting insects on your own: what you need to know?
If a decision is made to carry out the fight against insects in the apartment on your own, then you need to take into account some of the nuances in advance.
First, let's reiterate, you need to take care of security. It is mandatory to use protective clothing, gas mask or respirator, gloves. Remove children and animals from the premises. Food can be taken in the treated room no earlier than after 8 hours.
Secondly, you need to use those methods and preparations that will be effective for the type of insects that infect the room. So, for example, it is useless to use poisoned baits to fight blood-sucking insects such as bedbugs. To combat these parasites, it is better to use aerosols, sprays and powders.
When using sprays to kill moths, it is also useful to treat the ceiling (it is often forgotten about). Poisoned baits for cockroaches and ants should be placed on their paths (especially behind the stove, refrigerator, near the sink and trash can).
Thirdly, it is absolutely necessary to process all the cracks, corners and other shelters where insects can hide. Otherwise, the treatment may not have the desired effect, and after a couple of days the insects will appear again.
It is generally better to refuse the use of such folk remedies as kerosene, gasoline, alcohol and denatured alcohol, since otherwise elementary fire safety measures will have to be violated.
Self-control of insects in an apartment can really be effective with the correct and appropriate use of certain means, but it takes a lot of time and effort, requires some perseverance and certain skills. Sometimes it's better to call in the experts.
Insect control by pest control services
In some cases, self-control of insects in the apartment still does not give the desired effect. So, the call of specialists is often necessary:
- With a high degree of contamination of the premises by insects (that is, when there are a lot of them);
- And also if independent processing, despite all efforts, for some reason does not give the desired result (these reasons are not always obvious);
- If there is not sufficient knowledge, self-confidence, or the process of extermination of insects is unpleasant;
- If, in addition, neighbors' apartments are heavily infected;
- If you want to save time and energy.
To call a pest control team, just call the SES or a selected private company, place an order and pay for the service. After clarification of the clarifying details, the employees of the company appoint the day and time of their arrival.
The apartment must be prepared in the same way as for self-treatment. After checking the package of documents provided by employees, the premises must be left at the specified time. All the necessary actions will be done by the experts themselves. After accepting the work, you need to check the availability of the warranty card, which may be needed if re-processing is necessary. Then you should carry out general cleaning in the room.
Review
“I write about my impressions on the method of etching bedbugs with hot fog. Expensive but 5 stars. No re-treatments were required, the insects died the first time, and the very next day we were quietly cleaning. It stank only at first, weathered the next day and without any consequences. So I recommend it."
Semyon B., Moscow
After the destruction of insects in the apartment, it is useful to take measures to prevent re-infection. For example, you can close the ventilation holes with a mesh or grate with small cells (this will help protect yourself from neighbor bugs and cockroaches), hang moth preparations in cabinets, periodically lubricate the box of entrance doors with decoctions of tansy or wormwood (helps against the so-called basement fleas).
You can use insecticidal crayons and gels for preventive application on baseboards, places behind furniture, refrigerators, etc. Sticky traps can be placed in the bathroom and toilet to intercept defectors from neighbors in time. When buying products, you must always check them for the presence of moth larvae, and keep the apartment itself clean, regularly cleaning and avoiding clutter.
If you have personal experience of successful (or not so) insect control, then do not forget to leave your review at the bottom of this page - perhaps it will be useful to a considerable number of people and will benefit them.
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