Insecticidal chalk from cockroaches Masha and reviews on its use

With the advent of insecticidal gels, all kinds of traps and highly effective aerosol preparations for controlling domestic insects, cockroach sticks have seemingly become history: in most cases, they simply cannot compete with more effective modern insecticides.

However, Mashenka's chalk from cockroaches is a peculiar phenomenon in this sense. It not only continues to be actively sold in stores (including on the Internet), but moreover, it is often preferred to be used instead of aerosols and so-called microencapsulated preparations.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Chalk Mashenka really helps to get rid of cockroaches. And although reviews on this subject may vary to one degree or another, the fact is obvious - when using chalk, cockroaches actually die, and en masse;
2. This pencil is very inexpensive. Even the most affordable remedies for other types of cockroaches, for the most part, turn out to be significantly more expensive than Mashenka;
3. A very important point - Masha's chalk from cockroaches does not smell, does not emit harmful substances into the air and does not produce dust, that is, it is quite safe to use. Agree, when children live in an apartment, you don’t really want to poison cockroaches with some kind of Dichlorvos or other odorous (especially aerosol) poison;
4. It is easy to wash off traces of the pencil from the treated surfaces (which cannot be said about the use of some insecticidal spray preparations);
5. Well, and finally, Masha is remembered by the people. Mainly due to the fact that even during the times of shortage in Soviet times, it was she who brought out ants and cockroaches (and later analogues appeared, which, although they had different names, they were still called Mashenkas in everyday life).

Not surprisingly, even today in some apartments you can see white stripes of chalk on the back walls of furniture and next to sinks. And sometimes dead cockroaches lie here, nearby.

About how Masha's crayon works (what effect it has on cockroaches), what important nuances you need to consider when using it, and whether it is possible to destroy cockroaches in advanced cases with it - we will talk about all this, as well as some other interesting points more...

Review

“... I remember very well how my mother constantly bought such pencils and smeared them on the walls in the kitchen behind the refrigerator and stove. When we started a fight against cockroaches, I immediately phoned my parents, my mother said that she used Masha's chalk from cockroaches before and now. I somehow did not dare to poison with one small thing, after all, we needed to quickly get rid of the insects, and we called exterminators.The funny thing is that after processing, they advised us to anoint the walls behind the bedside tables with chalk so that the cockroaches from the neighbors would die as soon as they ran into the apartment.

Ilya, Moscow

 

The active components of the chalk

We must pay tribute to the manufacturer Mashenka: over the entire long history of the drug, its composition has changed several times and has more or less kept pace with the times: new insecticides have been added to replace obsolete ones so that the product continues to remain effective and at the same time safe to use.

That chalk from cockroaches Masha, which can be bought today, has the following components:

• Deltamethrin (0.05%) is a synthetic insecticide of intestinal and contact action. It affects the nervous system of insects, regardless of whether it enters the cockroach's stomach, its paws or its body. Quite quickly leads to paralysis of the insect and subsequent death;
• Zeta-cypermethrin (0.10%) is also a synthetic insecticide from the pyrethroid group, but somewhat different from deltamethrin in composition and molecular structure;
• Filler (chalk). Actually, this filler is a carrier of an insecticide and, in essence, is an ordinary chalk containing a little poison.

Two different insecticides in the composition of the chalk are needed in order to significantly reduce the chances of cockroaches developing resistance to this agent. (The probability of a pest population developing resistance to even one insecticide with a competent approach is very low, and to two - almost zero).

On a note

Both deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin are used in some aerosol insecticides for insect control.And also sometimes these substances can be found in the composition of preparations intended for use by professional pest control services.

The Mashenka pencil works like this: a cockroach runs along a strip of chalk and gets dirty with its paws, antennae and abdomen in the smallest solid particles containing insecticides. In the presence of at least a small amount of moisture (from the saliva of an insect or from the environment), the active substances already begin to work slowly (contact action), penetrating through the chitinous cover into the hemolymph of the insect.

However, the main contribution to the poisoning of a cockroach is made by the fact that the insect tries to clean its paws and mustaches from impurities with its jaws, as a result of which part of the drug inevitably enters its digestive tract. Literally after a few minutes, the behavior of the insect becomes inadequate, then paralysis and death are observed.

And further: Aerosol Raid killed all cockroaches in 26 seconds. Incredible! See our experiment...

All that the owner of the apartment needs to do so that a similar fate befalls all cockroaches is to use the remedy correctly.

On a note

Today, after some rebranding, Silver Masha appeared in the markets and hardware stores. You can safely buy it - this is the same crayon with the same composition, and, accordingly, it also helps against cockroaches.

 

Rules for using Mashenka: how to remove cockroaches

It is easy to use Masha. The main task is to smear with small places the most frequented by cockroaches (these places are briefly spelled out in the instructions for using the pencil, right on the package).

So what needs to be done:

1. Draw lines with chalk on the baseboards and the back surfaces of the furniture, preferably around the entire perimeter of the back wall (it is especially important to do this in the kitchen);
2. Draw a bin around the perimeter with a pencil and put it later only inside this circle;
3. You can make a solid line around the perimeter of the sink, from below. As practice shows, in an average apartment, it is from the sink that cockroaches mainly drink water;
4. Outline the openings of all ventilation ducts around the perimeter (since single individuals of cockroaches may well come to you from neighbors);
5. Outline the small legs of the tables around the perimeter (so that when climbing onto the table, cockroaches will certainly run along a strip of chalk).

The strips themselves need to be drawn fatter - 10-15 mm. Considering that this cockroach chalk is inexpensive and you can buy it everywhere, it’s better not to save here.

The longer Masha will be on the treated surfaces, the more cockroaches she will destroy. Therefore, it is not necessary to wash it off.

Review

“But we didn’t get perverted at the dacha and just smeared everything with a Mashenka pencil.You can buy it from us in general everywhere, 25 rubles costs one crayon. We bought four pieces, thoroughly painted over all the cabinets at the back, painted on the baseboards, under the rugs. And what do you think? Helped! There are almost no cockroaches left. Maybe sometimes we will meet somewhere, but there is no such thing as before, when they were constantly running in crowds.”

Xenia, Tomsk

Meanwhile, it should be borne in mind that the most effective way to use the Mashenka pencil against cockroaches today is to use it in parallel with additional means (especially in advanced cases). If there are a lot of cockroaches in the room, then it is highly desirable to combine the chalk with the use of insecticidal gels, as well as aerosol preparations. Including a good effect is given by modern microencapsulated insecticidal preparations, which are sold in the form of concentrates for dilution and subsequent spraying from a conventional household spray bottle.

With this approach, the main number of cockroaches die precisely when the room is treated with an aerosol (or spray), and the chalk and gel are already finishing off the survivors and, very importantly, do not allow new pests to breed if they sometimes enter the apartment from neighbors.

 

Protecting an apartment with chalk

In view of the foregoing, Mashenka's chalk is a fairly effective means of preventing the penetration of cockroaches into the room from the outside. It is quite obvious that for this, it is necessary to carefully outline all possible places for insects to enter the room along the perimeter - window slopes (if windows are often kept open), entrance door slopes, ventilation openings. And also sometimes sockets and water pipes - although it is often easier to seal the gaps here with alabaster or mounting foam.

And further: Cockroaches do not die from aerosols and gels? Perhaps it is worth adopting lethal powders ...

With this use, the insecticidal crayon performs the so-called barrier protective function.: in order for the cockroach to be able to get into the protected premises from the outside, it will have to overcome a kind of barrier in the form of a chalk line. And this is deadly for insects, and most individuals will soon die after overcoming such a line.

By the way, even if you managed to get rid of cockroaches completely and it would seem that they are long gone, it is useful as a preventive measure to draw Masha's strip on the back walls of the furniture. There will be no harm from this, and an additional protection factor will not hurt.

Review

“As soon as we made repairs, we immediately poisoned the cockroaches in the apartment in order to move into it already without roommates. They used Karbofos, of course, they had to endure a terrible smell. And then they just anointed the floors and bedside tables behind the walls under the walls of Mashenka. It is inexpensive, it is easy to buy, but now even if some cockroaches come from neighbors, they do not live in our apartment for more than a few days.

Anna, Kharkiv

 

Safety when using Mashenka in an apartment

For safety reasons, it is better to apply the strips in chalk on those surfaces that children and pets cannot reach. Generally speaking, deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin are chemically quite resistant substances, and if the surface is not exposed to sunlight, then the effect of insecticides will last more than 2 months - this is also stated in the instructions for the pencil.

It is advisable to carry out the processing with gloves, and after it thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water - although the active ingredients in Masha's composition are not highly toxic to humans and warm-blooded animals, however, if swallowed, there will obviously be no health benefits from them either. Accordingly, in places accessible to pets and children, it is better not to apply Masha.

Review

“I once read reviews that the cat ate half of Mashenka’s chalk at someone’s house. Nothing like a terrible thing happened then, saliva only flowed strongly, but I somehow fear. I have already smeared all the cupboards, tables, the refrigerator at the back with Mashenka, but I still don’t dare to open skirting boards. I hope that the cockroaches will disappear anyway ... "

Irina, Kremenchug

 

Analogues of the remedy and what to do if Masha did not work

The closest analogues of Mashenka are:

• chalk from cockroaches Chisty Dom;
• chalk from crawling insects Tornado;
• insecticidal crayon Titanic;
• chalk from cockroaches GloBal;
• as well as Chinese cockroach pencils.

It is believed that Chinese crayons are noticeably more toxic and more effective in destroying cockroaches. True, they are more dangerous for pets and children.

It must be borne in mind that in cases where there are a lot of cockroaches in the room, even the correct use of Mashenka may not give the desired result - many insects simply will not run through the strips of the product. In this case, you will need to combine crayons with other types of tools (as mentioned above):

1. Insecticide concentrates (Xulat Micro, Delta Zone, Get, etc.), which are diluted in water and applied with a spray gun to walls, skirting boards and furniture. This will eliminate cockroaches in just a few hours.If the area is small, then you can use aerosol preparations in cans (Raptor, Kombat, Dichlorvos of different brands, etc.);
2. Gels from cockroaches, some of which work, although not quickly, but very effectively (Exil, Dohlox, Fas, etc.).

Many pest control services use complex treatment when removing cockroaches, using both fast-acting preparations and preventive (barrier) preparations.

 

If you have experience in using Mashenka cockroach chalk, be sure to share the information by leaving a review at the bottom of this page (it doesn’t matter if this review is positive, neutral or negative).

 

Interesting video: a good example of how Mashenka acts on cockroaches

 

And this is how GEKTOR powder acts on cockroaches ...