As practice shows, there are situations when apartment residents cannot get rid of cockroaches for months, and sometimes even for years (!) So they live in the neighborhood with each other, and the sluggish war does not give any tangible results. As a result, it may even seem that not a single poison takes cockroaches, and that these pests today have become accustomed to almost any insecticidal agent.
In reality, this is not so: by competently approaching the choice of poison from cockroaches, the desired result can be achieved in a very short time (even in advanced cases), and the effect will be long-term. It is only necessary to take into account a number of important nuances, which we will discuss in more detail later.
Review:
“Just two years ago we settled in a new building, but there is no life from cockroaches! These creatures just filled the whole house, fat, red, shiny, as if wet. We already have all the wallpaper in their traces, when you kill them they remain, still on the furniture. And they are so arrogant, crawling right over sleeping children! Whatever they fought, they bought different aerosols, syringes, poured boric acid. At least they have something. And they just run to dichlorvos and ask for more ... "
Irina, Yekaterinburg
What types of poisons are used today against cockroaches
Although it is customary to sing of the unique ability of cockroaches to survive and resist various insecticidal agents, nevertheless, it should be recognized: the chemical industry today is quite capable of giving a worthy rebuff to the invasion of pests. Moreover, some modern drugs literally mow down cockroach populations in apartments, even when individuals have a pronounced resistance to a number of outdated poisons.
On a note
Dust and Dichlorvos, which are still well remembered by representatives of the older generation, are in the past - today, in order to poison cockroaches in your home, you do not need to endure a terrible smell and risk your health, since you can buy much more effective and safe products that do not have , besides, such an unpleasant smell.
It should be borne in mind that insect dusts can still be found on sale today, as well as Dichlorvos of different brands (Dichlorvos Neo, Dichlorvos Varan, etc.), but these are completely different preparations in terms of chemical composition. The obsolete organochlorine pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and the organophosphate Dichlorvos (dimethyldichlorovinyl phosphate) have now been replaced by safer and more convenient preparations, mainly based on synthetic pyrethroids.
According to the form of release and, as a result, according to the method of application, poison from cockroaches can be divided into the following groups:
- Aerosol products are well-known and very popular insect sprays (Raptor, Combat, Dichlorvos, etc.). Today you can buy such poison from cockroaches in almost any hardware store or market.Aerosols give the greatest effect in those cases when they are sprayed directly on the hiding places of cockroaches in the apartment. However, as you understand, in advanced cases, cockroach shelters can be located throughout the room, and as a result, as practice shows, aerosol poisons in the hands of an unprepared person simply do not give a sufficient effect. In addition, aerosol preparations do not have a prolonged action and, therefore, do not provide preventive protection of the premises from insects;
- Gels are a kind of poisoned bait that attracts cockroaches with a smell and poisons them due to the insecticide that is part of the gel. The peculiarity of such drugs is that they do not destroy cockroaches quickly - it will take 2-3 weeks before the effect of the gel is sufficiently manifested. However, some insecticidal gels work slowly, but very effectively, and can rightfully be considered one of the best poisons for cockroaches. We will talk about these drugs a little lower;
- Traps for cockroaches with poisoned bait inside (Raptor Double Strength, Kombat, Clean House and some others). In terms of efficiency, they are comparable to gels, but more convenient to use, although the price will be more expensive;
- Insecticide sticks (crayons), as well as powders (dusts) - inexpensive poisons, cockroaches are destroyed slowly and are best suited for preventing the reproduction of cockroaches indoors;
- Insecticide concentrates for dilution and subsequent spraying in the form of a spray - today some preparations of this group are considered the most effective remedies for cockroaches (Some brands of such poisons, due to economical consumption and high efficiency, use pest control services in their work). The concentrates of a number of so-called microencapsulated preparations are adapted for domestic use: the solutions prepared from them are odorless and allow mass destruction of cockroaches even in the most difficult cases.
On a note
Among the less popular means to poison cockroaches in an apartment are insecticidal smoke bombs. As a rule, mosquito checkers are used for these purposes (Quiet Evening, City and others with permethrin as an active ingredient). The disadvantage of smoke bombs when used in residential premises is the long-lasting burning smell and white permethrin coating on furniture.
A certain effect can also be given by various folk poisons from cockroaches, among which boric acid and borax mixed with egg yolk are the most popular. However, the disadvantage of poisoned baits with boric acid is, firstly, the impossibility of using it to get rid of cockroaches quickly, and, secondly, if there are available water sources in the apartment, poisoned cockroaches often survive, as they “drink”, thereby significantly reducing the effectiveness of boric acid, which is detrimental to them.
And, finally, a very important point, which is often forgotten when fighting cockroaches on your own: you should not initially focus on finding one, the “most effective” poison that would once and for all solve your problems with cockroaches. The greatest effectiveness is achieved only with a competent combination of different types of funds.
Review
See also our experiments on cockroaches:We catch cockroaches and test different means on them - see the results...
“It was such a nightmare when we started putting my mother’s old apartment in order. Peel off the wallpaper, and hundreds of cockroaches behind them! I almost fainted when I saw such healthy blacks among them. We decided to arrange a total cleansing for them. We bought two different gels, I sprinkled furniture with dichlorvos, and my husband additionally treated the whole apartment with some kind of remedy for bedbugs, it also helps with cockroaches. The next day, dead cockroaches were collected by scoops. That's terrible. Communicated with neighbors, they are also teeming with cockroaches. And everything is calm with us now, three weeks have already passed.
Tatiana, Moscow
And further: We tested Phenaksin powder on cockroaches - and these monsters, at least henna ...
Insecticide concentrates
As noted above, insecticidal preparations adapted for domestic use make it possible to very effectively poison cockroaches in a room, even with a significant degree of colonization by these pests.
For domestic use from this group, for example, the following drugs have proven themselves well:
- Xulat Micro is a combined microencapsulated insect repellant that is practically odorless. Developed on the basis of three active substances, which dramatically reduces the chances of survival of the cockroach population, even those with resistance to any insecticide;
- Get is also a fairly effective cockroach poison based on microencapsulated chlorpyrifos. Almost no bad smell. The drug is sold in small packages (100 ml), one bottle of Get is enough to treat 100 m² of surfaces;
- Delta-Zone is a microencapsulated remedy for bedbugs and cockroaches based on the highly effective insecticide deltamethrin. Also has no smell. To process a two-room apartment of medium size, as a rule, it is enough to buy one bottle of 100 ml;
- Lambda-Zone is a remedy positioned primarily as a powerful poison for the destruction of bed bugs, however, its effectiveness against cockroaches is no less. The drug does not have an unpleasant odor, it is based on a synthetic highly effective insecticide lambda-cyhalothrin.
…And some others.
When used correctly, these drugs are quite safe for humans and pets. They allow you to poison cockroaches in the apartment without creating a long-term unpleasant odor in the room, as is often the case with many aerosol insect repellents.
The advantage of using microencapsulated agents is that cockroach poisoning occurs not only directly during the treatment of the apartment, but also within a few weeks after that.The fact is that the surviving individuals (including those that continue to enter the room from their neighbors), running along the treated surfaces, will cling insecticide particles to their chitinous covers. Due to the contact poisoning effect, the poison quickly enters the hemolymph of the pest, leading to its death.
Gels from cockroaches
The main advantage of cockroach gels is the combination of ease of use, safety for humans and animals, and sufficiently high efficiency.
On a note
So-called bitterness is specially added to some cockroach gels. These substances are extremely unpleasant in taste, so pets and children will not want to eat even a drop of poison, even if they find it. At the same time, bitterness does not in the least prevent cockroaches from feasting on the gel.
However, not all gels have such unpleasant-tasting substances added to them. And if a child ate poison from cockroaches, then usually the situation directly depends on the amount of insecticide eaten. As a rule, if it's just about licking a carton with gel or a finger stained with gel, then there are no visible changes in the child's condition. The situation can be much worse when the child eats the gel, squeezing it out of the tube - in this case, you should immediately (without waiting for the child's condition to worsen) call an ambulance and provide information from the drug package.
As a rule, poisons for cockroaches in the form of gels are sold in syringes or plastic tubes, which makes it easier to apply the product to various surfaces.
The composition of the gels includes substances that attract cockroaches. A cockroach that has eaten an insecticidal gel does not die immediately, but usually manages to return back to its shelter, where it dies.Often, other individuals devour the deceased fellow, also receiving a lethal dose of poison - this is how a kind of chain mechanism of poisoning works. That is why some gels are so effective in the fight against cockroaches.
Today, the following cockroach gels have proven themselves and are popular:
- Dohlox;
- brownie;
- Kapkan (Sturm-gel-paste);
- Absolute;
- Exil (positioned as a complete analogue of the German cockroach gel Globol, which has not been supplied to Russia since 2015).
Gels are applied to surfaces in droplets in the form of dotted lines. The distance between the drops is 1-2 cm. High-quality gels do not leave marks on the furniture and remain effective until they dry out or are washed off during wet cleaning.
Review
“For the first time I used Globol in my mother’s apartment, back in 2001. After that, we didn’t see a single cockroach for five years. It's really a good tool."
Olga, St. Petersburg
Poisons in the form of aerosols
No matter how much advertising praises one or another aerosol preparation from cockroaches, most of them turn out to be approximately the same in terms of their effectiveness in practice. Moreover, many of them even use the same active ingredients.
And further: Aerosol Raptor poisons all cockroaches not very quickly, but effectively - see the results of our experiment...
You can poison cockroaches in an apartment with a small number of them, for example, with the following aerosol preparations:
- Combat Superspray (there is also Combat Multispray, which is suitable for destroying not only crawling, but also flying insects);
- Raptor from crawling insects;
- Raid against cockroaches and ants;
- Dichlorvos Neo (or Dichlorvos Eco, Dichlorvos Varan - the good old Dichlorvos is no longer produced);
- Aerosol Clean house.
It should be borne in mind that aerosol agents effectively poison cockroaches only when sprayed in their immediate vicinity. Accordingly, if you spray the drug, for example, only on the stove, then cockroaches on the back of the refrigerator, in the microwave, in the ventilation duct and in their other favorite hiding places will survive.
Such an option for using aerosol products is also possible, when 10-20 cans are sprayed at once in an apartment. Then it is really possible to poison almost the entire population of pests at a time. However, the problem, again, is that after the weathering of the aerosol from the room, the residual protective effect will be practically zero.
On a note
The use of the Raptor aquafumigator can also be attributed to the number of non-standard aerosol means of combating cockroaches. The essence of the operation of the aquafumigator is that when its metal container is placed inside a jar of water, steam begins to be released, which contains an insecticide. This steam fills the entire volume of the room, penetrating even into hard-to-reach places.
Insecticide sticks and powders
Perhaps the most popular remedy from this group is the well-known cockroach chalk Masha. Today you can also buy Chinese insecticidal pencils, which are not inferior in efficiency to domestic ones.
As for the most popular cockroach powder, it is, of course, boric acid, some of the disadvantages of which have already been mentioned above.
When using tools of this kind, it is useful to consider the following nuances:
- Insecticide sticks and powders work well as an additional tool in the fight against cockroaches (and also as a preventive measure). That is, it is useful to combine these agents with more effective preparations (gels and concentrates of microencapsulated insecticides);
- With a significant infestation of the room with cockroaches, it is unlikely that it will be possible to poison them only with the help of pencils or powders;
- The use of insecticidal concentrates (and even powders) mixed with dough or egg yolk is more effective than using boric acid;
- If you are in doubt about which cockroach poison is better to buy - in the form of a pencil or powder, then, all other things being equal, choose pencils, since they are more convenient to use and can be applied on vertical surfaces.
On a note
A well-pronounced poisonous effect on cockroaches (and bedbugs) has the so-called Pyrethrum powder, made from dried Dalmatian chamomile flowers. All organs of this plant, especially the flowers, contain the natural insecticide pyrethrin. It is in honor of this compound that a whole group of highly effective synthetic insecticides, pyrethroids, got its name.
You can also prepare poison from cockroaches from chamomile flowers on your own - you just need to dry them thoroughly and grind them into a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
Review:
“We poisoned cockroaches a couple of times in the country with the help of karbofos, in general, all insects were destroyed. But this year it is not clear where the Prussians appeared again. Surprisingly simple, a separate building, people do not live, especially there is no food. But the darkness divorced cockroaches.We arrived, we saw this case, we had to buy some kind of Chinese poison in the local general store, a simple pencil. They smeared all the baseboards and bedside tables with it, painted the walls in the basement. There are obviously fewer cockroaches, we find a lot of dead ones. But they didn't disappear completely. I don’t know, maybe new ones come from somewhere ... "
Natalia, Samara
We combine drugs and get the maximum effect
Workers of pest control services are well aware that the best effect in the fight against cockroaches is given by a combination of different types of poisonous agents:
- The main damage to the pest population in the house is inflicted with the help of a highly effective insecticide concentrate diluted according to the instructions (when destroying cockroaches on your own, this can be Xulat Micro, Get, Delta Zone, Lambda Zone, Agran, Cucaracha, etc.);
- As an additional tool with high efficiency and prolonged action, an insecticidal gel is used (again, if you fight on your own, you can buy Dohlox, Brownie gel, Absolut, Exil, or others).
As a rule, such a combination is already enough to completely and permanently solve the problem with cockroaches in the apartment in most cases. However, in order to increase the effectiveness of the measures, it is also possible to additionally place glue traps in the room and, in places where insects can move, apply lines with insecticidal chalk.
Do not forget about the obvious things: if cockroaches crawl into your apartment from your neighbors, then first of all, you need to block the paths of possible migration of pests. To do this, it is useful to put thin nets on the ventilation holes, close up cracks in the walls, ceiling and floor, and also block the possibility of pests penetrating through sockets in the walls.
Review
“Tell me, good people, what poison from cockroaches is better? My apartment is in complete darkness, the whole house is already cockroached, the neighbors are completely drunkards. She called the service twice, complete persecution gave a respite only for a month, and then again. I don't know how to defend. Now I have treated the bedside tables with gel, but this is clearly not enough, cockroaches walk in a herd, over their own corpses.
Albina, Novorossiysk
If you have personal experience in the destruction of cockroaches with the help of one or another means (and it doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative), then be sure to leave your feedback at the bottom of this page, in the comment box.
Useful video: how to get rid of cockroaches using the Get tool
An example of self-preparation of poison from cockroaches using boric acid
Invincible creatures. It's easier to lick the apartment clean and go on vacation for 2 months without leaving any food or vodka. They crawl on their own. It's cheaper 🙂 And I had a rest in the Crimea!
In general, cleanliness is a remedy for the Prussians. And a steam generator with a poisonous substance will help, depending on the resistance of the parasite.