Using Natural Insecticides In The Home

No one wants bugs in their home. Not only is it disgusting, they can be damaging to stored food and the structure of the home. They can spread disease as well. However, you also do not want to load your home up with dangerous toxic chemicals in order to repel the bugs. What is the answer? Use natural insecticides to keep the bugs out of your home.

Boric Acid

Select natural insecticides that are safe for your kids and pets yet are deadly or repellant to insects. Boric acid is one good example. Mix some boric acid with sugar and then add water. Soak cotton balls in this boric acid solution and place the cotton balls where ants have been spotted. Boric acid is also useful against roaches. Put some in a squeeze bottle and squirt the powder along baseboards, behind appliances and anywhere you have seen a roach.

You can also use boric acid to get rid of termites by mixing it with propylene glycol which is the non-toxic form of anti-freeze. The glycol helps the boric acid seep into the wood to get at the termites. Boric acid can also be used as a natural insecticide for silverfish. Place it in your closet or attic or anywhere else you have spotted the critters. In fact, you can make a solution of boric acid by mixing it with boiling water and then using that to wipe down surfaces in your home. This will act to repel all kinds of crawling bugs.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous Earth is another natural insecticide you can use in your home. It is made out of the skeletal remains of tiny sea creatures and plankton and works by puncturing the insect's body which leads to dehydration. This is an effective solution for fighting moths, roaches and silverfish. Diatomaceous Earth also kills fleas, working in as little as one day.

Citrus Oils

You might also want to try natural insecticides made from citrus extracts as these will leave a pleasant smell in your home as well. It is important to only choose a natural insecticide that is not harmful to kids or pets. Just because it is a natural insecticide does not mean it is safe around mammals too. A few natural insecticides are harmful to humans as well. Luckily, there are many choices you can make that will rid your house of annoying bugs but won't harm your family or pets in the least. So be sure to read the labels and follow the directions as carefully as you would for a chemical product and keep your family safe.

Is new form of pesticide to blame for catastrophic decline in honey bees? - Daily Mail

Daily Mail

Is new form of pesticide to blame for catastrophic decline in honey bees? Daily Mail There have been concerns for some years about neonicotinoids, a family of chemicals based on nicotine, but a study by an expert based in the US finally confirms a link. Conservationists have called for these pesticides, which became popular in the ... and more »

What Is Nicotine? - Medical News Today

What Is Nicotine? Medical News Today Apart from being a substance found in tobacco products, nicotine is also an antiherbivore chemical, specifically for the elimination of insects - it used to be extensively used as an insecticide. Pharmacologic effects - when humans, mammals and most ...

Holding the Line: Citrus Killing Disease At Coachella Valley's Doorstep - Patch.com

Holding the Line: Citrus Killing Disease At Coachella Valley's Doorstep Patch.com "The other product is a neonicotinoid, a new type of insecticide that mimics nicotine," Eya said. The synthetic neonicotinoid is known as Imidacloprid, and its trade name is Merit, according to another fact sheet. Merit is applied as a treatment by ... and more »

Are Pesticides Behind Massive Bee Die-Offs? - Mother Jones

Mother Jones

Are Pesticides Behind Massive Bee Die-Offs? Mother Jones For the German chemical giant Bayer, neonicotinoid pesticides—synthetic derivatives of nicotine that attack insects' nervous systems—are big business. In 2010, the company reeled in $789 million euros (more than $1 billion) in revenue from its ... and more »

Scientists link mass death of British bees to farm pesticides - Herald Scotland

Herald Scotland

Scientists link mass death of British bees to farm pesticides Herald Scotland Nicotine-based pesticides in widespread use by farmers are implicated in the mass deaths of bees, according to a new study by US scientists. The authoritative, peer-reviewed research undermines the pesticide industry's long-repeated arguments that bees ...