Do these citrus-based pest control products ever actually kill anything?
Sassy Sue asked:
Last night I sprayed a cockroach that was in my bathroom. Went into town and returned about two hours later, and it was still totally alive. I’m trying to be conscious of our environment, but don’t want to waste money on ineffective products–and prefer not to allow bugs to take over my home, which is easy to do in Hawaii.
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Last night I sprayed a cockroach that was in my bathroom. Went into town and returned about two hours later, and it was still totally alive. I’m trying to be conscious of our environment, but don’t want to waste money on ineffective products–and prefer not to allow bugs to take over my home, which is easy to do in Hawaii.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am
You could squash them with a shoe or fly swatter instead. There are no chemicals involved in that. Try spaying it first to slow it down and then squash it.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
There a re products that work. Yours may not have been the right one for cockroaches is all. I’ll include alink to product reviews so you can pick one that works for you as well as the text here:
Orange Guard
Orange Guard is a similar product to Orange Guard’s Fire Ant Control, but it is intended more as a broad range insecticide and insect repellent. This orange-based product kills and repels ants, roaches, fleas, and silverfish, in addition to other common insect pests. As with Orange Guard Fire Ant Control, this product is safe to use on food crops, and is not harmful to your pets or your family. Orange Guard is also safe to use indoors. You can even use Orange Guard for eliminating fleas from your carpeting when you pre-soak before steam cleaning. Orange Guard can also be used as part of the Texas Two Step Method for Fire Ant Control.
The second link is to a company that claims success on cockroaches using citrus based products.
February 12th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I don’t know exactly what you used, but most products sporting ‘citrus-based’ compounds have citronellal (or citronella) which is a compound that has a citrus aroma as it is derived from citrus. However, unless you drown bugs, it can not always kill anything… it will only drive them away for a while until the smell wears off… I would suggest as my husband does to use a vaccum cleaner and **** them up or to smack them with a paper… this saves money and does not hurt the environment…. the paper is harder than the vaccum, but does not require the vaccum always be handy. or I would stun them with the citrus then vaccum them up…. don’t leave them…. get them before they take over your home!