Diatomaceous Earth vs Boric Acid Roaches
For most people, a roach is a roach, and there’s nothing like a good old whack with a shoe to end the threat of a cockroach roaming around the house. Still, if you have more cockroaches than you have shoes, you will need to find a more efficient and effective solution.
Two different types of chemicals will cause harm to cockroaches while also not causing any harm to you. Even if you have never heard of diatomaceous earth or boric acid, they are both very easy to work with and will have your home cockroach free in no time.
What Is Boric Acid?
Boric acid is a powder that can be sprinkled around your home to kill cockroaches. It has no odor, and it’s long-lasting!
Boric acid is commonly used in dust form, and you place it around your home. What happens is that the boric acid will stick to the cockroaches whenever they walk through it, thanks to its electrostatic charge, and the dust will remain on the insect’s legs.
Whenever the cockroach decides to clean itself, it will ingest the dust, and the boric acid will attack the nervous system of the roach’s body. Boric acid can both damage the stomach and cause a burn on the exoskeleton.
Since most cockroaches are cannibals, whenever the infected roach finally dies from the slow-acting poison, the other cockroaches pounce on the dead cockroach. The roaches will become affected, which creates a massive chain reaction that will eventually cause the entire nest to collapse.
How to Use Boric Acid
You need to place it around the perimeter of your home. Some more common places include, at the foot of cracks and crevices, in the kitchen and bathroom, and everywhere else you know that might have roach activity. They will walk through the boric acid and get themselves infected.
Boric acid does have a few weaknesses, though. For one, boric acid will kill roaches and insects like ants and silverfish; it will not repel them. So if cockroaches are still coming into your home, you need to be vigilant and close off any cracks that might allow the bugs to enter.
You need to make sure you place a lot of the boric acid for it to be effective. You want to have enough roaches killed so that the roach population doesn’t have time to reproduce.
Boric acid powder is not toxic to humans or animals in small doses, but we recommend keeping it away from pets and small children. When looking for a boric acid product, make sure to look for one that includes a roach bait lure to make the process easier. Also, make sure that you are buying boric acid and not borax roach killer; while borax can be effective for roach control, boric acid is much more efficient.
What Is Diatomaceous Earth?
Unlike Boric acid, which is a slightly toxic combination of chemicals, the Diatomaceous Earth is all-natural and non-toxic. It is a natural pesticide formed from the fossilized remains of the diatoms. The diatoms were single-celled organisms with shells made of silica, and they now make up the Diatomaceous Earth.
Even though it looks like simple dust to our human eyes, every single molecule is as sharp as razor wire to a bug. The physical damage that each of these molecules creates as the bug walks across it is enough to pierce and poke an insect’s exoskeleton. However, the little knives aren’t done, and the tiny earth particles continue to enter the body of the insects.
They then absorb the oils and fats from the insect and dry out the insect’s body. This kills the cockroach after a while. Think about that for a second, the cockroach basically walks onto a field of knives, then gets all the moisture in its body drained. This is one powerful solution.
How To Use It Effectively
Once you have the diatomaceous earth, you need to spread it out in a fine layer over the places where the cockroaches enter your home. You shouldn’t clump it into very large piles, as the bugs are more inclined to walk around them.
Finally, the diatomaceous earth is very sensitive to moisture. If you are placing the DE into an extremely moist area, you will need to reapply it. Try to combine the two, using boric acid in wetter areas while saving the diatomaceous earth for the dry areas.
Is Boric Acid or Diatomaceous Earth Better for Controlling Roaches?
Diatomaceous Earth is the best for killing roaches compared to boric acid; it is much faster at killing cockroaches and has a 100% mortality rate. Rather than waiting for the cockroaches to clean themselves and ingest the poison, the roaches get hurt when they step into the diatomaceous earth, and the pain doesn’t stop.
Plus, it is natural and non-toxic and kills on contact. Also, if a cockroach does survive the initial cutting and stabbing, it can go back to the nest and spread the poison to the rest of the cockroach colony.
Something To Keep In Mind
Keep in mind that while both boric acid and diatomaceous earth are designed to kill and poison cockroaches, they will do nothing to repel cockroaches. If the cockroaches are still getting into your house, they will continue to be a problem. You need to be proactive and start focusing on closing all of the gaps causing the cockroaches to get into your house.
If these solutions are not working, we recommend getting in contact with a pest control professional as soon as possible to put an end to your roach infestation.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4025297/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115302732
https://www.orkin.com/cockroaches/boric-acid-and-cockroaches
