Boric acid is a highly effective powder used against common household pests such as roaches, bugs, and ants.

Summary

Do not panic when cockroaches, termites, ants, or bugs infest your home. Boric acid has been specifically designed to get rid of all these pests successfully. Its’ low-toxic nature makes it suitable for use at home. Thanks to its powdery form, you can squeeze it into small cracks and crevices whenever you notice pest activities. Apply small trails on affected surfaces and scrub them into the surface till they become invisible. The insects will walk through it and carry it back to their nests. Boric acid remains active unless you wash/vacuum it off. 

Technical Details

• Boric acid is preferred for pest control because it is toxic to nearly all insects and causes fast insect death. 
• It is very abrasive. It causes severe abrasion to an insect’s exoskeleton, weakening it and dehydrating it to death from the outside. 

Features and Specifications

• It is available in different forms liquid, tablet/pellet, or fine powder forms.
• It is an easy, low-toxic method of pest control.  
• Boric acid is very popular in pest control due to its butterfly effect. A single insect can walk through the powder and carry it back to its nest. It spreads it to the rest of the colony through interaction. 

Is Boric Acid Safe For Use at Home?

Boric acid is a poisonous pest treatment. It must be applied with great caution because it can potentially harm humans, pets, and animals. Minor toxicity effects of boric acid on humans include skin and eye irritation. Major toxicity causes breathing issues and headaches, and in the worst cases, it can cause kidney failure to its victims. 

How Does Boric Acid Kill Pests?

Once insects walk through the treated surfaces, they ingest the powder while grooming themselves. The powder is very abrasive. It destroys their exoskeleton, making it very weak and easy to dehydrate to death from the outside. The powder also damages insects’ metabolism. 

Which is the Correct Application of Boric Acid?

Always ensure you read the product label and directions for use before any treatment. Boric acid tablets/pellets must be kept out of children’s and pets’ reach. Whenever you are using it in its powder form, ensure you wear protective gloves and a mask to prevent accidental breathing of the powder. 

• Cockroaches- Sprinkle the boric powder in all the places where you spot cockroach activities. The roaches will walk through the powder, some of its amounts will stick on their bodies, and they’ll bring it back to their nests, thus infesting the rest of the colony.

• Ants- Inspect to locate all the places where the ants may be hiding. Sprinkle adequate amounts of boric powder and consider the ants’ pathways.  Ants will come out of hiding and feed on the treatment. They’ll also take some amounts of the powder back to their nests to share with the rest of the colony. 

Equivalently, you can make poisonous ant bait by mixing 1tsp. boric acid with 1 cup of sugar (ants are attracted to sugar) and 1 liter of water. Soak a soft rag or cotton bulb into the mixture. Place the soaked rug into a shallow cup with lots of openings that will make good entry points for the ants.  The ants will crawl into the cup and call the rest of the colony for ‘a feast’ while others will be carrying pieces of the poisoned cotton bulb back to their nests.

• Fleas- Boric powder is highly efficient in fleas control when spread on the floors. Scrub the powder into your carpets until it is no longer visible. Spread the powder on all infested seats too and scrub it till it’s invisible using a soft brush. After one or two days, vacuum the seats and the floor. 

Note that: boric mainly kills adult fleas, so you will have to treat again after a few weeks to exterminate any newly hatched fleas. 

Target Pests

• Fleas
• Ants
• Termites
• Cockroaches 
• Bed bugs

Importance of Using Boric Acid

• Small quantities of boric acid are adequate for pest treatment. 
• It is highly efficient in the control of pests. 
• It has a fast knock-down action.
• It is a cheap yet successful pest treatment method  
• It is a low-toxic method, thus less harmful to non-target animals, humans, and pests.

Note that: Boric acid is still potentially harmful when it comes into contact with food. Avoid such contacts and in case of an occurrence, consider throwing the contaminated food away. Keep the product out of children’s reach.