Borax for bugs?

[DownHome]

Does anyone know anything about how this works? have you ever used it? With all the rain we have had ants trying to make a home in our mail box and fleas coming in the house!!? We don't have indoor animals!!...it's just crazy.

I'm looking for a solution that I don't have to go out and buy and that works.

[moopups]

Boric acid is available, usually at drug stores or feed stores, for insect control. As for fleas inside, place a wide water filled pan under a night light. Put a bit of liquid soap in it to break the waters tension.

[Micahn]

We built a home about 15 years ago and I put Boric acid around in all of the walls before they was covered up. We lived there for about 10 years and never seen a single roach in it the whole time. Here in Florida no matter how clean you are you will get roaches they are just part of life here. Yet we never seen any in that home and the only thing that was done to keep them out was the Boric acid.

[Ken Scharabok]

I've heard of people putting down a layer before cabinets were installed also.

[mustard]

When I replaced the carpet and some of the plywood flooring in a mobile home I once owned, I put boric acid in there...and I had no roaches for the rest of the time I lived there...but when I had renters in there, there was roaches...so I don't know if it was what they were doing, or if it lost effectiveness.

I'm kind of nervous about boric acid because it's poisonous to people and pets...

I've also heard about using borax...and one person said a comination of borax and salt was effective in getting rid of inside fleas...

I've been doing some research...I have cats and dogs...where I moved, the neighbors don't take care of their dogs, and the dogs used to sleep under my trees until I moved in - so I have THOUSANDS of fleas hatching out...I can't go outside without getting fleas on me, and my pets are even worse off...although it is getting better, and I haven't poisoned anyone or anything yet. I've tried about five different products so far...

Good luck...

[mistletoad]

But boric acid and Borax are not the same thing, as far as I know Borax is not useful against bugs.

[Bearfootfarm]

Borax contains Boric acid naturally. Borax is also useful for bugs

"Borax has a wide variety of uses. It is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. It is also used to make buffer solutions in biochemistry, as a fire retardant, as an anti-fungal compound for fibreglass, as an insecticide, as a flux in metallurgy, and as a precursor for other boron compounds."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax

[neal68]

hire an exterminator he will get the job done, DO NOT use the national guys they stink, use a local guy. as for the pesticides being harmful to humans and pets, they are not unless they drink straight from the undiluted bottle that includes boric acid. i work for an exterminator and have gone to the classes that are EPA approved. the pesticides that are in stores will only work initally not long term ie: wasp spray,flea bombs etc...
good luck

[Missy M]

Fleas can live for up to two years without food or water. The fleas are likely ones that have been there for a while, but now have found some sort of food or water source in or near your house. Boric acid will help with ants, but I'm not sure about the fleas. If you sprinkle flea powder on your rugs, leave it sit for a while, then vacuum this should help. Flea bombs also do wonders, just be careful to follow directions. They can be dangerous.

[Ramblin Wreck]

I think Borax works like diatamacheous earth. It scratches or cuts into the exo-skeleton on bugs when they tread over it. They die shortly thereafter. I've used it, and I guess it works. I don't seem to have any bug problems.

[bqz]

I mix it with a little jelly and put it on a plate near the sink and it seems to do a good job on the ants for me.

[menollyrj]

I don't know about insecticidal qualities, but I do know that borax and boric acid are most certainly not the same thing. Borax is sodium borate decahydrate (or some other hydrate). It is slightly alkaline. Boric acid is hydrogen borate and is slightly acidic. While both contain borate, to say that they are the same thing is misleading. If it is the borate that makes boric acid toxic to insects, then borax should work equally well. However, if it is some other chemical or physical property of boric acid that accounts for the toxicity, then they two compounds would not be interchangeable.

-Joy

[fishhead]

We were taught to use Borax for preserving bird skins in taxidermy class.

[grams]

Actually the common elements are Boron and Oxygen. They are two very different compounds and of the two the borax is probably the more toxic to humans and pets.

[Jim S.]

Borax works great. If you mix up a strong solution of 20 Mule Team and run it through a pressure washer to drive it into wood, it's as good as gold to keep our boring bugs. I have a friend who takes apart and reassembles log cabins. He pressure washes every log before reassembly. It also makes them look new.

I have another friend who is building new from rough logs. He, too, pressure washes each one to drive it in there before assembly.

[Jenn]

I sprinkle a line of borax around/under all the water sources- back of toilets, under sinks. Also all weird entry places like attic doors and window sills where it won't be noticeable/ugly, and yes under/behind dressers beds where not visible. Doing that really reduced the sightings of 'palmetto bugs' in our AL home.

Don't know about fleas- they don't need water like roaches do. We just treat our animals.

Ants- we're up on block foundation (a story or so up) but still get ants coming into the kitchen 12' or more from dirt. I dribble dishwash detergent on their path and apparent crack they're coming from and see no more. Probably kills on contact but more importantly removes the scent trail they all follow back to my kitchen.

[Paul Wheaton]

I would suggest diotomaceous earth instead of borax (or any of the boric acids or borate powders).


A fascinating article at http://www.unexco.com/boric-op.pdf

As it introduces part 2, it says "Part I of Mr. Cartwright's article addressed the use of
Boric Acid (the main ingredient in many flea control products such as Fleabusters) in a
method that is inconsistent with that recommended by the manufacturer -- i.e. broadcast
application, or spreading over a large area where there will be constant direct contact.
This type of application can lead to exposure to the chemical which can have harmful
effects. Particularly susceptible would be children and animals."

In this case, "the manufacturer" is "U.S. Borax"

"U.S. Borax has the only correct Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on boric acid that I
have seen to date. Most, if not all, other manufacturers of pesticides that contain boric
acid have incomplete information contained in their MSDSs about boric acid and/or
borates."

MSDS at http://www2.hazard.com/msds/f2/bmp/bmprl.html

A sort of apples-to-apples comparison:

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/pr...2/icsc0248.htm

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/pr...5/icsc0567.htm

[Paul Wheaton]

Oh yeah,

As for flea bombs and that sort of thing. I have found several reports on line that repeated usage has not been 100% effective. And, after use, everything in your house is covered in a thin layer of poison. Use the handrail on the stairs, then eat a grape ...

Before using a toxic product, I think you all would be wise to read the MSDS. By law it is supposed to be provided with the products, but that seemed to discourage sales, so ....

There are folks the use this stuff correctly and the toxicity is fairly well mitigated (although I still wouldn't want it around me). But some of the professional outfits will hire .... well, I'm gonna leave this one alone.

DE works great. Get food grade DE (yeah, you can eat it). Plus, it works for all sorts of stuff around the farm. Just like flour or talcum powder - don't be breathing a lot of it in.

[GoddessKristie]

I have had a terrible time with ants since I moved here two and a half years ago. After two summers of putting out drops of boric acid for ants to eat and eat and eat they just kept comming back. I followed the manufacturer's directions, but no luck. So, this year I pourd borax on their trail in two places. They kept comming for days but after about a week they stopped and never came back. I'm glad to finally be rid of them!
I don't know about fleas, but I have heard that sprinkling borax into your carpet, sweeping it in with a broom, letting it sit for a couple hours, then vac'ing it out will kill them. I don't know, though 'cause I've never done that.
Good luck!

[EDDIE BUCK]

I've tried borax on top of fire ant hills. Did'nt kill them, just made them a little cleaner. So I got my small propane torch, stirred the mounds with a stick to makum made and "saronada ants". THATS FUN!