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Of course short term risk is minimal. That's not the point.
Bigger things? I suppose you are one of those who are more concerned about "global warming"
What the hell does global warming have to do with any of this? Trolling?
Bigger things like living my life. I won't walk around in a bubble because of irrational fear. Do you eat bacon? Oh no, the destruction of your body and mind!
People have been spraying for pests in the valley for decades and I haven't heard of anyone debilitated because they sprayed for scorpions.
Dr. Doris Rapp, international expert on allergies, toxins and related illness, has a great post on natural pesticides vs synthetic - Are Any Pesticides Safe? | Doris Rapp, MD
Even then one has to be careful not to ingest it.
It worries me that we see yard guys spraying pesticides without any covering on their faces or arms. The wind is blowing and they are inhaling this poison. If you are going to spray anything, even the natural pesticides, always be sure you have a mask on and long sleeves. Read all labels and be careful how you clean your clothing afterwards.
DetroitN8V - you may want to make sure you get regular checkups. My friend who owns a pest control company has strict guidelines for safety for his team and pays for them to be checked annually for any bad side effects. It's not foolish ... some of this stuff is extremely dangerous. Or don't you read the warning labels?
Yep and we're all gonna take the same dirt nap no matter what we do. My question is "what doesn't kill you nowadays"?
From car/truck exhaust to treated food to processed everything and let's not forget too much sunshine,too little sunshine, gasout from our carpet/wood/engineered flooring and furniture unless of course it's made from organic trees grown,processed and milled in your own yard far away from ground polution of any sort and assembled with Yaac spit glue.
While I don't advocate drinking poison (bug that is) responsible use is just fine to maintain a happy home.
It's my understanding that Cy-Kick is basically just pool filter powder (diatamatious earth) except it is a much finer powder. When the creepy crawlers walk through the powder, it sticks to them and is like sand paper or shards of glass to them. It tears up the little critters exoskeleton and they die. It doesn't poison them at all. That's why it can be used in food prep areas. It's not really a chemical.
It's my understanding that Cy-Kick is basically just pool filter powder (diatamatious earth) except it is a much finer powder. When the creepy crawlers walk through the powder, it sticks to them and is like sand paper or shards of glass to them. It tears up the little critters exoskeleton and they die. It doesn't poison them at all. That's why it can be used in food prep areas. It's not really a chemical.
No, cy-kick is a chemical. Although it's labelled for "food prep areas", I wouldn't eat it myself.
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is what you've described. Some weird people do eat diatomaceous earth, some people eat colloidal silver & turn themselves purple..
No, cy-kick is a chemical. Although it's labelled for "food prep areas", I wouldn't eat it myself.
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is what you've described. Some weird people do eat diatomaceous earth, some people eat colloidal silver & turn themselves purple..
That would be me.
Been using food grade DE for several years now,it's 89% silica which helps your joints,gives you more energy and it's also a great detox. Plus like Maverick said it's great for the creepy crawling critters as it strips their hard shell off and kills them and you're not putting poison around your house. Just be careful as the DE dust is very bad for your lungs and nasal passage because of the fine crystals it's made of.
It's my understanding that Cy-Kick is basically just pool filter powder (diatamatious earth) except it is a much finer powder. When the creepy crawlers walk through the powder, it sticks to them and is like sand paper or shards of glass to them. It tears up the little critters exoskeleton and they die. It doesn't poison them at all. That's why it can be used in food prep areas. It's not really a chemical.
I too use Cy-Kick and it is what the Pros use. I apply it every three months. I've been using it for about 10 years starting in MN.
Before I apply a poison, I kind of like to understand what I am using. So a decade ago I called the manufacture (BASF). The way it was explained to me was that CY-Kick gets absorbed in cements floors and stucco or porous material (not so much in granite rocks). Over time, the pesticide which is cyfluthrin randomly gets released in the spheres. I remember his explanation and I visualized "bubbles of poison" randomly popping over 3 months. There is no value of putting in more concentrate in the dilution mixture. If you do, you are risking getting a film on the wall, wasting $$'s, and increasing unneeded poison.
Like most pyrethroids (cyfluthrin is in the pyrethroid poison family), it is highly toxic to invertebrates and insects (fish don't like it so much either so runoff from farms isn't ideal). But, it is far less toxic to humans that to our bug buddies. Cy-Kick uses about 0.5 pound per gallon and then you dilute it to 1-2 OZ per gallon. During mixing, this is the time you really want to use gloves (when it is concentrated). I also wear some glasses JUST IN CASE a splash occurs.
Over the years, pesticides have gotten far less toxic to humans (but still toxic to the bugs). For instance the old organophosphate were highly toxic to humans. Some pesticides acute oral toxicity was deadly; not so with CY-Kick. (I am FINALLY getting to use some college chemistry). So a decade ago I did my homework to make sure I wasn't just trusting some corporation to be a good steward. Nor did I want to blindly trust the EPA to do a good job of regulating this industry. I came aways not worrying about this pesticide OUTSIDE the house. I find CY-Kick to work wonders (AWESOME for killing those Box Elder and Asian beetles in MN and equally good in AZ; possibly better because of less rain) and it lasts for a solid 3 months and i bet I could make it to 4 months. Hence, (IMHO) anyone who is paying someone to come out once a month is getting SCREWED!
Procedure:
1.) I go around ground level door and windows.
2.) Spray about 2 feet up the side of the house and 1 foot on the ground (when it rains, the stuff on the ground will wash off).
3.) Make a criss-cross pattern on the driveway, garage, and patio area. I figure it is about 5% of the patio area 10"wide (a sprayer width). My theory is if a bug is crawling, it will be killed eventually. I don't need to treat 100% of the area. Also, you don't have to make a puddle when you spray. The thinner the application the better (you do not want a white residue). 20x more poison is 20X more than you need or want so more is worse not better.
4.) I spray my fence area (2 feet up).
5.) Spray all around the over hang garage door as well as the bottom of the door (rubber). 2 feet in front and behind the garage door too.
6.) I pop off the irrigation boxes (where the valves are) and spray. LOT's of bugs and crickets hide here...
* I have a 3700 square foot, 2 story on a 11,000 sq foot lot. All of my spraying (walls, house, patio) uses up a total of 3 gallons. I use 1.5 OZ per gallon. So I use 4.5 ounces out of 16 oz. So it costs me about $45 a year (I buy 2 bottles at a time). Because I use a quality sprayer (10 seconds of pumping gets a perfect mist that lasts for 1 minute), it takes me about 45 minutes to apply.
Some also suggest granular pesticides around the perimeter. Infact, the local DIY bug spot lectured me to buy some. That's too much work and because it doesn't rain much, I refuse to put it down a granual (wind can put it in the air as it decomposes, etc). No Thank You! I personally will never spray it inside the house. I will get about 1-2 bugs per year inside the house. So based off of experience, I have not found ONE reason that it is needed to do this.
Results:
Here in AZ, I have almost a ZERO bug problems. Well actually, when I come back from MN in October, I have plenty of bugs again. When I treat for in October, it's a sea of dead spiders and crickets outside the house. But not a lot inside.
I've been walking the lot nightly with my black light scorpion hunting. Since a week ago, I found 1 scorpion and I squashed him. Coincidentally, I just saw my neighbor across the street last night and he too was scorpion hunting. His lot is 3000 square foot smaller but he doesn't spray for bugs. I asked how many he got so far. He proudly shouted out that he killed 10 LAST NIGHT. I realize this isn't statistically significant proof. But at 1st glance, it seems my approach of killing their food source is working.
In summary, I don't want 12 applications per year (or pay for it). I don't want or need someone putting poison inside my house were I am located 20 out of 24 hours a day. And I am o.k. with a bug or two getting into our house. I kill 99.99% of them and consider that close enough. CY-Kick is the BOMB! (I'm a BASF employee). JUST kidding.
Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 03-02-2016 at 06:31 AM..
I too use Cy-Kick and it is what the Pros use. I apply it every three months. I've been using it for about 10 years starting in MN.
Before I apply a poison, I kind of like to understand what I am using. So a decade ago I called the manufacture (BASF). The way it was explained to me was that CY-Kick gets absorbed in cements floors and stucco or porous material (not so much in granite rocks). Over time, the pesticide which is cyfluthrin randomly gets released in the spheres. I remember his explanation and I visualized "bubbles of poison" randomly popping over 3 months. There is no value of putting in more concentrate in the dilution mixture. If you do, you are risking getting a film on the wall, wasting $$'s, and increasing unneeded poison.
Like most pyrethroids (cyfluthrin is in the pyrethroid poison family), it is highly toxic to invertebrates and insects (fish don't like it so much either so runoff from farms isn't ideal). But, it is far less toxic to humans that to our bug buddies. Cy-Kick uses about 0.5 pound per gallon and then you dilute it to 1-2 OZ per gallon. During mixing, this is the time you really want to use gloves (when it is concentrated). I also wear some glasses JUST IN CASE a splash occurs.
Over the years, pesticides have gotten far less toxic to humans (but still toxic to the bugs). For instance the old organophosphate were highly toxic to humans. Some pesticides acute oral toxicity was deadly; not so with CY-Kick. (I am FINALLY getting to use some college chemistry). So a decade ago I did my homework to make sure I wasn't just trusting some corporation to be a good steward. Nor did I want to blindly trust the EPA to do a good job of regulating this industry. I came aways not worrying about this pesticide OUTSIDE the house. I find CY-Kick to work wonders (AWESOME for killing those Box Elder and Asian beetles in MN and equally good in AZ; possibly better because of less rain) and it lasts for a solid 3 months and i bet I could make it to 4 months. Hence, (IMHO) anyone who is paying someone to come out once a month is getting SCREWED!
Procedure:
1.) I go around ground level door and windows.
2.) Spray about 2 feet up the side of the house and 1 foot on the ground (when it rains, the stuff on the ground will wash off).
3.) Make a criss-cross pattern on the driveway, garage, and patio area. I figure it is about 5% of the patio area 10"wide (a sprayer width). My theory is if a bug is crawling, it will be killed eventually. I don't need to treat 100% of the area. Also, you don't have to make a puddle when you spray. The thinner the application the better (you do not want a white residue). 20x more poison is 20X more than you need or want so more is worse not better.
4.) I spray my fence area (2 feet up).
5.) Spray all around the over hang garage door as well as the bottom of the door (rubber). 2 feet in front and behind the garage door too.
6.) I pop off the irrigation boxes (where the valves are) and spray. LOT's of bugs and crickets hide here...
* I have a 3700 square foot, 2 story on a 11,000 sq foot lot. All of my spraying (walls, house, patio) uses up a total of 3 gallons. I use 1.5 OZ per gallon. So I use 4.5 ounces out of 16 oz. So it costs me about $45 a year (I buy 2 bottles at a time). Because I use a quality sprayer (10 seconds of pumping gets a perfect mist that lasts for 1 minute), it takes me about 45 minutes to apply.
Some also suggest granular pesticides around the perimeter. Infact, the local DIY bug spot lectured me to buy some. That's too much work and because it doesn't rain much, I refuse to put it down a granual (wind can put it in the air as it decomposes, etc). No Thank You! I personally will never spray it inside the house. I will get about 1-2 bugs per year inside the house. So based off of experience, I have not found ONE reason that it is needed to do this.
Results:
Here in AZ, I have almost a ZERO bug problems. Well actually, when I come back from MN in October, I have plenty of bugs again. When I treat for in October, it's a sea of dead spiders and crickets outside the house. But not a lot inside.
I've been walking the lot nightly with my black light scorpion hunting. Since a week ago, I found 1 scorpion and I squashed him. Coincidentally, I just saw my neighbor across the street last night and he too was scorpion hunting. His lot is 3000 square foot smaller but he doesn't spray for bugs. I asked how many he got so far. He proudly shouted out that he killed 10 LAST NIGHT. I realize this isn't statistically significant proof. But at 1st glance, it seems my approach of killing their food source is working.
In summary, I don't want 12 applications per year (or pay for it). I don't want or need someone putting poison inside my house were I am located 20 out of 24 hours a day. And I am o.k. with a bug or two getting into our house. I kill 99.99% of them and consider that close enough. CY-Kick is the BOMB! (I'm a BASF employee). JUST kidding.
I was going to ask questions about the Cy-kick since people mentioned it here and I had never heard of it before but you answered all of them, thanks for the detailed post I appreciate it.
My neighbor had his safe broken into and they stole a lot of jewelry about 12k worth they only went to his bedroom closet didn't disturb anything else. The only people who had been inside his bedroom was a well known exterminator company 4 months prior. He had no way to prove it and the police had no interest in looking into the person who worked for the company his insurance company paid him back. I don't trust any of these guys I do all my own spraying other then that one burglary n o other homes in my area has been broken into.
I've never been sure if spraying outside does any good at all (if that's what you mean by perimeter) - it's possible that sun and water break down the chemicals so fast that it makes no difference.
But, three things:
1. I'm very cautious and picky about exterminators, and it says something that I have stayed for years with Allgon (602-258-1130). If I were shopping around, I'd also look at Bee and Pest, which were recommended by someone sensible.
2. I beg you to file a complaint about the exterminator, with the Better Business Bureau AND with the state Office of Pest Management (602-255-3664). The reason there are so many bad people around is that customers don't complain.
3. Never have the techs come when you're away. Make a point of being there and following them around. If they're spraying inside, make a point of pulling curtains aside or opening closet doors to help them.
I've never been sure if spraying outside does any good at all (if that's what you mean by perimeter) - it's possible that sun and water break down the chemicals so fast that it makes no difference.
Correct. I mean the outside of the house. Apply around windows, doors, and gates. About 2-3 feet up the side of the stucco house.
As I mentioned before, the goal is to apply on highly porous and areas like concrete products. The more absorbent the better. The reason why it lasts for 90 days is what is called "SmartCap microencapsulation" (Thanks google). Basically it's lifespan of Cy-Kick is rated to 90 days as it randomly bursts. In AZ, microencapsulated suspension works well especially in direct sunlight. I suspect the life span in the summer is worse than in winter. But I am not here to see how many bugs die in the summer. But the biggest enemy is rain. in MN, I can get about 2 months before I no longer see dead bugs.
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So a decade ago I did my homework to make sure I wasn't just trusting some corporation to be a good steward. Nor did I want to blindly trust the EPA to do a good job of regulating this industry. I came aways not worrying about this pesticide OUTSIDE the house. I find CY-Kick to work wonders (AWESOME for killing those Box Elder and Asian beetles in MN and equally good in AZ; possibly better because of less rain) and it lasts for a solid 3 months and i bet I could make it to 4 months. Hence, (IMHO) anyone who is paying someone to come out once a month is getting SCREWED!
