borax for florida's pests (Sanibel: real estate, house, refrigerator) - Port St. Lucie - Sebastian - Vero Beach - (FL) -St. Lucie, Martin, and Indian River counties (Treasure Coast) - City-Data Forum

floridaorbust · 06-24-2009, 06:40 PM

has anyone used borax to kill the bugs in your home

If so, does it color damage your carpet? Yes, I realize bugs are apart of FL. We have noticed these black, hard shelled, small bugs around the pool area. They seem to enter our home as well. They are only as big as my pinky nail. Anyway, wondered if I placed some Borax along the baseboards if it would work. Plus if Borax would damage our carpets.

thanks for the help.

Synergy1 · 06-25-2009, 01:21 AM

The Home Depot sells containers (like a round Ketchup bottle) that contains Borax. Our pest controller sprayed it in our atic. It works well and supposedly OK for humans but only for a short time. Since it does deter bugs etc I still consider it a psestiside and only place it around areas where pets or humans never go to play or rest.

Handy borax tips

stevep111 · 06-25-2009, 06:49 AM

I used to live in New Orleans and everyone down there has roaches. No matter what you do you have roaches. My mother told me about a product called Roach Pruffe. Last time I saw it you could get it at K-mart. Anyway I pulled out the refrigerator and stove and sprinkled it behind there so it was out of the way and within two weeks all the roaches were gone.

What happens is the roaches crawl through it and it paints them blue. They eat some which eventually kills them but not before they return to the nest. They die in the nest and the other roaches eat them and die the same way. The cycle repeats it's self until all the roaches are gone.

Some people mix up a Garlic spray and use that as well. The bugs don't like the taste and will eventually leave the area. I don't know how it smells though but I can gurantee you will not have Vampires around.

justNancy · 06-25-2009, 12:22 PM

I used boric acid on my carpet and it helped, but it's not as non-toxic as many claim. Just make sure you keep it away from small children and pets. It shouldn't ruin your carpet, but I had a difficult time removing it. (I guess I just needed a better vacuum cleaner!) You posted about this on another thread. How many are you seeing?

Keep in mind that "natural" doesn't always mean safe. Maybe that's why it says on the container

WARNING! HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED. CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. AFFECTS CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, LIVER AND KIDNEYS.

Have you tried diatomaceous earth yet? That is a recommended alternative to boric acid. There are many natural insect repellents like citrus, garlic, mint..but you really need to identify the bug first. Don't go crazy with pesticides if it's not a nuisance.
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floridaorbust · 06-25-2009, 07:26 PM

I called a professional. They will be here tomorrow. I've seen about 15 or so today. I had to put some in a ziplock for tomorrow. Its not like hundres. Just enough to make me freak out.

I promise I will not go crazy with the borax. That is why I made the phone call today. We just want to make sure its nothing major. There are no Termites , huge beetles or ants. So we will see.

thanks for the advice. Its all helpful

stevep111 · 07-27-2009, 11:47 AM

When in doubt it is always good to call a pest control person. Make sure that you do not have to sign a contract and ask them to do outside as well as inside. These days you can pretty much dictate the terms because they need the business. As you get more comfortable with the bugs you will most likely find yourself going to Homecheapo and getting their stuff and doing it for yourself.

Just pray you don't get a carpenter ant infestation. It took us almost 3 years to get rid of them totally. A hurricane blew them in along with some kind of milipede looking thing. We still see them on occassion.

justNancy · 07-29-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevep111

Just pray you don't get a carpenter ant infestation. It took us almost 3 years to get rid of them totally. A hurricane blew them in along with some kind of milipede looking thing. We still see them on occassion.

You just reminded me of the time I had a huge nest in my home in NH. The man drilled a few holes in the wall and pumped some powder into it. Later that night I heard a big crash in the wall. He told me the next day it was the nest and added "you don't want to know how many ants you had" since I called him after I kept hearing a munching sound while I was watching TV. He said they were talking to each other. They don't actually eat the wood I guess.

When I was on Sanibel, I rented a house from April-Nov. I've mentioned it before because I had hundreds (maybe even thousands) of giant palmetto bugs. The real estate agent called a pest control company to treat the house, although it took months before I could turn on the lights at night without seeing one on the wall. The next year I returned to the same house, and I noticed carpenter ants swarming on the wall of the Florida room. (glass enclosed lanai) Then they got into my closets and I had to shake out my towels before using them. Again, the agent called a pest control company. I guess the owners didn't believe in pest control!

Anyway, I agree with you that a pro is the only solution when a problem becomes serious. After my experience in Nashua, if I buy another, I'll probably have annual inspections for termites and other destructive creatures.

stevep111 · 07-29-2009, 05:51 PM

Just goes to show you that clean people get bugs. Especially in Florida.

TANaples · 07-29-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justNancy

I used boric acid on my carpet and it helped, but it's not as non-toxic as many claim. Just make sure you keep it away from small children and pets. It shouldn't ruin your carpet, but I had a difficult time removing it. (I guess I just needed a better vacuum cleaner!) You posted about this on another thread. How many are you seeing?

Keep in mind that "natural" doesn't always mean safe. Maybe that's why it says on the container

WARNING! HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED. CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. AFFECTS CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, LIVER AND KIDNEYS.

Have you tried diatomaceous earth yet? That is a recommended alternative to boric acid. There are many natural insect repellents like citrus, garlic, mint..but you really need to identify the bug first. Don't go crazy with pesticides if it's not a nuisance.

I had my cats "dipped" at the Vet and one got very, very sick from the dip. After that, I didn't want to go with any chemicals. I used the borax on carpets. You can to use a broom and get it DEEP DOWN into the loom. I also found that putting brewers yeast in my cats food did the trick. The fleas don't like the smell of it and will not go on the animals.

Between the two things, it worked and my cats, or kids, never got sick.

justNancy · 07-29-2009, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevep111

Just goes to show you that clean people get bugs. Especially in Florida.

I think the reason the home I mentioned above had so many palmetto bugs is that the owners didn't believe in pest control and it was surrounded by thick vegetation. Once a big like a roach gets into the home, it can lay thousands of eggs. It's unusual to have so many palmetto bugs inside AFAIK. I wasn't joking either. It was like a scene from a horror movie. The first night I stayed there and turned on the lights to use the bathroom, they were everywhere. Huge too. I might have had several types, since there were small roaches in the dishwasher and in the tub. Ain't nature grand?

Speaking of carpenter ants and other wood eating insects (they probably had termites too) I wonder if that's why every morning a large pileated woodpecker would wake me up. Really damaged the house too. Maybe that was a sign there were bugs in the wood.