Living with cockroaches in the same area is unlikely to please any people. Unfortunately, even now, in the age of significant improvements in sanitary and epidemiological conditions, no one is safe from the arrival of such annoying neighbors. What to do if annoying insects appear in the house?
"Dichlorvos for cockroaches"! In the fight against uninvited tenants, this drug continues to be the No. 1 remedy for more than half a century. Why do most consumers prefer this particular aerosol?
A brief excursion into history
In those days when the chemical industry was just taking its first steps, it was impossible to see the usual range of insecticidal products on store shelves.
Our mothers and grandmothers had to invent a variety of ways to destroy harmful red insects. At the same time, the effectiveness of homemade drugs was not always high, and it was very difficult to deliver a decisive blow to hordes of cockroaches.
The appearance of Dichlorvos became a real salvation for many Soviet housewives. Exterminating cockroaches has become much easier. The synthetic insecticide acted quickly, reliably and always gave 100% results.
Every family in the country used this drug at least once in their life and shared the results with pleasure.
The lack of healthy competition in the market has led to Dichlorvos gaining incredible popularity among consumers. People, by and large, had nothing to choose from.
Operating principle
Dichlorvos is effective against bedbugs due to the chemical composition of the spray. Modern insecticides contain pyrethroid substances that block the nervous system of bloodsuckers.
Exterminators know how the aerosol works. Experts note that dichlorvos disrupts the functioning of the organs and systems of bedbugs. This causes the death of the parasites.
Modern aerosols have a complex effect. In addition to affecting the nervous system, the components of the products upset the functioning of the respiratory and digestive systems. Chemical components enter the bodies of bedbugs when insects interact with the places where the spray was sprayed.
Dichlorvos is a potent remedy that retains its effect for more than six months. After all, pyrethroids are unique poisons that have a powerful nerve-paralytic effect.
Chemical composition
The aerosol is based on the synthetic organophosphorus insecticide dimethyldichlorovinylphosphate. It is from this difficult-to-pronounce word that the familiar name Dichlorvos comes from.
Of course, the effectiveness of its use was undeniable. However, over time, it was noticed that cockroaches quickly developed resistance to this element. The insects simply stopped reacting to it after several treatments.
The luminaries of chemical development had no choice but to begin improving the working aerosol formula.
Very soon there was no trace left of the original composition. Toxic not only to insects, but also to humans, dimethyldichlorovinyl phosphate has been replaced by safer and more effective composites.
In second generation dichlorvos, pyrethroids are used as toxic substances. They are less toxic, practically odorless, and retain their insecticidal properties much longer.
In recent years, the range of products for exterminating cockroaches has been simply amazing. Many young brands have proven themselves well in the market. Raid and Raptor were worthy competition for Dichlorvos.
However, there is nothing stronger than “genetic memory”, and intuitively consumers continue to look for the old, time-tested Soviet Dichlorvos.
Enterprising manufacturers, who prefer to keep their nose to the wind, very quickly sensed what modern housewives needed and registered their products under the name Dichlorvos, adding to them an additional word identifying the brand. This is how the following appeared on store shelves:
- Varan;
- Terminator;
- Neo;
- Eco;
- Extra;
- Clean house.
All these products are labeled with the popular word “Dichlorvos”. It is difficult to say which of these drugs is most effective and efficient. After all, the quality of insect extermination depends on a host of additional conditions.
Which to choose
Depending on the manufacturer, there are several varieties of dichlorvos. The main difference is the use of different pyrethroids and their combinations. You should not buy a product whose composition is determined by only one insecticide - most likely, such a canister is much cheaper, but has no particular benefit. The optimal amount of active ingredients is 2-3, which depends on whether the product will be useful. Choose how dichlorvos smells to your taste - it does not play a role in the effectiveness of insect poisoning and is only used to mask the smell of pyrethroids. Depending on how many cockroaches are found, the appropriate volume should be selected.
| Name | Appearance |
| Neo | |
| Varan | |
| Varan | |
| Super | |
| Eco | |
| Eco |
Modified dichlorvos
Modern dichlorvos include the following composites:
- Permethrin;
- Cypermethrin;
- Piperonyl butoxide;
- Fragrances.
Cypermethrin
Pyrethroid of contact-gastric action. It enters the body of insects through the respiratory system and chitinous membranes of the body. Causes impaired coordination of movement, seizures, convulsions and death.
After spraying, the aerosol settles on the surfaces being treated and retains its insecticidal properties for 2 to 3 weeks.
Moving along the invisible layer, insects consume a lethal dose of the drug, collecting it on their legs and antennae. It is this feature that explains the fact that Prussians continue to die even 15–20 days after treatment.
Piperonyl butoxide
It is a synergist by nature. It does not have pronounced toxic effects, but is capable of several times enhancing the inhibitory properties of the composites included in the preparation.
Unfortunately, the element decomposes very quickly in the presence of oxygen and ultraviolet rays. Therefore, there is no need to independently increase the time of exposure of the drug to the treated area.
The use of this composite is justified in cases where it is necessary to act on insects with a pronounced ability to resist, and cockroaches belong to this group of arthropods.
Permethrin
Like cypermethrin, it has a detrimental effect on the nervous system of cockroaches, causing them to have convulsions that end in death.
Please pay attention when purchasing. Some dichlorvos are labeled with the letter L. This means that they are intended only for the destruction of lice, but are ineffective for the extermination of other insects. The explanation for this is the most banal. The aerosol contains only one active substance - permethrin.
As you can see, in modern Dichlorvos there is nothing left except the name. However, there is no need to regret past medications. After all, modified products have a number of advantages compared to first-generation analogues.
- They have become more destructive to insects and less harmful to humans and domestic animals.
- The period of exposure to cockroaches has increased. Even after thoroughly ventilating the room, the Prussians continue to die.
- The unpleasant, pungent aroma has disappeared.
Advantages and disadvantages
The insecticide has pros and cons, as indicated by customer reviews. They highlight the following positive properties of the remedy against household parasites:
- price and consumer availability;
- quick results;
- no marks on interior items;
- prolonged nature of action;
- no odor;
- ability to decompose into safe compounds;
- versatility;
- efficiency.
The main disadvantage of Dichlorvos is toxicity. It is not recommended to use it in the presence of children and pets. Some varieties of the product have no effect on laid eggs and larvae, so it may be necessary to re-treat.
How to find the best remedy?
Looking at the shelves of specialized stores, it is very difficult not to get confused and choose the best product. The range of inhibitors is truly amazing. Today, in addition to aerosols, you can purchase:
- traps;
- gels;
- crayons;
- powders;
- smoke bombs.
All of them have their adherents and have fairly high performance indicators. How not to make a mistake and choose the optimal remedy?
Purchase cockroach control products only from specialized stores or supermarkets. Do not make purchases in places of unauthorized trade from dubious sellers, lured by incredibly low prices. These simple rules will save you from the risk of purchasing counterfeit goods, the benefits of which are unlikely.
If you have an urgent need to kill cockroaches here and now, then the Dichlorvos aerosol can will do the job perfectly.
In just a few hours you will be able to get rid of uninvited guests. This product will help remove insects from the most inaccessible crevices and nooks. In addition, the pricing policy of manufacturers is quite loyal.
For a reasonable price, you can easily purchase a truly productive drug and solve the problem with annoying tenants.
Note. Dichlorvos does not affect cockroach nests. Therefore, to achieve 100% results, it makes sense to carry out cyclic treatment of the room, with a frequency of 10 - 15 days. If you follow some simple rules, after just 3 steps, you will get rid of mustachioed insects once and for all.
Preparing the apartment for processing
In multi-storey buildings, cockroach families regularly migrate through numerous apartments. The constant growth of the population leads to such movements. If the number of individuals exceeds the critical mass mark by one square meter, then some of the insects go to explore new territories.
Moreover, it is absolutely not necessary for cockroaches to come into the apartment in pairs. It is so arranged by nature that a once fertilized female can give birth to offspring throughout her life.
If only one individual has entered your home, then very soon the number of parasites will increase to unimaginable proportions. The sooner you notice such unpleasant neighbors in your home, the easier and faster the process of eliminating them will be.
Most often, cockroaches enter new territories through:
- ventilation and smoke shafts;
- cracks in floors and slabs;
- sewer pipes;
- grooves in the walls.
Therefore, in order to rid yourself of newly arrived individuals, it is necessary to isolate the apartment from general communications. For this.
- Install a special decorative grille with mesh on the ventilation duct.
- Carefully seal all existing cracks. Pay special attention to areas on window sills, baseboards, and entrance doors.
- Do not forget about inserting sewer risers, water and gas pipes. As practice shows, these are the weakest areas in the “defense” of the apartment.
- Pay attention to the entry into the apartment of the central core from the electric meter, television antenna or Internet cable. If necessary, seal all holes and microcracks hermetically.
- Despite the fact that manufacturers of chemical insecticides claim that they are completely safe for the human body, you should not expose yourself to dubious risks. Before baiting insects, be sure to pack all food products, cover dishes and kitchen utensils with plastic wrap, so that not a single drop of aerosol subsequently gets into the gastrointestinal tract of any of your family members.
- If you have an aquarium with fish, do not forget to cover it with glass and turn off the compressor supplying air. Pyrethroids dissolve well in liquid and retain all their properties even in an aquatic environment, so they can cause a serious blow to aquarium inhabitants.
Only after this can you begin to process the room.
Features of application
The instructions for use, printed on the bottle with the product, are concise and superficial. In order for the fight against insects to be as effective as possible and without unpleasant consequences for household members, you need to arm yourself with many years of experience of housewives and advice from professionals.
Spray locations
The method of using Dichlorvos is quite simple - you need to spray the contents of the bottle. But it is important to find the right places so that the largest number of pests come into contact with the insecticide, and so as not to “contaminate” the atmosphere of the room with an excess amount of chemicals. Namely:
- along the baseboard;
- in cracks in the floor and walls;
- near water pipes;
- for batteries (only not during the heating season);
- next to plumbing fixtures;
- along the perimeter of windows and doors;
- under the window sills;
- on the back walls of furniture and under them;
- in closets;
- near the ventilation openings;
- behind the refrigerator and kitchen stove.
Some cockroaches, sensing something is wrong, may go to their neighbors through the ventilation pipes. To prevent pests from returning, cover the holes with mesh or place traps with boric acid or insecticidal gel.
6 Ways to Increase Efficiency
There are six ways to increase the effectiveness of an insecticide.
- Shake the can. It is necessary to lift active substances from the bottom that have a detrimental effect on cockroaches.
- Do not spray the product into the air. The insecticide is designed specifically to treat specific places and surfaces where insects live.
- Maintain the correct distance. Keep the can at a distance of about 20 cm from the surface to be treated.
- Prepare the surfaces. Wipe off dust and remove other contaminants.
- Open up access to far corners. It is better to move the furniture to the middle of the room. If possible, remove carpets from floors and walls.
- Limit air circulation. After treating the room, you need to close the windows and doors tightly for at least five hours.
Cockroaches often hide inside household appliances. Despite this, it is strictly forbidden to treat equipment with Dichlorvos. This may negatively affect the quality of work.
Safety rules when working with Dichlorvos
At the moment of spraying aerosols, the concentration of synthetic substances in the room reaches significant levels.
Despite the fact that modern active ingredients are less toxic than dimethyldichlorovinyl phosphate, they can have harmful effects on the human body. Therefore, during the treatment of the premises, it is necessary to vacate the home from all family members, as well as from pets.
To reduce the risk of contact with harmful composites, treatment of the apartment should be carried out in clothing that well covers all areas of the body. A respirator and rubber gloves are essential accessories for those who want to protect themselves from harmful fumes.
Naturally, the concentration of insecticides is not enough to cause serious damage to human health, but here it is:
- headache;
- dizziness;
- lacrimation;
- nausea;
- vomit;
- weakness;
- allergic reactions may well occur during spraying of the aerosol.
If you do not have a respirator, you should not rely on chance and start working without it. In a matter of minutes, you can build its analogue from several layers of gauze and cotton wool. If during treatment you feel:
- sore throat;
- difficulty breathing;
- lacrimation should immediately stop the procedure and go out into fresh air.
To minimize risks, the apartment should be treated with the windows open, and close them only before leaving the room.
After the specified time, the rooms should be thoroughly ventilated. It is necessary for complete air exchange to occur. Only after this can you return home.
Keep in mind that cats are very sensitive to the effects of pyrethroids.
If possible, isolate animals for several days. You should also promptly sweep up and throw away dead Prussians so that your pets do not eat their remains.
After all, even such a microscopic dose is quite enough to poison pets. Excessive salivation and poor coordination of movements are the first signs that the kitten has been poisoned.
Cleaning
After completing the disinsection, leave the room for 5-6 hours, or better yet, for a day. When you return, open the windows and ventilate your home for half an hour. Fill a bucket with hot water, dissolve 5 tablespoons of baking soda and the same amount of laundry soap shavings. Neutralize the poison by washing the floors, stove, and food cabinets.
In hard-to-reach places, it is better not to clean for half a month in order to preserve the insecticidal activity of Dichlorvos.
After the floor is dry, the apartment becomes safe. Return pets and family members there, remove dishes from the balcony, wash them and put them back.
How to properly treat a room?
Before starting work, the aerosol can should be shaken thoroughly.
The aerosol should be used from a distance of 20 cm. It is necessary to begin treatment from places where the Prussians accumulate under baseboards, under window sills, and in kitchen cabinets. They also prefer to live in household appliances, stoves, ovens behind sinks.
Peeling wallpaper and cracks under tiles are real refuges for mustachioed residents. It would not be a bad idea to spray the aerosol on the walls, floors, ceilings - wherever the cockroach trails are.
Instead of an afterword
Getting rid of household pests is a troublesome and time-consuming task. It is very rare that someone manages to achieve 100% results the first time, especially if the number of insects is off the charts. The presence of cockroaches in neighboring apartments can also ruin all efforts.
Therefore, it is much more productive to reach an agreement with neighbors and treat the building together. Moreover, we should not forget about the technical premises. Basements, attics, and boiler rooms may well become a breeding ground for infection, from where insects will spread to comfortable apartments.
Customer Reviews
Review #1. Elena, Moscow:
“During our long life in an apartment building, cockroaches have passed us by. Perhaps there was one Prussian running past from a neighbor’s apartment, but he was immediately eliminated with the first slipper or newspaper that came to hand. So these nasty insects did not bother us, and we lived a calm, clean life. But suddenly an attack happened. Someone in the entrance raised a whole army of cockroaches, which moved to conquer new territories. And they also reached our apartment. All available means were used, even kerosene. All nearby stores were deprived of stocks of Dichlorvos by neighbors who came to their senses more quickly. Without giving up my search, I found the can I needed and cut it not for a couple of hours, as indicated in the instructions, but for the whole night. I had to spend the night with a friend, but the result met my expectations. The cockroaches left the premises, except that they lost hundreds of fighters on this battlefield.”
Review #2. Anna, Voskresensk:
“I’ve been struggling for a long time with cockroaches that run from my upstairs neighbors. This is some kind of horror, you won't believe it. They are running from everywhere! I have already tried different brands of dichlorvos, but nothing helped. I sprayed all the cracks, it seems to me that the whole apartment was saturated with this chemical. I’ve already tried even my grandmother’s recipes for getting rid of cockroaches, but nothing works. Insects are so adapted to all types of weapons that only a nuclear war would take them. But in this regard, I heard the opinion that they will be the only survivors. My opinion is that Dichlorvos is powerless in the fight against this immortal insect. The only way out is manual killing.”
Review #3. Natalya, Tula:
“I’ve tried so many things against insects! Cockroaches and fleas also attacked. Dichlorvos helped with everything. It even works great as a mosquito repellent. When I found it on the shelves, I was pleasantly surprised, because it was my long-forgotten memory from childhood. He coped with the task and is coping very well. I'm happy with the result."
