Once you encounter such an unpleasant parasite as a bedbug, you will no longer be able to feel completely safe in your own apartment. The insect's food is exclusively blood, and with regular feeding, bloodsuckers multiply rapidly, making a person's stay in an infected apartment unbearable. One of the main symptoms indicating the presence of bedbugs in an apartment is the appearance of new grouped bites on open areas of the body. Parasites are very careful, so they feed only at night, usually from 3 to 5 am, when the victim is fast asleep.
The mouthparts of bedbugs are not able to bite through clothing, unlike mosquitoes.
If it so happened that you found insects in your bed and were able to determine by appearance that it was a bedbug, then you need to immediately begin to fight the pest. When you go to the store, do not rush to choose new, expensive insecticides. There are cheap preparations that have proven their effectiveness in the fight against insects for years; Mashenka chalk against bedbugs can rightfully be considered one of these remedies.
Description of the drug
The product is available in the form of a white pencil. The composition simultaneously contains two insecticides of plant origin that are fatal to bedbugs: zeta-cypermethrin (0.1%) and deltamethrin (0.05%). Both of these substances have a neuroparalytic effect on bloodsuckers, and in this combination they enhance the destructive effect of each other and prevent the production of an antidote in insects. Gypsum and chalk are used as auxiliary components; they occupy approximately 95% of the total volume of the pencil. Gypsum helps to hold all the components together into a single whole, and chalk, visually, makes processing easier.
Keep the drug out of the reach of children!
When an insect comes into contact with chalk, particles of the drug cling to the bedbug’s legs. Returning to its shelter, the parasite, upon contact, will infect other individuals of the bedbug colony, thus triggering a viral reaction.
Active substances enter the parasite’s body in two ways:
- They leak through the chitinous membrane of the abdomen;
- Through the oral apparatus into the digestive system, in this case death occurs much earlier.
You should not expect instant results when using the Mashenka pencil against bedbugs. The active components of the insecticide slowly penetrate the body through the abdomen of the parasite and 3-4 days will pass before the concentration required for death is reached. Thanks to the long residual effect of the insecticide (about 30 days), the product will effectively cope with both adult insects and larvae hatching from eggs over time.
Ways to use chalk
You can choose one of several ways to remove bedbugs with Mashenka chalk:
- Drawing lines. To process furniture, you should draw wide lines.
- You can prepare a powder from the preparation and pour it behind the baseboards and into various crevices.
- Chalk dissolves well in water, so you can prepare a solution. This method is good for processing mattresses and upholstered furniture. A spray bottle is used for these purposes.
The effectiveness of the product depends on the degree of processing. It is important to pay attention to baseboards, cracks in the floor, gaps between wallpaper, and the insides of furniture. If there are paintings or clocks hanging on the walls, then they should also be treated.
Bed linen and clothing are washed at the highest possible temperature with the addition of disinfectants.
Advantages and disadvantages
Pros:
- Low cost;
- Ease of use;
- No smell;
- Minimal toxicity;
- Safe for people and animals;
- Public availability.
Minuses:
- Lack of a single manufacturer. The presence of demand for the product has led to the fact that various manufacturers produce chalk under the Mashenka brand without caring about its quality. The packaging and color of the pencil itself can vary greatly, not to mention its insecticidal properties.
The dignity of crayons
This form of the drug has several advantages. Users highlight:
- Easy to apply. The chalk is convenient to distribute on any surface, including vertical ones. Moreover, it can be dissolved in water and treated with the resulting solution in hard-to-reach places.
- Completely odorless. In the process of fighting bedbugs, you will not need to ventilate the room or leave it at all. This feature is important for older people and families with small children.
- Quite high efficiency. Since the appearance of the first crayons, their composition has been improved. Its effectiveness is proven by numerous reviews.
- The drug is freely available and has a budget price.
Customer reviews indicate that the drug is not only easy to use, but also copes with the problem of bedbugs relatively quickly and effectively.
How to use
There are several ways to apply the product to the surfaces being treated:
- The simple and most commonly used method is to “draw” with chalk on the possible paths of movement of bedbugs. When applying this, you should not put too much pressure on the chalk, otherwise it will begin to crumble and break.
- The chalk is crushed until a homogeneous powder is formed, which is used to dust the surfaces. It is worth noting that this method is not recommended against bedbugs, due to the fact that it is difficult to treat vertical surfaces with powder. Be sure to use safety glasses and a respirator.
- Crushed chalk is dissolved in warm water, placed in a spray bottle and sprayed on the potential habitats of bloodsuckers. To prepare a working emulsion, you need to dissolve one pencil in 0.5 liters of water. This option is most effective against bedbugs. Be sure to use safety glasses, a respirator and rubber gloves.
Whatever treatment method you choose, before starting disinfestation you need to carry out wet cleaning. The absence of dust will enhance the adhesion of the drug to surfaces, which will lead to a more noticeable effect. One pencil is enough to cover an area of 30 m².
For cleanliness of housing
A large number of jokes have already been made on the topic of cockroach crayons, but the fact remains a fact. Among the variety of gels and sprays against insects, the least dangerous and at the same time the most effective is the “Mashenka” chalk against cockroaches. Reviews emphasize that with the help of a simple drawing technique you can get rid of annoying mustachioed creatures.
How does this product work? A pencil or chalk exerts its effect due to the content of contact-type toxic substances. As insects crawl across the line, they catch small particles on their paws. This is how the insecticide begins to act. The insect stops feeding and soon dies.
Currently, the most famous household insecticide is the silver chalk “Mashenka”. Reviews suggest that it helps clean the house from any insects: synatropic cockroaches, red ants, bedbugs and fleas, house flies. However, it does not pose a threat to humans. The only exceptions can be small children who have not yet learned to walk.
What needs to be processed?
Bed bugs need regular nutrition for normal functioning, so bed bugs try to choose their shelters in the immediate vicinity of a person’s place of rest. A bug that has sucked blood cannot travel long distances; it becomes clumsy and slow.
According to statistics, the bulk of all insects are located within a radius of five meters from a person’s sleeping place; it is this area that needs to be given maximum attention during disinfestation. As you approach the bed, the intensity of application should be increased. We process:
- Skirting boards;
- Bed legs and frame;
- Cracks in the floor and walls;
- Wallpaper joints;
- Back walls and pull-out shelves of bedside furniture;
- The backs of paintings and wall hangings.
For safety reasons, it is recommended to “draw” stripes with chalk in places inaccessible to children and pets. After completing all procedures, you should wash your hands with soap.
Main advantages
It’s not for nothing that the “Mashenka” chalk fell in love with a wide audience. Reviews emphasize that a simple and cheap product has a lot of advantages, which conquers the first time:
- The chalk is colorless and odorless and is suitable even for people prone to allergic reactions.
- It can be used regardless of whether people are in the room or not.
- Accordingly, there is no need to leave the house for several hours and then ventilate it for a long time.
- Long lasting. If the line is not applied to a surface that is regularly wiped with a damp cloth, it remains harmful to insects for several months.
- Ease of use. Any student can easily make strokes on the floor.
- Possibility of use for prevention.
But that's not all. “Silver Chalk” is famous for the fact that it is equally dangerous for almost all insects, so you don’t have to buy different products for all occasions.
Reviews
“When bedbugs appeared in the apartment, I had a real panic. Where to run, where to turn? A neighbor advised us to use Mashenka, with which we had previously successfully dealt with cockroaches, but this time we had to paint not the kitchen, but the bedroom. I traced the entire floor under the bed, outlined the chipboard under the mattress, the headboards of the bed and the nearby bedside tables. After a few days, dead bedbugs began to appear. Three weeks have passed and the flight is normal, no insects are visible. For my own peace of mind, I want to repeat the treatment in a week, otherwise at night it still seems like they are crawling on me.”
Svetlana
“I really didn’t think that for 30 rubles it would be possible to deal with bedbugs in the home, while the corresponding services charge several thousand for their services. Everything is done very simply, without any effort: I bought Mashenka a piece of chalk, unpacked it, drew stripes in the bedroom and wait for the pests to rest.”
Maksim
“We decided to fight bedbugs with Mashenka’s help, but we were immediately disappointed; it was not possible to treat the polished surfaces; the pencil broke. We treated the floor, baseboards and bottom of the sofa, there seemed to be fewer bedbugs, but they still felt comfortable in the sofa. I had to spend money and buy Tetrix, which showed itself very well, the bedbugs disappeared after the first treatment.”
Lyudmila
Be careful - the bug
Often, when many people see redness on the skin, they attribute it to mosquitoes. However, the problem may be the appearance of bedbugs. It is sometimes quite difficult to detect them, but once they notice their presence, the owners become confused. A reasonable question arises: where do bedbugs come from in an apartment and how to get rid of them.
The reason may be unsanitary conditions in the neighbors' premises. In an apartment building, parasites quickly spread throughout all rooms. The flat body of the insect helps it squeeze through the narrowest cracks.
Where do bedbugs come from in an apartment?
- Insects can be brought back in a suitcase from a trip. Larvae and a mature female can cause the development of an entire population.
- Parasites enter the house along with used furniture.
- When bedbugs fall on clothing, they are easily transferred to a new habitat. It is enough to sit on an infected chair.
- Insects often hide in household appliances. Therefore, when buying it from your own hands, you can get an unpleasant gift in the form of bedbugs.
There are often cases when, when buying an apartment, bedbugs become a kind of addition. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out a full treatment before moving into the premises.
Operating principle
It is important to know how Mashenka chalk works against bedbugs. The active ingredients of the drug work as follows:
- penetrating into the body of the bug through the legs and chitinous membranes, the active components cause a gradual blocking of nerve impulses;
- the insect develops “panic” and a painful reaction to the insecticide;
- actively moving among its relatives, frightened by the action of the poison, the parasite contributes to its further spread.
An infectious blood-sucking individual quickly spreads poison among the representatives of the bedbug colony. The advantage of this principle of operation is obvious - even after a small number of parasites get into the area where the chalk is applied, the rest die from contact with them.
It is important to remember that the effect of the drug develops gradually, over 5 days. During this period, the active substances of the product accumulate in the body of the parasites, after which their death becomes inevitable. The poisonous effect of the product also extends to the larvae - the new generation of bloodsuckers is destroyed along with their older brothers.
The applied chalk stripes remain for a long time, because... little exposed to external factors. If the treated areas are difficult to reach, the insecticide continues to work for a whole month.
Good to know. Chalk "Mashenka" works flawlessly on bedbugs - 70-80% of insects can be destroyed within one week. In the next 10-12 days, hatched individuals and surviving adult specimens die.
"Mashenka" for prevention
If the apartment is in a risk zone, preventive measures should be taken. This approach will avoid the appearance of insects and eliminate the need to deal with an unpleasant phenomenon.
During preventive treatment, the algorithm of action remains the same. But you can not be so zealous with a pencil and not make too broad strokes. To prevent bedbugs from entering the apartment and reliably settling there, you should do the following:
- treat ventilation holes;
- the cracks that form at the entry points of heating risers are also coated;
- apply strokes inside the sockets;
- the door frame and threshold are processed;
- be sure to coat the sewer risers and pipe entry points;
- You can also smear “Mashenka” with chalk under the windows.
Recommendations for preparing living space for sanitation
It is possible to destroy blood-sucking pests with a chalk, provided they are small in number. It is recommended to purchase the drug at the first signs of a parasitic invasion. If you miss such a moment, Mashenka will not help. We will have to look for a more effective chemical agent.
Preliminary actions:
- remove unnecessary things from the living space that lead to clutter;
- food products are packaged in tightly closed bags;
- bedding is washed in hot water;
- move furniture and household appliances away from the walls;
- wash windows, jambs and ventilation grilles with chlorine solution.
They wait for it to dry and begin disinfestation.
