Hello! Today we will talk about copper sulfate and its use for pest control.
Even the cleanest house or apartment is not immune from the appearance of various parasites and insects. It’s not even a matter of the cleanliness of the owners - bedbugs absolutely don’t care whether the floors are cleaned to a shine, whether the dust is wiped off, but the fact that being lovers of blood, it is more important for them to have a warm-blooded creature nearby, and therefore a person. Having discovered an unpleasant neighborhood in your home, the question often arises: where, how, and what to do about it next?
Wormwood and tansy to combat bedbugs
Tansy
The use of wormwood and tansy as remedies against bed bugs is effective only in small concentrations of insects and as a preventive measure. The thing is that bedbug tansy and wormwood do not destroy insects, but only repel them with their pungent odor.
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Freshly harvested grass is placed in places of possible penetration into the room: near door and window openings, along baseboards, near ventilation grilles. Tansy and wormwood against bedbugs can be spread between the base of the bed and the mattress.
The disadvantage of folk methods is the short duration of action of tansy and wormwood. After a few days, the grass will dry out and stop releasing strong essential oils. In addition, freshly cut plants cannot be used to control insects throughout the year.
Important! In the cold season, for prevention, you can use a decoction of dry herbs, wormwood or tansy.
Chemical control methods
The advantage of chemical control methods is that they will help quickly get rid of bed bugs. Although, sometimes they do not give results. Don't forget that a bedbug is an insect that develops immunity to insecticides.
Scope of action of the pesticide
The consumer is presented with a wide range of insecticides. Some of them are universal. However, they are less effective than narrowly targeted agents.
Release form
Sprays are the most popular. This is due to their ease of use. In addition to aerosol insecticides, there are concentrated and microencapsulated preparations.
Concentrates are pre-diluted with water. Since insecticides are toxic, safety precautions must be observed when diluting them. A person must also have personal protective equipment. To spray microencapsulated drugs, a person must have special equipment at hand.
Bed bug chalks and traps are available for sale. But traps give short-term results, and crayons are ineffective.
Other options
Toxicity class. This characteristic indicates the degree of danger of the substance. Choose the least toxic drugs. Their disadvantage is their high price, but they are not hazardous to health.
Smell. All pesticides smell. However, the unpleasant odor after spraying various insecticides takes different times to disappear (from several hours to several months). If the smell is absorbed into clothing or furniture upholstery, it is sometimes impossible to get rid of it.
Before purchasing a pesticide, you need to find out whether it leaves stains on fabric. If the answer is yes, then you should not use an insecticide to treat upholstered furniture. Stains that remain on the upholstery are extremely difficult to remove. Therefore, most likely, you will have to get rid of the damaged sofa or chair.
Insecticide Spray Equipment
To spray concentrates and microencapsulated preparations, atomizers, atomizers or fog generators are used. Photos of the product can be seen on the Internet. Fog generators can improve the effectiveness of pest control. Photo and video instructions for using the equipment can be found on the Internet. But, handling the equipment is not difficult. Therefore, there is no particular need to watch photo or video lessons.
When using spray bottles, the insecticide is crushed into larger particles, which have more weight and settle faster. The insecticidal cloud is in contact with the walls and ceiling for a shorter period of time, without having time to penetrate into the cracks and cracks. And these are the places where miniature bed bugs most often hide.
Hot and cold fog generators are available for sale. The former are somewhat more expensive, but have a double effect. This type of equipment heats the insecticide before spraying. A bug that comes into contact with a hot insecticide dies from high temperature. Parasites that hid and did not come into contact with the hot insecticide come into contact with the cooled pesticide.
Important nuance
Find out from your neighbors if they have poisoned parasites before. If your neighbors have recently used insecticides to control bed bugs, then opt for drugs that have a completely different chemical composition.
The incubation period, which is sufficient for the egg to transform into a larva, is 3-4 days. Therefore, after a week, the treatment of the room must be repeated.
Vinegar for bedbugs
Table vinegar is an accessible, inexpensive and safe way to prevent and get rid of annoying bed bugs. Just like aromatic herbs, vinegar does not kill insects, but only repels them with its smell. Treatment is carried out in places where insects may appear or in areas of infection. The death of insects is possible only through direct contact with the substance, so vinegar helps remove bedbugs in the initial stage of reproduction with repeated treatments.
Often, the destruction of bedbugs using folk remedies is carried out using products containing several components, for example, vinegar and wormwood decoction.
Folk remedies
It is not possible to quickly get rid of parasites using folk remedies. Traditional methods attract consumers because the products used are inexpensive. Herbs are often used at home. You can also get rid of bedbugs in the bed, which is where they like to live, using vinegar, camphor, copper sulfate, kerosene, etc.
Herbs for bedbugs
Bed bugs feel uncomfortable in a room where there is the smell of wormwood, tansy or thyme. In addition, the smells of these herbs prevent the parasite from finding a victim. Before laying out your own collected or purchased herbs around your apartment, decide on the habitats of parasitic insects.
Since bedbugs hide from human eyes and eat mainly at night, they are not visible in the apartment during the day. These parasitic insects love to build nests in secluded places. In apartments, these are any closed spaces. Therefore, first of all, we look for nests of parasites behind baseboards, in house ceilings, etc. After you have managed to recognize places where parasites accumulate, place grass nests nearby. You can make aromatic sachets from herbs, which will not only help get rid of parasitic insects, but also decorate your apartment.
Kerosene to fight bedbugs
Due to its smell, kerosene leads to rapid suffocation and poisoning of not only adult insects, but also their larvae.
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To destroy them, it is necessary to treat their habitats. Attention should be paid to cracks and openings where insects can hide from the harmful effects of the drug.
The disadvantage of this method is the toxicity and flammability of kerosene.
Important! Kerosene can be used with other substances. For example, an old effective remedy for combating these harmful insects is prepared according to the following recipe: 500 ml of kerosene, 400 grams of laundry soap and 100 grams of naphthalene are mixed. The resulting solution is used to treat areas where insects accumulate.
Reasons for the appearance of house bugs in an apartment
To say that the reason for the appearance of bedbugs in an apartment can only be its unsanitary condition is absolutely wrong. There are many such reasons, here are just a few of them:
- if there are pets in the apartment (cats, dogs), then bedbugs can be introduced after a walk and their accidental contact with stray relatives;
- house bugs, although they lack wings, move quite quickly and actively in search of food, so they can enter the apartment through ventilation shafts or other, even the smallest cracks; Their appearance in this way is especially fraught if bedbugs have settled in one of the neighbors in an apartment building;
- bedbugs are good climbers, they move quickly even along vertical walls, so it is possible that they can enter from the outside through an open window;
- You can accidentally pick up bedbugs even in crowded public transport; given their fertility, only a few adult individuals are enough for them to firmly establish themselves next to a person;
- It is no coincidence that bedbugs are also called furniture bugs, so when purchasing old, rare furniture, you must take this property into account and carefully inspect it before bringing it into the apartment.
It is almost impossible to foresee and list all the cases and variants of the appearance of bedbugs in an apartment, and all of them, as a rule, are accidental. However, in some cases it is necessary to take precautions, even if they ultimately turn out to be unnecessary. For example, you had to travel by train or spend the night in a not very luxurious hotel, after which a certain discomfort appeared (unexplained red spots on the body, itching, etc.), this is the first reason for a thorough inspection of clothing and other things, and if insects are found take measures for their complete destruction.
Essential oils to fight bedbugs
The persistent specific aroma of essential oils can protect a person from bedbug bites and reduce the number of insects in the room. Cloves, geranium, basil, tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary are plants from which essential oils are prepared, which are effectively used against bedbugs. Indian margosa oil is widely used to combat blood-sucking insects.
There are several ways to fight bedbugs using essential oils: by applying the drug directly to the skin, by spraying the essential oil in the room, and by using an aroma lamp. Such methods will get rid of annoying insects and prevent their appearance.
Important! Lavender, or rather lavender oil, is the best remedy that should be used to treat bed frames, bedside tables and which should be sprayed indoors.
How do bedbugs perceive odors?
Bedbugs do not have the respiratory organs and lungs we are accustomed to. They need a small amount of oxygen to live. Their respiratory system consists of tracheas that extend out into the abdomen. That is, bedbugs do not have a nose as such, and the oral apparatus is not associated with breathing. Bed bugs sense scents through their olfactory sensilla, which are very small hairs on their heads. These hairs sense aromatic molecules and send a signal to the brain, which the brain interprets. Bed bugs pick up scents from up to a meter away. They are especially attracted by the human scent that lingers on bedding and clothing. There is an opinion that bedbugs are attracted not so much by the smell, but by the heat and carbon dioxide emitted by humans.
Resin and turpentine to combat bedbugs
Resin is a resin from coniferous trees and has a pungent odor due to the volatile substances in its composition, after processing which produces turpentine. The pungent pine smell repels insects, and toxic substances destroy them.
Treatment of places where insects spread should be carried out with a solution of oleoresin or turpentine with the addition of other components, which can be kerosene, ammonia, tar soap or naphthalene. When using such solutions, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment: rubber gloves, gauze bandage or respirator.
After treating the room with a solution containing toxic substances, you must leave the apartment for a day and repeat the treatment after 5 days. These folk remedies for bedbugs are not popular due to the long-lasting heavy odor that lingers in the room after use.
Copper sulfate and how to use it
Copper sulfate has proven itself very good in the fight against bedbugs. Blue powder, diluted in water, is sprayed indoors, paying special attention to places where parasites accumulate. The smell is almost imperceptible to humans, but is destructive to any organisms. How to dilute the product and how best to apply it is indicated in the instructions for use, which must be carefully studied. As a preventative measure, vitriol is often mixed with wallpaper paste or added to cement to provide a lifelong pest barrier.
When working with a chemical, it is necessary to observe certain safety precautions, as well as follow several useful tips. To prepare a solution of copper sulfate, you must use special non-metallic containers. It is best to prepare the solution immediately before using it; it is better not to dilute the stock. It is also important to know that you cannot work with the chemical near water pipes, wells, or near premises with animals or people. Solitude is the best circumstance when working with vitriol. Copper sulfate against bedbugs is best sprayed indoors either early in the morning or late at night. It is also important to remember about the temperature regime - treatment should be canceled if the thermometer rises above 30 degrees.
Copper sulfate is a chemical and safety precautions must be observed when working with it. Mandatory protection of the skin of the hands with special rubber gloves, cover the head with a headscarf. And also wear special clothes and shoes. When spraying a room with vitriol against bed bugs, care must be taken to ensure that small drops and splashes do not get into the eyes or mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. For this purpose, safety glasses and respirators are used. After the treatment is completed, you need to wash your hands, wash your face and rinse your mouth. If you follow basic rules and recommendations, working with copper sulfate when fighting bedbugs will not take much time, and the result will not be long in coming. Literally after the first spraying, the parasites will run away.
Traditional methods help get rid of bedbugs only if the fact of their appearance was detected in the early stages.
Despite the fact that bedbugs do not carry diseases, they can ruin the lives of all the inhabitants of the house. These insects feed on human blood, leaving bite marks on the body through which infection can enter. Bed bugs can also deprive you of sleep. Therefore, it is important to start the fight against blood-sucking parasites in a timely manner.
Herbs against bedbugs
Chamomile pyrethrum is used to combat bedbugs.
Herbs with a pronounced aroma can serve as an effective preventative and eliminate a small number of blood-sucking insects.
- Chamomile contains a poison - pyrethrin, which has a fatal effect on insects, but is absolutely harmless to humans. Freshly picked chamomile flowers are used for destruction. They are ground to a loose state and scattered under mattresses, in pillowcases, along baseboards and in other places where bedbugs live. An effective remedy is obtained by adding naphthalene to chamomile.
- Celandine has a pungent odor that repels insects. To kill bedbugs, an infusion of grass is used, which should then be used to treat the room. The collection of celandine for preparing the infusion is carried out from May to July in dry weather. To prepare the product you will need 1.5 cups of crushed celandine, 1/4 of a piece of laundry or tar soap and 10 liters of water. The herb must be placed in a container, filled with water and left to infuse for 2 weeks, then strain, add coarsely grated soap and treat the apartment or house.
- Ledum is a poisonous plant with a pronounced aroma. Due to its properties of negatively affecting insects, wild rosemary is popularly nicknamed bedbug. To destroy ectoparasites that feed on human blood, plant leaves collected from August to October are used. It is at this time that they contain the most essential oils. Ledum against bedbugs can be used as a powder, which is valid for 3 months. You can also remove insects using fumigation, which is carried out by setting fire to dry crushed wild rosemary leaves indoors.
- Valerian is not used as a means of extermination, but rather as a means of attracting bedbugs, thanks to which the insects crawl out of their shelters and can be easily destroyed physically. This herb can only be used in the absence of pets.
Thermal treatment of the contaminated area
Bedbugs are equally afraid of high and low temperatures. Therefore, in order to drive insects away from nesting sites, it is enough to create unfavorable conditions for their existence.
Freezing
If it is established that the bedbugs have not yet spread throughout the room and are only in a specific piece of furniture, most likely it will be a sofa, then it is enough to take it outside in winter.
Bed linen, bedspreads and home clothes should be placed in the freezer and left there for several hours.
Furniture must be left in the cold for two days. Only in this case can you count on getting rid of insects.
High temperatures
Another folk remedy for fighting bedbugs is treatment with boiling water. It must be poured into cracks and corners where insect nests may be located, and the sofa and other pieces of furniture in the room must be treated. After treatment with boiled water, mobile items should be taken out into the open air and left there until completely dry.
A steam generator will have a more gentle effect. The release of steam occurs at high temperatures, which is no less effective than regular boiling water. This device can also be used to treat wall and floor carpets. After pickling, all treated items should be thoroughly dried.
It must be remembered that methods involving the use of high temperatures can damage your furniture. Therefore, you should select weather conditions under which all processed materials are guaranteed to dry.
Ammonia and denatured alcohol to combat bedbugs
Denatured alcohol, which is technical alcohol, is used to kill bed bugs. To treat the room, a solution of denatured alcohol with the addition of a small amount of naphthalene is used. After treatment, the room must be ventilated. If necessary, re-treatment is possible after 5 days. After carrying out the procedure for removing insects in an apartment with denatured alcohol, no traces remain on the surface of the furniture.
Ammonia is a caustic substance used to kill bedbugs indoors. The smell of ammonia is unpleasant for blood-sucking insects, so after treating the apartment they may leave. You can place saucers filled with ammonia in inaccessible places.
All traditional methods do not guarantee 100% destruction of bedbugs and serve, first of all, for prevention or temporary disposal of insects. Subsequent treatment with chemical insecticides is necessary.
Biological control methods
Bed bugs can be affected by temperature. Temperature conditions suitable for parasitic insects to inhabit range from -190C to 600C. Therefore, an infected apartment can be frozen or treated with hot air.
Freezing
Before freezing (it is done at a temperature of -210C and below), we empty all the wardrobes and lay out the upholstered furniture. We take things from the wardrobes outside and hang them on clotheslines. Next, turn off all heating equipment, open the windows and leave the room for several days.
This method does not work in apartment buildings, since no one will allow you to turn off the heating. Accordingly, the temperature inside the room, even with the windows fully open, will be slightly higher than outside.
High temperature treatment
We wash clothes using the “boiling” mode. Experts recommend washing infected items at the highest temperature, which is also harmful to bedbug eggs.
Those things that cannot be boiled are sent to the dry cleaner. There they will be treated with hot steam, which also destroys their eggs in addition to bedbugs. At home, you can place such things in a steam bath. Items infested with bed bugs are processed for at least several hours.
As for treating the apartment, you can fill the nests and furniture with boiling water or treat them using special installations with hot steam. When treating floors and upholstered furniture with boiling water, remember that water, especially hot water, damages wood. Therefore, parquet or laminate flooring may swell. And there may be stains on the upholstery of upholstered furniture that are difficult to get rid of. As an option, upholstered furniture is taken to dry cleaning, where it is treated with hot steam and special anti-parasite agents.
How to use plants against bedbugs
The most ancient way is to lay out or hang bunches of fresh or dried herbs in different parts of the apartment. Decorative sachet pillows filled with dried herbs and flowers look very beautiful. If you have the opportunity to collect or buy, you can use thyme, cloves, mint, and lavender to repel bedbugs. By the way, the same lavender or mint can be planted in a pot; they grow well as house plants in an apartment on the windowsill.
What plants repel bedbugs:
- sagebrush;
- tansy;
- wild rosemary;
- lavender;
- pharmaceutical camomile;
- calamus - it is sold dried in the pharmacy;
- garlic - cloves or garlic pulp are placed inside the furniture, but this remedy is weak, and besides, not all people like the smell of garlic in the house.
From the herbs listed above, you can prepare a concentrated decoction or infusion and spray it around the apartment using spray equipment.
