Should You Use Household Boric Acid or Borax for Eliminating Pests?
WARNING: all information contained with our website is for reference purposes only. When handling any type of pesticide or pest control chemicals, always read the safety instructions and handle with care. Best way to be safe is to contact licensed and registered pest control companies within your area.
Maximum Pest Control Services assumed no responsibility and thus hereby disclaims any liability due incorrect use of any information published on our website (located at https://www.maximumpestcontrol.ca/)
Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency Re-evaluation Decision RVD2016-01, Boric Acid and its Salts (Boron) under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, is granting continued registration of most of these uses in Canada. IMPORTANT: any usage, handling, or mixing of any type of chemicals or pesticides must be done according to safety instructions and revised label directions.
Controlling and eliminating pests has forever been a battle for human settlements. Whether pests bugged the early sailors in wooden ships or whether its modern commercial buildings found throughout Ontario Canada. Pest problems exists.
Pest infestation today, is a concern for every homeowner, and since caring for our climate is in the forefront of responsible living, not everyone prefers harsh or expensive chemicals or industrial substances to eliminate pests. Many homeowners in Hamilton, Mississauga and other neighborhoods in Ontario seeking pest control advice and services, inquire about more convenient route of using environmentally safe pesticides.
There may be many products around your home which you may attempt to use for controlling pest, whether this is "tea tree oil, epsom salt, or just salt". However, to be successful in prevention and elimination of pests, not only do you need the right chemical treatment, you also need the right professional advice. So let’s talk about:
What’s The Difference Between Borax vs Boric Acid?
Borax and boric acid are two different formulations of the same compound.
Borax Na
2H
4B
4O
9•nH
2O is a mineral that is taken straight from the ground (a form of the element Boron) and mostly used in manufacturing applications and cleaning products.
Boric acid H3BO3 is its extracted, processed and refined form, found in a variety of chemical products.
Like any other household disinfectant or pest control solution, there are still proper techniques to safely and effectively use boric acid or Borax. Boric acid and Borax are very similar substances with the latter being a mineral used mostly in its unrefined form and the former is extracted and then put through a refinement process to create an end product that is used in variety of chemical manufacturing.
Despite being a somewhat ‘natural’ product, boric acid is by no means safe for ingestion and should still be used with utmost caution around the home or young children or domestic animals. It is still a common choice for homemade pesticide and insecticide usage because it is readily available, inexpensive, and is less toxic than many industrial alternatives.
WARNING
NO chemical can be 100% safe when handling. It is therefore critical to note that borax and boric acid can prove poisonous if consumed or inhaled in large quantities. Prolonged exposure to boric acid over long periods of time can severely damage the kidney/s and human health. Furthermore, incorrectly mixing any type of pest control chemicals can create disastrous chemical reactions with devastating outcomes.
How to Use Boric Acid
Since some people choose the route of using boric acid or Borax for common pest control problems as its efficacy extends to a wide variety of pests from beetles, moths, ticks to bedbugs and flies.
Boric acid is commonly used in many insect traps and can be purchased as tablets, powders, or as a liquid. Some insects will mistake the powder version for some sort of food and consume it, this affects their bodies almost right away like a potent poison. It also wastes away their exoskeletons and damages all their bodily functions. For this reason boric acid can be an effective insecticide for most pests commonly found in homes and gardens throughout Ontario Canada. Even if the insect does not feed on it, acid can still attach to their bodies as they come in contact with it, as a result acid can be absorbed that way.
In regular store-bought baits and traps, 5% quantity of boric acid can be found, although when it is laid down in infested areas as a fine powder or crushed tablet form, it can have as much as 90% boric acid concentration. It is important to note that a large quantity of boric acid may simply repel insects instead of killing them. That means, if you are battling with full-blown pest or insect infestation, boric acid used as deterrent will simply move the problem elsewhere in your property. For out of control pest problems, simply speak with our professional pest control experts.
Insect Infestations That Boric Acid May Work On
Boric acid works for many different types of both winged and crawling insects. Most insects perform some sort of self-cleaning act, which makes them vulnerable to ingesting any material that attaches to their body. Boric acid attaches well to insect bodies so it can be ingested that way making it fatal to some pests. Right amount of boric acid (particularly mixed with other complimentary pest control treatments) can be fatal to ants, cockroaches, ticks, bed bugs, spiders, lice, beetles, fleas, moths, and even flies.
While using it at home exercise extreme caution as incorrect usage can cause poisoning in humans particularly children as well as pets. If you think a certain place is infested lay down the boric acid in a higher place or seal the area off entirely till the insects have been killed.
Your (and Your Family) Safety is Our Utmost Priority
Throughout the past decade Maximum Pest Control Services has successfully eliminated thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of nasty pests and insects bothering our valued customers. To be able to serve our valued customers better, we’ve been publishing important pest control related articles on our website in hope it will serve you better.
As we’ve mentioned above, working with any type of pesticides or pest management chemicals must be done with utmost care. We’d rather you avoid do-it-yourself type of pest control, instead, get rapid results at most competitive rates by hiring our pest control company. Always ready to serve, always thinking of safety of our valued customer first, and eliminating pest second.
