Boric Acid, Roaches

Posted on by Forest in General, Health, Saving Money & Finances

Boric Acid, Roaches - Welcome to Part 5 in our 7 part Cockroach Control on a budget series.

As I mentioned in the previous part of this series “Get Rid of Roaches” my favorite chemical for killing roach nests is Boric Acid, the roaches literally take it back to the nest and it kills them from the inside out…. That is if used correctly.

Boric Acid, Roaches

Boric Acid, Roaches

Boric Acid is a fairly human and pet safe chemical that has been used to fight roaches for many many years. It’s not very commerically viable because it can’t be patented in itself and is very cheap to buy. So the big companies do not push it, although many commercial roach baits contain it.

Roaches are also not deterred by it, which is very important when fighting a roach infestation. It’s believed to work by the drying the roaches out which leads to death. They die slowly and seem to actually like eating the acid so bring it back to the nest and it gets eaten by the young.

For non-food areas and behind appliances (fridge, cooker etc etc) the acid can be applied as a very thin layer of dust. Then if any cockroaches walk over it they get it stuck on their legs and ingest it when cleaning. This also gets dragged back to the nest. Make sure the acid is not left around in clumps. The roaches are likely to avoid these.

For backs of cupboards and corners of bathrooms or anywhere you wish I think it’s best to make some tasty boric acid balls for the critters to happily munch away on. Roaches love starch and sugar so it’s good to include these in the balls and you can try your own recipe.

Here is my recipe:

1 cup of flour
Just under 1 cup of Boric Acid
1 small onion chopped very fine
1/2 cup sugar
Vegetable Oil

Simply mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, except the oil. Then slowly add oil mixing until the mixture forms a dough that can be rolled into clean balls.

These balls can then be placed everywhere and should attract the roaches.

Also a paste of jelly and boric acid (equal amounts) can be made and this can be applied to openings and cracks where you think the cockroaches are entering.

Replace the balls every few weeks and hopefully you will be seeing less and less roaches until you see none at all. The balls are so easy and clean to distribute that if you live in an area where the cockroaches will keep returning you can keep this treatment up with very little effort.

If you are having trouble finding boric acid then look to the next post in this series.

Cockroach Control – 7 part Series

1. Cockroach Infestation
2. Types of Cockroaches
3. How to Kill Roaches
4. How To Get Rid of Roaches
5. Boric Acid, Roaches – This Post
6. Where to Buy Boric Acid
7. Cockroach Control, Other Tips and Tricks

Have you tried boric acid on your roach problem? Did you have any success?

Tags: boric acid balls, boric acid paste, boric acid recipes, using boric acid for roaches