How to Make Roach Spray

Cockroaches, among the most successful of all insects on our planet, are not only disgusting, but pose some significant health risks to both your family and your pets. Roaches are known to carry infectious agents that can cause allergies, bubonic plague, urinary tract infections, diarrhea and many, many more. Bacteria carried and transmitted to humans by cockroaches include salmonella, staph and strep. Cockroaches are known to snack on fingers, open sores, eyebrows and eyelashes of sleeping people. To deliver the final death blow to roaches in your home, use this surprisingly inexpensive, easy-to-use formula, which is utterly harmless to you, your children and your pets. It is also very effective for killing other pests such as ants, earwigs and silverfish.

Things You'll Need

• Disposable gloves and dust mask Plastic bucket Long-handled wooden spoon Water Powdered 15 percent boric acid Plastic spray bottle Plastic bottle caps

Instructions

1. Put on your disposable gloves and dust mask. Although boric acid is harmless to humans, certain individuals with hypersensitive skin should avoid direct contact with all chemicals. The dust mask will protect you from throat irritation due to inhaling powder.

2. Pour a gallon of hot water into a plastic bucket or pail. Add 4 cups of powdered boric acid to the water a little at a time, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon. Keep adding the powder and stirring the mixture until all of the boric acid has been dissolved.

3. Fill the plastic spray bottle with the freshly made roach spray, and use it immediately.

4. Spritz the roach spray on any solid surface. Concentrate on spraying areas that the insects are known to frequent, particularly water sources such as kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms. When the spray dries, particles of boric acid will remain. Roaches will crawl through the treated areas, and ingest it when they remove it by grooming themselves. Then they will die.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to use a plastic spray bottle for this project. Use hot water, which will make the boric acid dissolve more quickly than cold water will. Put a little dry boric acid powder in some plastic bottle caps. Place the little caps inside cabinets and any other dry areas where you've seen roaches. Remove one wall plate from each of your walls. Use a plastic spoon to put a little dry boric acid powder inside. Replace the dry boric acid in about a year, or sooner if the roaches eat all of it or if it gets wet.

• Mix only enough roach spray for a single use. Don't try to store it because the boric acid begins to crystalize after about 24 hours. Don't use it in a metal insect sprayer tank, because the solidifying boric acid will clog the tank and the lines.