Natural Pest Control | Borax Lifehack

Pest control minus the toxic chemicals

Termites and ants can be a homeowner's nightmare. If your house is like ours and has mostly wooden furniture and built in cabinets, then you may have the same concerns as we do when it comes to termites. Now, if you have 3 kids at home, 2 of them toddlers, this also means that like us you constantly have messy floors and counters that consists of food crumbs and spills. And no matter how fast we are at spotting them we just can't manage to catch them all before the ants find them. Worrying about my kids getting bitten everyday has been a real pain.

We decided to call in experts, a local pest control service that's well known in our area. One of their "experts" came to check how bad our termite and ant problems were and gave us the estimated cost for their services. Having kids and pets, we were very concerned about the chemicals involved in the treatment, so we asked about them in detail. Mr. Pest Control man said that their products were so safe that our whole family could actually stay inside the house while they apply the treatment. He gave us a copy of their brochure, which had details on the "safe" chemicals they use for pest control. Once he left, Mr. D did a quick search on the chemicals and wasn't surprised that they are all linked to cancer and other diseases. They weren't at all human or pet-friendly as the so-called expert claimed.

As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Although it's more convenient to pay someone else to do it, in this case, safety comes first. So, we did a bit of research and found a lot of articles on Borax. Don't know where to get Borax? Just check my previous post Dandruff-Free with Borax | Natural Fix Life Hack.

For those pesky ants, Mr. D just mixed water, Borax and a lot of confectioner's sugar together. Soaked a cotton ball into the mixture and placed it somewhere accessible to the ants but well-hidden from our young ones. For the termites, he made a water and Borax solution, sprayed it on layers and layers of card board he cut into small squares and placed them inside a couple of small plastic vases. Covered them to keep the trap dark and attract the termites. We left the traps (the vases for the termites were spread outside our house) for our unwanted house guests to find. After a couple of weeks, we definitely felt the absence of the termites and the ant population noticeably decreased. It worked!

So there you have it. Getting rid with pests has never been this safe, inexpensive and easy, definitely stretching your peso!

Reference:

http://www.alysonschemical.com/