4 ms·

I guess I should pass this piece of advice on. If you have roaches in your house (or anywhere for that matter) there is a simple cheap effective way to get rid

by boyter 15y ago

I guess I should pass this piece of advice on. If you have roaches in your house (or anywhere for that matter) there is a simple cheap effective way to get rid of them. Boric acid. Just sprinkle it around the place (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway), on the sideboards, and anywhere else the roaches are likely to go. It will kill them all pretty quickly. I recently had issues with the neighbor having lots of them and boric acid really controlled them. Before applying I saw at least a dozen on any given day. Afterwards I was (un)lucky to see one a week.

etcet 15y ago
Boric acid mixed into simple syrup will control ants as well.
- ca98am79 15y ago
  baby powder works great to stop ants
- ca98am79 15y ago
  baby powder works great to stop ants
blantonl 15y ago
As a resident from Louisiana and now living in Texas, I would tell you that spreading Boric acid is only attempting to address the symptom, but not the problem. When you see one roach, you can rest assured that 25 more are in the walls. See 5, and yes, there are 125 roaches waiting in the wings.
- boyter 15y ago
  The nice thing about boric acid is that it will kill them later when they are in the walls etc... Roaches will eat their fallen, and ingest the boric acid again killing those ones too. Winged ones you will need to control with screens and closed doors but believe me when I say that's easier to do then get rid of the ones crawling around.
- ronnier 15y ago
  That's one thing I enjoy about living in Seattle, I've yet to see a roach (or mosquito).
  - joshu 15y ago
    Or the sun.
ra 15y ago
> (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway) This is FALSE, and very dangerous advice for people with infants. Quote from NSW Food Authority [1]: "Borax, also known as sodium borate (Na2B4O7.10H2), and boric acid (H3BO3) are colourless, salt-like substance that can also be a white powder." "What are the symptoms of Borax poisoning? Some of the symptoms of Borax ingestion include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and red eyes. Symptoms may appear 2 to 4 hours after ingesting Borax. If you have ingested Borax, or come into contact with someone with these symptoms, you should call the NSW Poisons Information 24 hour hot line on 13 11 26 and seek immediate medial attention at your local doctor’s surgery or hospital. If large amounts of Borax are consumed, acute kidney failure and death may result." Not to say it isn't good at killing roaches, but please don't use it believing it's non-toxic. [1] http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/other-food-topics/borax-and-boric-acid/ http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/other-food-top...
- boyter 15y ago
  That site doesn't list how much you need to consume to have any affects hence my statement that its comparable to salt, IE if you eat a lot of salt you will be in a bad way too. That was my previous understanding though. If you have any sources to show what sort of consumption you need to have any sort of toxic effect I would be very interested. Something people reading this may not know is that Chinese restaurants did use it for a long time as a meat tenderiser and still do in China and presumably in other parts of the world too.
  - kens 15y ago
    I read an interesting article a few days ago about how borax was used in the US as a meat preservative up through the early 20th century, along with more toxic substances like copper sulfate and formaldehyde. In those days there were no food safety regulations, so manufacturers used whatever they wanted. Suspicious of the safety of these additives, a chemist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture formed volunteer "Poison Squads" to test if these substances were actually safe or not. The article discusses his work, and is worth a look. "Death in the Pot": http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/death-in-the-pot.php?page=all http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/death-in-the-pot.php?...
phlux 15y ago
This is great advice if you're having trouble cooling your reactor as well. Just fill that melting core with boric acid and all your problem will be solved! I recently had problems in reactor six and boric acid really helped me get things under control. (Too bad for Sergei and Vlad though...) Anyway, at least I was lucky enough.

by boyter 15y ago

etcet 15y ago

Boric acid mixed into simple syrup will control ants as well.

ca98am79 15y ago
baby powder works great to stop ants
ca98am79 15y ago
baby powder works great to stop ants

blantonl 15y ago

As a resident from Louisiana and now living in Texas, I would tell you that spreading Boric acid is only attempting to address the symptom, but not the problem. When you see one roach, you can rest assured that 25 more are in the walls. See 5, and yes, there are 125 roaches waiting in the wings.

boyter 15y ago
The nice thing about boric acid is that it will kill them later when they are in the walls etc... Roaches will eat their fallen, and ingest the boric acid again killing those ones too. Winged ones you will need to control with screens and closed doors but believe me when I say that's easier to do then get rid of the ones crawling around.
ronnier 15y ago
That's one thing I enjoy about living in Seattle, I've yet to see a roach (or mosquito).
- joshu 15y ago
  Or the sun.

ra 15y ago

> (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway) This is FALSE, and very dangerous advice for people with infants. Quote from NSW Food Authority [1]: "Borax, also known as sodium borate (Na2B4O7.10H2), and boric acid (H3BO3) are colourless, salt-like substance that can also be a white powder." "What are the symptoms of Borax poisoning? Some of the symptoms of Borax ingestion include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and red eyes. Symptoms may appear 2 to 4 hours after ingesting Borax. If you have ingested Borax, or come into contact with someone with these symptoms, you should call the NSW Poisons Information 24 hour hot line on 13 11 26 and seek immediate medial attention at your local doctor’s surgery or hospital. If large amounts of Borax are consumed, acute kidney failure and death may result." Not to say it isn't good at killing roaches, but please don't use it believing it's non-toxic. [1] http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/other-food-topics/borax-and-boric-acid/ http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/other-food-top...

boyter 15y ago
That site doesn't list how much you need to consume to have any affects hence my statement that its comparable to salt, IE if you eat a lot of salt you will be in a bad way too. That was my previous understanding though. If you have any sources to show what sort of consumption you need to have any sort of toxic effect I would be very interested. Something people reading this may not know is that Chinese restaurants did use it for a long time as a meat tenderiser and still do in China and presumably in other parts of the world too.
- kens 15y ago
  I read an interesting article a few days ago about how borax was used in the US as a meat preservative up through the early 20th century, along with more toxic substances like copper sulfate and formaldehyde. In those days there were no food safety regulations, so manufacturers used whatever they wanted. Suspicious of the safety of these additives, a chemist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture formed volunteer "Poison Squads" to test if these substances were actually safe or not. The article discusses his work, and is worth a look. "Death in the Pot": http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/death-in-the-pot.php?page=all http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/death-in-the-pot.php?...

phlux 15y ago

This is great advice if you're having trouble cooling your reactor as well. Just fill that melting core with boric acid and all your problem will be solved! I recently had problems in reactor six and boric acid really helped me get things under control. (Too bad for Sergei and Vlad though...) Anyway, at least I was lucky enough.