No More Roaches

Step 1 What you will need

Boric acid powder*
Karo syrup - you may substitute honey or maple syrup or pancake syrup
Rice flour - you may substitute any flour you have on hand
1 Popsicle stick
1 Mixing bowl

Amounts as follows:
2 parts Boric acid
1 part rice flour
enough Karo syrup to make a peanut butter like consistency mixture

Important note: Boric acid powder is not something you want to inhale (get into your eyes or swallow) so mix this up outside. Wear a dust mask too until it is mixed up. It has no oder.

For a 2800 square foot home with 4 bathrooms, I mixed 2 cups of boric acid with 1 cup rice powder and about 3/4 cup of Karo syrup. I used a plastic bowl to mix in and stuck the bowl and left over bait up into the attic/crawl space when I was done baiting.

*(available in hardware stores in the US as "Roach Prufe" (this was the only way I was able to buy it, the canister is 98% boric acid and 2% blue coloring).

Comments

[gutzybroad]

Thank you for your artical. I had all of the products in my house already. I had the boric acid already for the roach problem but I have pets and grandchildren who visit regularly so I only could put it in a few places. I live in florida and the infestation is horrible in the home we bought. I was seriously thinking about tenting the house but the cost is outragious. Im going to try this first. I will repost with results. wish me luck thanks again

[Ninzerbean]

Good luck, you will be fine, but I warn you that you have to be prepared for hours of work. Taking off all the switch plates... pulling out the kitchen drawers. But you won't have to do it again for at least a year, maybe more.

[Clemtasm]

I noticed your comment about keeping boric acid out of your eyes. Interestingly enough, it's a common ingredient in eye drops: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080515090341AACNhbn (first to pop up in google search)

[Ninzerbean]

Yep, if you read all the comments you will find some information that Goodheart wrote about that subject. I was just writing what the back of the container said. I am reading a great book called "The Poisoner's Handbook" and you would not believe how many things like arsenic and cyanide used to be used in regular household goods in the 1920's. It's an amazing look at the ways and whys of forensic medicine working with the police to solve what had been unsolvable murders and simple accidents.

[olulpana]

I had a severe problem when taking down an attached utility room to rebuild. We are talking Atila the Hun war of roaches behind a sheet of old ply-wood. We were armed with magazines, spray, a lot of EEEEKKKSSS!! AAAAhHHHss and so fourths battling the now lift off kamikaze dive bombers. We had hit the mother load nest. Talk about freaking out. Me and my friend both tweaked our backs and sprained our ankles to save our own lives. As the author states "low and behold the internet to the rescue". I originally found the borax/sugar mixture. It did work wonders on those escapees that managed to fly up into the roof space and when they came to cannibalized their own squashed mates, that we borsugar dusted they got a lethal tasty treat. But now I am going to try this sticky concoction to further lure the enemy into a trap and hopefully win completely without the dusty mess. However, borax sucked up in the vacuum will kill fleas that may hatch in there if you have pets. thanks for the recipe and your story. Love the pics.

[Ninzerbean]

Wow, yours is a great story too. Thanks for the flea hint, I forgot about that as I have central vacuum (that I am alway bribing folks to empty for me).

[PurpleQueen]

Boric acid can be purchased inexpensively (including shipping) on-line. We got a HUGE bag of it and shared it and expenses with friends and neighbors. Thanks for this posting. P.S. We use boric acid around the outside of the house (between the grass and the foundation) and under the lip of the entry to our lanai here in Florida. Keeps lots of critters from coming in. Ants get it on and in them and take it back to the nest! I assume this is true of other little nesting buggers we have. Doesn't work for dog ticks, tho, unfortunately.

[Ninzerbean]

What about when it rains, does that matter? The reason I did not want to use the powder in my house is because I vacuum a lot and with the paste I could put it more places. I swear this is so effective I would like to start a business (putting the paste around their homes) telling people they don't have to pay me for a year and only then if they have not seen any roaches.

[PurpleQueen]

The rain seems to turn it into a kind of paste up against the cement...in Florida so many homes are cement block with stucco, like ours. And, it soaks in a bit, which offends their delicate nature. lol I had friends take me out to dinner at a very nice restaurant and then out dancing because they had paid for bug removal.....lots of money......still had the bugs.....but this works!

[ObscureProtection]

I'm currently dealing with a roach infestation myself and I'm sooooooooo grossed out by these buggers. Do you think it's possible to store this formula in an empty syringe for future use? Or do you think it will just dry out? THANKS! I can't wait to try this out!

[Ninzerbean]

Maybe in the fridge in a zip lock baggie, or the freezer. A syringe is too small, you need to mix up about a cup to two. It is too thick to be applied with a syringe anyway, a popsicle stick is best.

[elias.alberto]

 My dad has been using boric acid powder, which he used to buy in any drugstore, to make a recipe to kill roaches. But the recipe he has been using for ages is 50% boric acid, 50% wheat flour, and a variable amount of grated ONION (about one onion for each 1kg of recipe). It seems those roaches will eat we usually eat, so you can mix anything edible to the recipe and they will eat it.

[Ninzerbean]

Sure thing, I just assumed they wanted to eat something sweet, who knows... I guess it all works. That's great to know, thank you.

[aaronanalog]

Ok, well I tried everything else and nothing works. I just got a portable dishwasher and after washing my dishes they were inside the dishwasher ! YUCK !!! We have been eating fast food for over a week now because we do not want to use anything in out apt. I have no idea where so many came from so fast. So I mixed up this stuff and applied it everywhere there is a trace of water or a hidey hole for those nasty things. I will repost again in a few days with the results :-)

[aaronanalog]

A little over 12 hrs after applying the paste and I have not even seen one of those nasty nasty pest. Thank You sooooooo much for this ible ! It REALLY works !

[Ninzerbean]

Yahoo!

[Ninzerbean]

I really know how you feel, do you have any cardboard in your home? They love card board - get rid of it/

[aaronanalog]

No, the people downstairs moved out and now that I think about it they had packages delivered every day so maybe that was the source. I love this idea of the paste though. I mixed 3 parts boric acid to 1 part flour and pancake syrup. I hope it works.

[Grimarr]

Would borax not work? It's sold in the laundry aisle of most grocers, I'm thinking it might be cheaper than roach prufe and I'm pretty sure it's the same sort of thing.

[slander]

FWIW, the manufacturer of 20 Mule Team Borax says that their product is 99.5% percent straight borax... I haven't tried this approach, yet. Darn sure going to try, though... the apartment complex where I live is seriously infested with them

[Ninzerbean]

But Slander, it's not the same stuff - you have to get boric acid not borax.

[cloner]

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water. Boric acid, also called boracic acid or orthoboric acid or Acidum Boricum, is a weak acid often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, in nuclear power plants to control the fission rate of uranium, and as a precursor of other chemical compounds. It exists in the form of colorless crystals or a white powder and dissolves in water. It has the chemical formula H3BO3, sometimes written B(OH)3. When occurring as a mineral, it is called sassolite. Borax is more common in groceries here in the philippines than boric acid.

[Grimarr]

Yeah, I was being dumb and not getting my facts straight before I said anything.

[Ninzerbean]

It's not the same thing - I checked. Anyway Boric acid is only a few dollars when you can find it by itself. Roach Prufe is around $7 USD and would last you years. And years.

[Bodygurl]

Does this work on waterbugs (getting the creeps just typing this)

[Ninzerbean]

What are water bugs - oh please don't show me a photo.

[ategevss4]

Can you store this once its mixed, i read the comments but didnt see if you could or not so i thought id ask just in case, thanks.

[Ninzerbean]

No, it gets hard and then you can't spread it.

[Grimarr]

Waterbugs are little bugs that skim around on the surface of the water of ponds and slow streams and the like.

[Grimarr]

Also apparently, there are waterbugs that swim around underwater and hunt small crustaceans.

[Goodhart]

As long as you keep it dry :-)

[hooksrus]

I found some 99% Boric acid powder at a local dollar store. The roach prufe was $7.99 at arrow hardware so I bought this instead. It seems to be real, it works just fine with your formula.

[Ninzerbean]

Great! When I went looking I went to the little local hardware store in my neighborhood and of course all they had was Roach Prufe so that was what I bought not knowing it was such a common chemical to find.