Which Pest Control Treatment is Best for my Home Interior?
Pest control treatment methods vary and are designed to target different pest types.
Among other factors, the best treatment method type depends heavily on the target pest(s) you want to control.
When it comes to choosing the best pest control treatment for your home’s interior, you will want to find the option that offers the highest probability of controlling the target pest(s) while keeping intrusion and disruption to your home minimal.
The pest control treatments most commonly used in home interiors are sprays, gels, and airborne products like fogs, dusts, or aerosols.
Pest control treatment methods vary and are designed to target different pest types.
Among other factors, the best treatment method type depends heavily on the target pest(s) you want to control.
When it comes to choosing the best pest control treatment for your home’s interior, you will want to find the option that offers the highest probability of controlling the target pest(s) while keeping intrusion and disruption to your home minimal.
The pest control treatments most commonly used in home interiors are sprays, gels, and airborne products like fogs, dust, or aerosols.
Sprays
Sprays are liquid solutions composed of mostly water mixed with a specific pest control product.
Pest control spray solutions are typically applied at ground level and are not generally designed to be contact-kill products.
Most sprays are designed to leave trace amounts of an active ingredient once the water dries up in the places they are applied.
The fact that product is mixed with water makes it so a professional can pinpoint spray areas specifically targeted for treatment.
This also helps avoid runoff or unintended exposure to areas that do not need treatment.
Since they are not meant to be contact-kills, the pests that interact with the residual of the active ingredients usually carry it with them back to their nest or colony and it’s shared as the pests interact with other members of the colony.
Because they are applied on the ground and have a long-lasting residual that is likely to be shared, sprays are most effective when targeting insects that crawl low to the ground and are communicable by nature, such as ants or waterbugs.
Gels
Gels are typically packaged in cylinder syringe-like packages that make it easy to squeeze out the product and target specific areas.
Like sprays, gels are not typically designed to be contact-quick-kill products.
Instead, gels are designed to be picked up by the target pest and carried back to be shared with the colony or nest.
The active ingredient concentration in pest control gels can be as low as 0.01%.
Pest Control gels do not evaporate like sprays and linger intact where they are applied for an extended period of time.
For that reason, it is best to apply them in areas that do not experience traffic by pets or people to avoid smudging or staining that could result from accidental contact.
Pest control gels are best on communicable pests such as roaches and ants and best applied in areas of high pest traffic and low human/animal interaction.
It would be a great idea to apply small amounts of gels in the path of traffic while providing long residual control.
Fogs, Dust, Aerosols
Most of the time when people think about pest control products they immediately picture aerosol cans or “bomb-fog” type of systems.
Over time technology and a better scientific understanding have evolved the airborne pest control products available today.
Most store-bought airborne pest control products are quick-contact-kill products with very little to no residual.
These types of products work well to achieve an immediate kill of pests you see in your home.
But… given that they kill what comes in contact with the product, and nothing reaches the colony or nest, they do not adequately control the source of the infestation.
That means that the colony can produce another swarm or infestation again sometimes in the future until the actual colony is controlled.
Contact-quick-kill products are often neurotoxins designed to immediately paralyze and kill the target pest.
Accidental exposure to neurotoxins can have a more immediate and harmful adverse effect on people and animals.
Because of the airborne nature of these products, it can become difficult to control the exposed areas of your home.
From time to time, your pest control professional will employ the use of
For example, a pest control professional may use
It is a common practice to use a dust known as diatomaceous earth, which is a talc-like powder produced from fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton.
This serves to control general pests such as ants, roaches, and spiders.
Airborne pest control products vary in their makeup and functionality.
Before using or asking for any airborne pest control product be sure to understand what products will achieve the result you are looking for and what, if any, precautions you should take to avoid accidental exposures to people or pets.
A good pest control program should be customized to your home’s individual needs.
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