Last updated on February 21st, 2023 at 10:23 am
Imagine inviting your friends who are deathly afraid of crawling insects to your place when you’re pretty sure your home is infested with roaches. Spirits are high as you catch up about last night, and out of nowhere, these creepy creatures show up right next to one of the phobic friends.
“Yikes!” You scream as you watch your friends helplessly scampering for safety. “What will they think of me!” You wonder. And while having roaches around may not necessarily mean your place is gross, they can be embarrassing and cause discomfort, especially with guests around.
You now realize you must get rid of these bugs as you can’t stand another embarrassment. Borax, one of the most common pest control treatments, comes to mind. But you need a permanent solution and wonder whether borax, a naturally occurring ingredient found in most household items, will kill the roaches in your home.
Here’s everything you need to know about using borax for roaches and how it works to eradicate roaches in your home.
How Long Does it Take for Borax to Kill Roaches?
Borax is a hydrated borate of sodium that occurs in powdery or granular form. It also dissolves in water to form a basic solution used in many households or industrial applications.
It’s a natural product with little chemical contents, but still not entirely safe, even when ingested in small amounts.
So how long does it take for borax to kill roaches?
Borax will not kill roaches immediately after coming into contact. It takes approximately three days for borax for a roach to die after consuming it. With consistent use, you’ll notice a significant decrease in roaches, usually after one to two weeks.
Can You Mix Boric Acid With Water to Kill Roaches?
Boric acid will dehydrate the roach’s system leading to its death. To prevent severe effects on kids or pets, you can mix it with water and sprinkle it on areas where roaches frequently occur.
Once ingested, the solution affects the digestive and nervous systems, leading to the death of a roach.
However, mixing boric acid with water to kill roaches will be less effective as it cancels out the dehydrating effect. It’s a recommended approach if you’re keeping pets or have young children who may come into contact with it.
What do You Mix with Borax to Kill Roaches?
Borax is a readily-available product people use to kill roaches and other crawling insects at home. You can dissolve it in water or combine it with white table sugar and spray it in roach-infested areas.
The higher the concentration, the faster the dehydration, thus the quick death of a roach. For best results, mix borax with powdered or table sugar. You can then dust the mixture in their pathways or anywhere with more roach activity.
The mixture will stick to their legs or bodies when they step on it. When licked, the effect is severe, leading to faster dehydration and death of the roaches within 72 hours.
Does Borax Kill Roaches Instantly
Borax only kills a roach once it’s ingested. A roach will not die instantly when it comes into contact with borax either by stepping or licking it.
Normally, roaches will crawl back to their hiding after consuming borax. But even if they don’t eat your borax bait immediately, they’ll lick the borax dust on their legs or bodies at some point.
You can mix borax with roach attractants like sugar, cocoa powder, peanut butter, or baking soda to encourage them to eat it.
Don’t expect to see dead roaches lying around immediately after spraying the borax mixture in your home. But you should notice a decrease in their numbers within a week or two.
Borax for German Roaches
There are over 4,500 types of cockroaches in the world, with more yet to be discovered.
American roaches, German roaches, and brown-banded roaches are the most common types you may have probably come across.
You might wonder how borax works in controlling each type of these roaches.
The good news is that borax will kill all types of roaches, including the German species as long as it gets into their system. It doesn’t matter which borax recipe you use.
But for quick results, use sugar or any other food substance you think roaches prey on the most within your home. Even if they don’t consume it instantly, do not worry as they’ll likely eat the borax dust on their legs or bodies later on.
Borax Roaches Dishwasher
The dishwasher is one of the best places to target and kill roaches using borax. But you need to be cautious, as stains of borax in your dishes can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and even death in humans when ingested in large quantities.
There are two ways to use borax in a dishwasher to clear roaches. First, apply a thin film of borax powder in the dishwasher and leave it there for a few days. Use this method if you don’t plan to use the machine for some time.
Alternatively, make a borax bait. You could use borax powder or boric acid solution and place your bait in dark places near the dishwasher where roaches will likely step on their way to the machine.
Which is Better to Kill Roaches, Borax or Boric Acid?
Borax and boric acid are naturally occurring chemicals we encounter almost daily in our food and drinking water. Both come from boron compounds and have poisonous substances used to control pests.
Despite their many similarities, borax and boric acid have other key differences, making one better at roach control than the other.
Borax and boric acid will both kill roaches but at varying intensities. Many pesticides use boric acid due to its effectiveness compared to borax. For quick results, choose boric acid to eliminate roaches in your home.
Contact an environmental pest control expert to guide you on this at-home pest control remedy if you need help with appropriate application procedures. Note that both compounds are poisonous and can endanger the lives of your kids or pets when mishandled.