Gaby
Maintaining cleanliness in your living space and kitchen, as well as keeping your bedding, body, laundry, and outerwear clean, is the best defense against unwanted pests like cockroaches, fleas, and bedbugs.
To prevent cockroaches, for instance, avoid leaving food scraps, dirty dishes, or loosely covered trash cans overnight. Food and drinking water should be stored in a way that makes them inaccessible to cockroaches. Seal all cracks in the walls, floors, and around the stove where cockroaches might hide during the day.
In areas where cockroaches tend to gather, scatter pieces of bread mixed with a toxic powder made from ground boric acid (which should be pre-roasted in a skillet) or soaked in a solution of boric acid (1 teaspoon per cup of water) overnight. This poisoned bait should be placed out for several nights in a row, and each morning, it should be cleaned up. The spots where cockroaches congregate should be scalded with boiling water.
Fleas lay their eggs in dry debris that accumulates in floor cracks, dust under the bed, and beneath furniture. Regular cleaning, weekly mopping of floors with warm water mixed with kerosene (4 tablespoons of kerosene per bucket of water), and sealing cracks are the best methods for eliminating fleas. In the summer, you can scatter fresh wormwood on the floor.
To eradicate bedbugs, use boiling water. Scald the bed, mattress, and all the cracks in the walls near where the beds are placed. This should be done weekly until the bedbugs are completely eliminated. Cracks and small indentations in the walls (such as where a nail was driven in) should be sealed with soap or carpenter’s glue.
One of the most effective methods for combating bedbugs, fleas, cockroaches, and other pests is using DDT powder. This powder affects the nervous system of insects and paralyzes them. Paralyzed insects may remain alive for several days but will stop moving and laying eggs.
Sprinkle the powder into cracks, behind baseboards, under wallpaper, and in beds—anywhere bedbugs typically nest. The powder should remain in these areas for as long as possible. If you dust DDT onto linens and clothing, any insects present will perish.
DDT can also be used to combat flies. For this, the powder should be mixed with water to create a white liquid. Wipe down areas where flies tend to gather with a cloth soaked in this solution. Upon contact with surfaces treated with this mixture, flies will die.
Hexachloran is also recommended for pest control, as it retains its harmful properties for a long time; just be sure to leave the powder on the items it has been sprinkled on for as long as possible.
Neither DDT nor hexachloran affects insect eggs, which is why treatments should be repeated every five to six days. When using DDT or hexachloran, take care to ensure that these toxic substances do not come into contact with food or dishes.
Do not treat cabinets, tables, shelves, or other areas where food is stored with these products.
