Maintaining cleanliness in your living space and kitchen, and keeping your bedding, clothing, and body 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 out overnight. Store food and drinking water so cockroaches can’t reach them. 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 ground boric acid (heat briefly in a skillet first) or pieces soaked overnight in a boric acid solution (1 teaspoon per cup of water). Place this poisoned bait out for several nights in a row, and clean it up each morning. Scald the spots where cockroaches congregate with boiling water.
Fleas lay their eggs in dry debris that accumulates in floor cracks, dust under the bed, and beneath furniture. Clean regularly, mop floors weekly with warm water mixed with kerosene (4 tablespoons of kerosene per bucket of water), and seal cracks to help eliminate fleas. In summer, scatter fresh wormwood on the floor.
To eradicate bedbugs, use boiling water. Scald the bed, mattress, and all the cracks in the walls near the bed. Repeat weekly until the bedbugs are gone. Seal cracks and small indentations in the walls (for example, where a nail was driven in) with soap or carpenter’s glue.
One of the most effective methods for combating bedbugs, fleas, cockroaches, and other pests is DDT powder. This powder attacks 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. Leave the powder in these areas as long as possible. If you dust DDT onto linens and clothing, any insects present will perish.
DDT can also be used to control flies. Mix the powder with water to create a white liquid. Wipe down areas where flies tend to gather with a cloth soaked in this solution. Flies that land on treated surfaces will die.
Hexachloran is also recommended for pest control, as it retains its insecticidal properties for a long time; leave the powder on treated items 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 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.
