Bathroom cleaner = insecticide?

I have ants in my kitchen. I have tried VERY hard to get rid of them and clean religiously. In fact, when I clean with one of the kitchen disinfectant sprays the ants die. Immediately. WAY faster than with insecticide. So, is this stuff dangerous to use in the kitchen when it’s labeled for kitchen use (not on dishes, on counters & sinks)?

Something to ponder. I mean, if your cleaning agent is enough to kill a living thing, even if it is an ant, it could mean it is highly toxic. Although, I suspect that at those levels may not be for a human. I wear gloves when I clean, not only because I want to protect my hands from drying out (I have very dry skin) but to protect me from those chemicals.

But then again, a clean kitchen hasn’t been a priority for me.

BTW, to help curb ants, place mint leaves near the point where they enter. This has worked for me. There is something about mint that ants can’t stand.

I think Cecil covered this in reference to cockroaches. Briefly, the soap drowns them.

Here’s the URL: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_064.html


“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx

Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. www.sff.net/people/rothman

We covered ants before…but bear in mind that some people have filthy houses but no ants, others have the cleanest, but ants.

I still think they come in for sugar or water & putting some outside in a dish would make them stay outside.

If you have ants in your house, they are most likely not “coming in from outside.” Chances are you have a nest somewhere.


“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx

Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. www.sff.net/people/rothman

Thanks very much! I’ll try the mint!

OK, I’m a pest control technician licensed by the State of New York. Perhaps I can answer some of your questions.

RealityChuck, you’re right. Occasional invaders are one thing, and at certain times of the year can’t be helped. But if they are a chronic problem, there is probably a nest in the wall somewhere, most likely near the pipe openings under the kitchen sink. Either that or someplace else that is a high moisture area.

Lots of things kill ants and other insects. Cleaning solutions are one of those things. If you look at the label, you’ll see that these products have a warning on them (usually it says CAUTION! Other warnings are WARNING!, DANGER! and the ol’ skull and crossbones). This is an indication of how toxic the substance is. CAUTION! is the most benign, IIRC. I think I’ve included them in ascending order above. Most of the pesticides I use also carry a CAUTION! label. So the stuff a professional uses (or the stuff you can buy off the shelf at King Kullen) are no more or less toxic than the stuff you scrub your sink with or wash your floors with.

The main difference (and I’m convinced this is in the mind of the consumer) is that pesticides are designed to KILL, whereas cleansers are designed to clean. The association then becomes killing = poison = bad. Cleaning = sanitary = good. More proof that marketing yourself properly makes all the difference.

Another big difference, Smilingjaws, is in the residual effect of the substance you use. The soap kills the ants on contact, perhaps faster than Raid. OK. But you’re only killing the ones you see, leaving scores of others unscathed. Many available insecticides (and most professional products) do not offer a quick knockdown effect. But they do leave a residual that keeps on killing the bugs even after the initial application has dried.

Is this stuff safe, then? Or is the Bug-B-Gon man poisoning me and my family? Well, that depends on how good an applicator he is. As I mentioned, when you kill ants on your kitchen counter, you’re only getting a small percentage of the actual colony. The rest are nesting and traveling around in your walls (and outside, waiting for their chance to get in), and topical treatment does zilch for them. But a savvy technician will treat with a residual insecticide inside the wall voids, pizening the little varmints and leaving you and your loved ones virtually unexposed to the toxins. Most products also have a breakdown period of 30-40 days, so a buildup of toxins isn’t really an issue.

You’re also right about the dosage needed to kill an insect, Techchick. LD-50 (the Lethal Dosage needed to kill 50% of a population) is figured in milligrams of product against kilograms of weight. So the higher the LD-50 the less toxic the product, and also the more will be needed to kill a heavier organism. You’re right to wear gloves when you use cleansers, because they can be harsh to unexposed skin. But I wouldn’t worry about absorbing a lethal dose through your skin. Read the label anyway to see if it says anything about dermal absorption. But really, if you knew about all the things in your house that could potentially harm, maim or kill you, you’d go and live in a cave. Don’t get hyped up about it. Somewhere out there is a study that says milk will kill you if you’re exposed to too much of it.

Whew! If you really want to know more about this stuff, try to find information regarding FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act). It hasn’t changed much in the 60+ years since it was enacted. Individual states have their own laws regarding pesticide applications, but they can only be more stringent than federal regs, not less so. FIFRA is a good starting place.

Also, Handy, they don’t really have the smarts to look inside people’s houses specifically for food and water (they eat other things besides sugar, depending on the time of year). They basically have a foraging range, and someone’s house falls within the radius of that range. They may be attracted to food scents, and of course, once they find a food source, they mark it.


The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx

This leads to a tangential question. If I have ants in the summer but not in the winter, does this means they are coming in from the outside, or are they hibernating inside their nest in my walls?

Hmm… sounds like they’re making a porno.

I’m not perky.

Centerline, the ants you see in the summer are occasional invaders. If you had a nest in your house, you’d see them even in the winter. They don’t hibernate if they’re overwintering in your walls. It’s warm enough for them to still be active. Ants don’t know what month it is, only that they’re either warm or cold.

An exterior perimeter treatment during the spring and summer months (early fall, too, depending) can go a long way to keeping your house ant-free in the summer. Look for Dursban Granules or some kind of microencapsulated spray at your hardware store or home and garden center. Always read and follow the label directions. Not that you’d get in trouble, but it actually is a federal offense to apply pesticides (or even oven cleaner – read the label!) in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Or, as we in the pest control industry say, “The label is the law.”

Besides, following the label directions will give you optimum performance, control and will minimize your risks.


The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx

Thanks.