Taking over my pest control


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Old 02-15-19, 06:59 AM
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Taking over my pest control

We have been paying someone to spray for spiders and other pests. They have been effective, but due to cost I really need to take it over and do it myself. Of all pests spiders are most prevalent. The company's treatment is putting out sticky traps and spraying the outside perimeter of the home and insider along baseboards.

My biggest concern is our cat. Whatever I use must be cat safe. I have seen Miss Muffet's spray. It seems to have good reviews. Can someone comment on it or something else that is cat safe and effective?
 
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Old 02-15-19, 09:25 AM
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I use Ortho Home Defence in the basement and around the exterior of the house.

It's consistency of spraying every few weeks to gain control vs using something super toxic!
 
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Old 02-15-19, 09:33 AM
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Miss Muffet ran away from the spider. Not a good name for a pest control company. Should be "Miss Muffet's Revenge"
Our guy recommends Terro. If you Google the subject, there are natural alternatives that would be pet safe.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 10:58 AM
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I hadn't heard of Miss Muffets before so I looked it up. The active ingredient is bifenthrin .05%. It's a insecticide for general use but not good for the smaller roaches that typically infest kitchens, though it would be good for the larger roaches, interior or exterior, that commonly are called waterbugs.

It's a decent spider spray but if spiders were present and pretty much undisturbed I'd choose the active ingredient: deltamethrin. You probably don't have an existing spider problem as you've had regular pest control so bifenthrin should maintain well.

You can buy bifenthrin concentrate and make your own .05% by mixing the proper amount of concentrate into water and using in your own compressed air sprayer or trigger bottles, or combinations of both. Outside you will want more volume and not have to be as careful or precise so a larger sprayer would be more useful than a trigger type bottle.

You could get away from baseboard spraying and focus on spraying under appliances, into wall voids where pipes/wires go, closets, etc. Spray where you normally can't see. That is where the spiders/insects hang out and spend the most time as opposed to baseboards. That will minimize exposure to people and pets. I use both bifenthrin and deltamethrin interior and exterior and we have cats. Keep it away from their dishes and away from wet spray until dry. When it's dry it bonds well to the surfaces. If you get away from baseboard spraying you have pretty much eliminated their potential exposure.

In unfinished basements/garages you could still spray the wall/floor junction as well as the wall/ceiling junctions as that would have some value in those areas. Keep cats out until dry and no problem.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 12:08 PM
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Hey Folks,

Thanks for the input. Especially regarding bifenthrin and deltamethrin. I will check them out.

PAbugman- I appreciate the application detail. If I hurt the cat, I will be in the dog house.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 12:15 PM
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May I ask another question regarding dilution of bifenthrin. I see it is readily available in liquid for in either 7.9% or 25.1% bifenthrin. Which would be better or is it all about the how much water you use to dilute it?
 
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Old 02-15-19, 01:17 PM
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Yes it will be about the amount of water used. The respective labels should give instructions on mixing/dilution that will get you to a finished product of .05%.

You could do a cost analysis and see how many gallons of .05% you will get from each and do the math to determine cost per gallon. It may or may not be significant. The Miss Muffet spray is a finished diluted product of .05% which means that 99.95% is water which you are paying for. I'm confident that Miss Muffet is a cute, but expensive little thing...
 
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Old 02-15-19, 01:24 PM
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https://www.domyown.com/bifen-xts-p-1236.html

If given a choice, I prefer these "squeeze" type bottles over the "tip and pour" as they are more controllable when measuring/pouring, especially for those that haven't done it much. The tip and pours will add unwanted concentrate quickly if you pour close to straight up as one might if trying to get the last drop out of the measuring part.
 
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Old 02-16-19, 06:57 AM
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A quick look at the price of Miss Muffet vs. bifenthrin says it would clearly be cheaper to go with bifenthrin. Thank you again for your advice!
 
 

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