Can ammonia kill roaches?
This is one vital question we’ll be seeking answers to. All you have to do is read on to find details about its efficacy or otherwise.
You’re probably reading this because you’re interested in trying out ammonia treatment for your roach problems.
If so, let’s help you find answers.
Will Ammonia Kill Roaches?
When it comes to mentioning one of the most hated pest problems people deal with, roaches will easily be among the top 5. These aren’t the most sanitary of creatures as they’re mostly related to filth.
These pathogen-carrying insects easily influence the spread of diseases among other problems caused.
When these are spotted around the home, there’s an urgent need to have them exterminated. Many homeowners have no idea of what to use.
For some, a rumor about the efficacy of a certain product may be what they act upon to provide a solution.
More often than not, people are disappointed to find that their DIY efforts weren’t effective.
What’s Ammonia?
Ammonia could be in powder form or in an aqueous form called ammonium hydroxide. This is a chemical compound that has a pungent odor.
What more? At high concentrations, ammonia tends to be caustic and harmful.
This is probably why it’s considered a roach exterminator.
Uses of Ammonia
Before we get into our focus on whether ammonia is a roach killer or not, let’s first consider its uses. What’s ammonia used for? This chemical compound has wide applicability.
It’s one product that’s used in an industrial setting, as well as for the manufacturing of household products.
Ammonia compound is also used in the petroleum industry, as well as for manufacturing other compounds and also for metal treatment.
Here, it’s obvious that we’ve left out or excluded pest control as being among the uses of ammonia.
The use of ammonia for pest control isn’t widely common. In other words, most of the pest control uses of ammonia you’ve heard about are mostly DIY-related.
Most of the claims about its efficacy are largely those arising from anecdotal experiences of some users.
Due to these claims associated with ammonia used for roach control, we’re interested in getting to the truth. Does ammonia kill roaches? It might!
Let’s find out why.
Does It Exterminate Roaches?
Although ammonia isn’t designed for pest control, it has some exterminating effects on roaches. Remember we mentioned one of the properties of ammonia as being caustic.
Asides from having acidic properties, the pungent smell arising from ammonia could be one of the properties that give it its repellent effect.
It’s clear that asides from having the exterminating effect on roaches, ammonia can also serve as a roach repellent.
With this said, how do you go about using this chemical compound?
Knowing how to use this product is essential to its efficacy. Let’s first find out how ammonia works before looking at how to use it.
How Ammonia Kills Roaches
Having found the answers you seek, let’s further explain the reasons for its exterminating effect.
This gives you a deeper understanding of how best to put it to use. By its nature, ammonia is caustic which means it would react when it comes in contact with anything it can react to.
A clear reason why roaches are killed in contact with ammonia is due to the reaction that occurs between their exoskeletons and this chemical compound.
Ammonia breaks down their outer body layers and tissues which leads to their sure death.
However, the right concentration of ammonia is needed to get the desired effect.
How To Use Ammonia For Roach Extermination
Using ammonia for roach extermination requires mixing a solution with enough strength or concentration to get the job done. Get about 4 ounces of hot water and have it mixed with double the volume (8 ounces) of ammonia.
Empty this solution into a spray bottle and have it sprayed on roaches.
The downside with this method is the fact that roaches always want to stay out of sight or human presence. As such, there’s little success having the product make direct contact with their bodies.
However, when you act fast enough, you could have some level of success.
Roaches could use your drains as one of their hideouts. With such knowledge, you could pour down some hot solution of water and ammonia.
The concentration stated above (4 ounces of water and 8 ounces ammonia) should be used here too. With this action, roaches will hardly survive.
Ammonia can also serve to Deter Roaches
Not only will ammonia kill roaches, but it can also be useful for prevention purposes.
Here, surfaces are targeted for cleaning. You don’t have to spray ammonia solution directly on roaches.
You only need to have such surfaces cleaned. The pungent odor resulting from such cleaning will help keep these pests at bay.
To get things started, pour about 2 cups of ammonia into a bucket of water and use it for your normal cleaning.
Is Ammonia an Effective Roach Treatment?
Having exterminating properties doesn’t translate to being an effective roach problem solver.
In other words, ammonia might be effective when sprayed on roaches. However, there are downsides to its use including problems with accessibility as mentioned earlier.
Because it has to become in contact with roach bodies, it creates a challenge to finding roaches. These pests are nocturnal and mostly emerge at night when there’s the least disturbance.
Given such a reality, it’s necessary to find or adopt more effective treatment strategies.
Finding More Effective Treatment Options
Effective roach extermination is best handled by a trained pest control technician.
These are professionals with the right training and with years of experience in pest control. A pest control technician understands roach behavior and knows just how to fish out these pests from their hideouts.
What more? Paying for professional roach treatment saves you a great deal of stress as you only need to call the right company and state the problem. Point to the problem and give way for treatment to commence.
With this action, your home is cleared of all roach issues.
Ammonia kills roaches but has its many limitations. In a nutshell, it isn’t an effective treatment strategy to use. Plus, the treatment process could be overwhelming for some homeowners.