Will lime treat ticks and keep them away? Let’s discuss the use of lime in tick control.

If you keep pets, you’d have had to deal with tick problems at one point or the other. These blood-sucking pests won’t also hesitate to feed on human blood. In terms of its control, varying tick treatments are used.

This includes the adoption of home remedies among which lime treatment is one.

Does Lime Keep Ticks Away?

If you or your pets spend a significant amount of time in the wild, one problem you’re likely going to be dealing with is tick infestation. These blood-sucking parasites need suitable hosts as sources of nutrition.

Unfortunately, both you and your pets are targeted due to the ready supply of blood.

Now, there are lots of responses for tick extermination. You’ll need to find one that’s more suitable for your needs. In this article, we take a look at one of these tick remedies; lime.

Although popular, there are doubts in certain quarters about its efficacy. So, does lime kill ticks?

Stay with us as we seek to discuss the efficacy of lime as a tick killer. We’ll also be looking at other uses of lime and how safe it is for use on your body and that of your pets.

As with all home remedy treatments, the debate about its efficacy arises.

Does lime repel and kill ticks? If you have such questions or seek to find answers to this question, you’ll need to read along for details about such.

We’ll also be discussing other related aspects of tick control as it involves lime.

About Lime

Before discussing its efficacy on ticks, it’s important to provide a brief introduction to lime. This is one product that kills a wide variety of insect pests through dehydration.

To avoid any confusion, it’s important to mention the type of lime we’re discussing; hydrated lime is widely used for a whole range of pest issues.

This is a caustic product that can irritate the skin when applied directly to it. As such, it’s a bad idea to apply directly to the skin.

However, this problem can be applied in a number of ways to a variety of pest issues especially those within your yard. The downside with lime use is that beneficial insects may also get killed.

The Point of Using Lime for Tick Treatment

As one of the ingredients used in cement and mortar, lime, also called calcium hydroxide is a non-toxic element that’s cost-effective, yet effective in the treatment of a variety of pest problems.

It’s mostly adopted as a DIY alternative by homeowners.

With DIY lime pest treatments, one thing is certain. It is a cheaper, yet effective alternative to chemical treatment. Is this a confirmation of its ability to repel and kill ticks? It absolutely is!

With proper application, lime will give relief from tick problems.

Lime Will Repel and Kill Ticks

Lime is one trusted natural ingredient used by a lot of homeowners both as a tick repellent and for extermination.

These parasitic pests are easily dislodged and killed when lime is effectively applied. This product comes in different forms. There is hydrated lime as well as agricultural lime.

Both of these have the same repellent and exterminating effect on ticks when applied.

So, what’s the difference between the two, and which is best to use? In terms of safety on pets and humans, agricultural lime is the clear winner as it’s known to be gentle in addition to being an animal-friendly product.

At the same time, it will either kill or repel ticks, fleas, and other parasitic pests. Hydrated lime on the other hand goes by several names among some of which include slaked lime, or calcium hydroxide.

Unlike agricultural lime, slaked lime tends to be less safe.

Slaked lime is less safe due to its caustic nature. This could cause burns to human and pet skin and could also be reactive on eyes leading to damage.

When used for pest control, it’s mostly applied to targeted areas and not on human or pet skin.

Having distinguished the main types, it’s important to note that the rest of our discussion will be more focused on agricultural lime than hydrated lime.

This is because it’s the safer option available for tick control.

How Lime Works

Homeowners using lime for tick control have one objective; to get relief. It doesn’t matter to them whether such ticks are killed or repelled.

However, the latter is preferable to many. Since we’ve established the repelling and exterminating effect of lime on ticks, it’s important to discuss how it works.

Whenever lime is applied to ticks, it kills by dehydrating them. Ticks have no chance of surviving such an ordeal. Most ticks will die off why the few surviving ones get repelled.

Now, you’ll need to know how to put this product to good use to achieve desired results.

How Safe is Lime?

Safety is always paramount when it comes to the use of any pest control method.

You want to ensure that no member of your household is exposed to harmful pesticides. That includes your animals and pets. As such, it’s normal to want to know the level of safety involved with lime use.

Lime can be caustic but is considered generally safe for use under certain conditions. Such include not applying directly to your skin as it might have a wide range of side effects.

If you have any concerns about irritation and skin sensitivity, it’s best to seek professional advice or find an alternative.

How to Use Lime For Tick Control

Ticks mostly get into homes from the outdoors.

These pests will either cling to you or your pets as you take a walk in the wild. In indoor and outdoor areas of your home, ticks will be found around resting areas used by dogs.

These pests could be found in your lawn and overgrown shrubs among other areas.

You’ll need to dust your entire yard with this powdered substance. Some sprinkling around will serve just fine. It’s important to focus on shaded areas.

Having sprinkled powdered lime around, your grass or lawn area will require further action.

In other words, you’ll need to work the lime into your grass. Using a rake for such action makes it much easier. Your kid and pets will need to be kept out of the treatment area until there’s a clear improvement.

Lime can also be used for indoor treatments. All you have to do is dust surfaces with powdered lime.

Ticks lay eggs at different spots ranging from door surrounds, rug edges, curtains, window surrounds, as well as baseboard areas.

Such areas should be dusted with lime before vacuuming.

Lime Treatments Might Be Ineffective

Whenever you use lime, you should understand that there are no assurances in terms of the results obtained.

In some situations, you may notice a worsening of your lime issues. Such observations may be due to multiple factors including the possibility that proper application wasn’t done.

You’ll have to go for a more reliable treatment option or simply adopt the preventive type of treatment discussed earlier. With such, there won’t be a need to carry out lime treatments that aren’t as effective.

Can I Get Lasting Relief from Ticks with Lime?

Depending on how it’s used or applied, lime can give you the results you seek by eliminating ticks.

However, DIY treatments have several limitations among which is the lack of experience on your part as a non-professional.

Professional pest management technicians are trained and skilled at combating pest problems. Plus, they have an understanding of pest behavior.

So, such professionals know where to target or where to look at during the inspection. This is something you lack as a DIY’er. Such limitations are likely to make your lime treatment less effective.

In a nutshell, it’s best to have a pest management service handle your tick problem. While it’s clear that lime will give results, you may not be limited by your lack of experience or knowledge on how ticks behave.

Discussing Your Options with a Pro

There’s no definite assurance that your tick issues will be gone the moment you apply lime to it. Here, a lot of things might go wrong.

To improve your chances of success, it’s best to have a chat with a professional. Your focus should be on your main objective; finding solutions to tick issues.

So, it will be good to have a discussion with a licensed pest technician.

Get to find out what their expert opinion is before proceeding. Most times, it’s best to have the pros handle your tick extermination procedure than following a method that’s not so reliable.

Are there Other Home Remedies for Tick Problems?

A lot of people may want to know if there are other natural ways to eliminate ticks from their homes or yards.

The good news is; there are! While the degree of efficiency of such treatments may be disputed, they’re still widely used alongside natural products like lime.

Such natural treatments include the use of cedar oil, eating garlic, using eucalyptus oil, as well as neem oil.

Other natural tick treatment products include apple cider vinegar, aromatherapy treatments (using essential oils), and a spray solution using essential oils like citronella, tea tree, and peppermint oil.

Essential oil solutions can be made using water or carrier oil of your choice. These are only a few of several natural treatments for tick problems.

Natural Approaches As Alternatives To Lime Tick Control

Lime alone may not give you the results you seek when it comes to tick removal.

You can combine the lime application with simple preventive actions to get the most result. You can begin by clearing out debris from your yard. Ticks tend to thrive in areas with piles of debris.

Such debris may be in the form of leaves, piles of brushes, or grasses in your yard.

By clearing these out, you make your surroundings less inviting and suitable for tick presence. Plus, more sun exposure means there’ll be less moisture for these pests to survive.

Treating your pets of ticks is very important. You may want to get some oral medications from a vet to make it impossible for these pests to latch onto your pet’s skin for a blood meal.

Do you get a lot of visits from deer? You may want to change the plants within your yard to deer-resistant varieties. Also, have your yard dusted with lime to kill any surviving ticks.

  • Try Applying Essential Oils

Another lime alternative that could prove helpful in tick control is the use of essential oils.

You might want to make a little research on which essential oils have the most repellent effect. Vinegar is also believed to have some degree of repellent effect on ticks.

The Treatment Process Can be Overwhelming

Certain DIY treatments can be a bit confusing and overwhelming. This is worsened by the fact that such treatments may not have the desired impact.

If you’re faced with such a situation, it’s best to have a pro handle all your pest issues. Licensed pest technicians know exactly what to do to tackle your pest problem.

They’re well trained and have a full understanding of tick behavior. This allows them to provide better solutions. What more? They advise you on the most effective ways to keep ticks at bay.

You also get to learn about treatment methods such as lime use.

Conclusion

Lime kills ticks when applied the right way.

However, there are no guarantees that you’ll have total relief from such pests. You may want to go for other alternatives mentioned or adopt preventive treatments.

If lime treatment for ticks seems like a lot of work to you, you can save yourself the stress by calling a professional pest management service.

Of course, your preference for natural treatment methods should be communicated to your service provider.

Having confirmed the efficacy of lime both as a tick repellent and exterminator, you can proceed to use it without hesitation.

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