Non-toxic bug killer sprays

So I settled for the bug killer sprays:

Dish washing liquid diluted several times - for spraying around the kitchen and eating surfaces.

Multi-surface cleaner diluted several times - for floors that should not be slippery, and for other surfaces that do not need to rinse or wipe. The one I use is Green Works with grease formula for kitchen, that only need to wipe clean.

Multi-surface cleaner neat - for large bugs such as flies. I use diluted spray to shoot flies down, immobilize them and move in the big guns for the kill.

The soapy solutions really do not kill by toxin. Once the solution dries, the ants come back in no time if they can get in. When I kill the flies with undiluted solutions, their corpse attract plenty of ants.

Perfectly safe effective fly spray

Oh yes, it's soapy water again. From the web, it can even kill roaches instantly.

Flies cannot fly long distance. That's why they are annoying. My problem is not their invasion as all my windows have insect screens. But once a group got inside, it's hard to let them fly outside again, even though they want to.

To get rid of flies instantly you need fly swatter. Any other weapons at hand will repel them before reaching them.

A soapy spray is easier. You may stop them in mid flight by spraying them. You are only spraying hand soap diluted. However, they resting place is very easy to follow and not far away. You just need to spray them when they are resting. One spray and they cannot fly, hardly crawl. You can allow them to die slowly and fall off the wall. Or you can add a spray or two to kill them in seconds.

And there is a soapy solution for everything. For glass. For bathroom. Multi-surface. While hand soap is completely safe, it got residues and slippery. The Nature's Choice that I got is not there anymore. I got the Nature Works for grease. It's a multi-surface that you do not need to rinse. And I only need some mild cleaner for the kitchen. Any other place I have the CRL biodegradable.

Soapy water kill ants instantly

I used up my enviro friendly biodegradable acidic mixture pretty fast. So I just add my cheapest liquid soap and dilute it. It kills instantly just the same. I wash my hands many times everyday with it undiluted, so it can't be toxic.

Just don't spray on smooth footpath - it's slippery. When the sprinkler turned on, it re-energized the dried soapy solution. Ants can't walk on it without dying. In contrast, they just cross solid piles of ant barriers as if nothing.

It's so wonderful that if ants get into anything in the house, there's a soapy solution for that. For example, carpet shampoo! Hardwood floor cleaner! Liquid detergent even for vegetables! In the past I use wide cellulose tape.

If you do need to plant anything that ants will attack: Keep all your areas at least lightly irrigated and ants will not live. Ants will only come from outside.

Ants always walk on dry hard flat surface if they can, rather than soil and turf. I'm not sure if they will cross a trench of water. But if you add a little liquid soap, they will die crossing. And soap will stay when water evaporates.

Forget about ant repelling plants. My lavender doesn't work. The ants are happy to climb the thick branches. Those dense ground hugging covers may work, as ants are forced to crawl over it.

I would cut cheap black waste pipes in half, which is pretty easy with a jigsaw with any metal blade. They will surround a fruit garden or a fruit tree. You just to top up with water from time to time. Soap will stay a log longer. Soap may or may not repell mosquito eggs. You can add an 1" block of chlorine bleach for swimming pools.

Instant kill homemade biodegradable ant killer

For most current updates, see label "pest".

Summary: dilute soapy solution kill ants instantly.  There are even organic liquid soaps on the market if you want.  Soapy solution will kill or immobilize crawling insects.  Alcohol will kill flying insects like flies almost instantly.  First-aid alcohol is good but Vodka spray is safe around food, pets and people (for non-alcoholics).  Ants don't live in wet places like regular watered lawns.  Must fill cracks so ants don't live.  Protect fruit trees with soapy water trench on the ground or up the trunk.

I'm consolidating the number of chemicals used in our house. Basically several types of cleaners contain similar chemicals. Even if they are optimized for different uses, you save a lot of hassle keeping so many, with so many labels to read. Basically a strong organic acid (biodegradable) is all you need for degreasing, lime scales, bathroom, toilet, sinks, stinks, to tires and wheels. (Some surface are not acid safe, but that's stupid.)

It dawned on me to try spraying ants with strong acid cleaners. My CLR biodegradable is an instant kill, better than the insect and ant killer that I'm using that is safe for lawns. As CLR is about the most expensive bottle of household cleaner, I tried

Nature's Choice,
general purpose cleaning agent
ingredients - mostly biodegradable natural plant extracts, probably organic acid

It's instant kill. I diluted to half and then quarter strength, it is still instant kill. I just search the net and am surprised to see that people mentioned soapy solution, but not in a big way so as to put ant killers out of business.

You may find you best and cheapest soapy solution and see how diluted it can be. But mine is good enough. It biodegradable, multi-surface cleaner. It already comes with a spray bottle in case you are in a hurry. That's the reason I tried it in the first place. There are no resides and you don't need to rinse it after surface cleaning. Basically I'm cleaning while killing ants at the same time!

Also I doubt if a diluted plant extract cleaner will do any harm to plants. I do spot spraying only so I rarely need to spray on plants and lawns. You do not need to spray on lawns because ants do not live in wet soil.

I used to use an instant kill ant killer. They took it off the market, perhaps because of safety concerns. I remembered somebody said that some chemicals use kills like nerve gas, and it works on ants as well as humans, which is much bigger.

To consolidate chemicals, I only use an outdoor spray, safe for lawns. Otherwise I need three.

Basically if you live near to some open space, and you have ant problems, you need to live with it. Ants just need some shady dry place to make a home, and accessible to water and food, which is plenty.

Ants don' t eat that much plants so there's not much reason to get rid of all ants outdoors. Ants like fruit. You better harvest before they come, or share with them. Experienced gardeners will cut off the palm tree fruits before they ripe.

Keep everything outdoors watered and ants will not live near you.

To keep ants out of your landscaping, the same method applies regarding the house.

Most importantly, you have to stop ants invading your house. Ants invade your house for many reasons - to find food and water, and to find dry shelter. Whatever they lack outside they will try to find inside.

I have seen enough insect terminators fail for ants. The latest terminator offered to spray once every month instead of three, compensated with safe chemicals they claim. This is the wrong approach as there is an unlimited supply of ants.

The only way is to block all access into your house for ants. If you live in a single family / detached house, that's easy. When a lot of ants invade your home, from the outside find ant trails. Follow the ants and you know how they get into the house, even the hole is tiny.

Fill the hole with you favorite. Transparent caulk adhesive. Specking material. Or just repair the outside surface properly. My favorite is of lime, sand and water mix - the cheapest and safe (don't breath the dust). The main advantage is that it does not dry easily. The paste will stop ants instantly, and it will dry completely in a couple of hours. Paintable too. But the unused paste will takes weeks to dry up if you put a sealing cover on. It's completely safe so you can rinse your tool in the sink. It's not waterproof though. You can mix in a little cement for that, but it drys fast.

When one hole is blocked, they may find the next best one. That's why I don't kill them. They help me to find all the holes fast. When they have no where to go they just disappear, looking for other houses perhaps.

Ants come from the ground so its rare that they invade inside via air ducts and window seam drain holes, which are high up. They don't get through window insect screens either.

If ants invade your apartment, it's a bit tricky. It's hard to trace where they enter your apartment. But as long as you can move around your furniture, you have a good idea.

Here's how soapy solutions work, I think.

Soapy solutions have something called surfactants, I think, which prevent oils from sticking to surfaces. Ants can survive in water for a long time. These surfactants changed the game. They mess up the water surface tension, so this become a powerful force to destroy the ants. Firstly the ants cannot move in an instant, as in prison. I think they look like drowned, if not the chemicals in the cleaners kill them in seconds. I think their "nose" and "mouth" are messed up the same as their limbs. They can't move and can't stop water and chemicals coming in. And perhaps water blocks their air passage. So the look dead instantly and stay that way. For my cleaner, when it drys the dead ant will fall from the wall, needing no more action from me. (It's a no reside no rinse formula.)

Ant killing chemicals claim that they have residue to control ants for months. Obviously it wont' work for outdoors, and even if true you don't want it indoors.

Imagine that, I lived so may years and nobody told me that. And it's not just me. It's so vague on the web. And our neighbors all hired insect controls for ants. I bet they still do.

TravelJohn versus CleanWaste (WAG)

The major comparison is the disposable solid waste collection bag. TravelJohn wins. The bag and the external enclosing pouch is attached to the bag. Once you close the bag, you can roll it into the pouch blind folded. The John bag feels thicker to the hand, and is also biodegradable. I think the John bag has double Ziploc while the WAG is single.

The John powder is enclosed in a paper pouch inside the plastic bag. The WAG powder is just inside the plastic bag. It is more convenient to install the John bag onto the toilet, blind folded. There's no risk of getting powder into your hand.

The WAG capacity is 32 oz. The John capacity wasn't specified, but probably at least 28 oz as in it's urinal product. I tried in two mornings. The urinal risked overflowing, but didn't. So if each one person of three deliver 12 oz, both bags are not sufficient anyway. I had more experience with the WAG. My rule of thumb is three times of liquid disposal, hopefully not all adults. If you use it too much, apart from the solidification, the pouch isn't large enough for that much liquid.

The John powder may not be completely biodegradable. It's non-toxic though.

So the poo powder for extra solidification is pretty useless. The limiting factor is the size of the pouch.

Portable urinal - all not suitable for camping. The classic John comes without any Ziploc. You can just throw away the jelly when you are done. The newer reusable ones comes with a seal like a Ziploc. They are quite usable though for traveling and the long drive to camp. The plastic "mouth" is good for both boys and girls. If you are careful and with tissue in your hand, you can keep your hands all dry.

The big bags has similar liquid capacity. Any toilet system will be more convenient than holding a small plastic ring. Though these urinals, single use or double use, are really personal and private, and you don't need any toilets and bathrooms. But solid waste is the main issue.

Toilets - I will use the WAG system for solid and the John system for boys' urinal. The WAG toilet is much better than a bucket, but still boxy and bulky. The whole toilet is sturdy when you sit on it. It has a good solid toilet seat and easy to clean if necessary. The cover lid can seal the toilet pretty good. It's totally good when everybody seats down. For boys generating liquid, they can lift up the toilet seat as at home. But when the seat is lifted, there is nothing to secure the bag.

The net in the WAG toilet for holding the bag in place is pretty useless. The size of bags are designed to go all the way to the ground. If you restrict the bag it cannot be spread evenly around the seat. I remove it.

The John toilet is like a portable chair. From the picture I wouldn't seat on it, sharing it with others. But I would carry one, good for a boy loo that nobody need to sit on. A simple frame like the ring holding a basket ball net will be good.

I won't buy any simpler toilet to sit on with good possibility of toppling - kids can't sit still.

For the bathroom tent, both looked big enough. I have a cheap shower tent that is designed for one people standing. You can put two toilets but they are not far apart. If you have just one toilet, you still have some space for changing, but too close to the toilet. I would get a tent big enough for two loos with some space in between, plus extra spacing for changing. You will need changing space with open bottom if you only have a tent for sleeping.

Tips: I will dispose of the bag once someone use it for solid. I think any bag will smell, but cleaning up after yourself is the more important feel good factor for others. For liquids, share at most three times, or more with kids.

A family can use around 2 bags per person per day, which is comparable to a daily camping fee for a big family. But if the campsite bathrooms are reasonably clean, adults and boys should use it in the day time. After dark, in a big campsite, in a non-environmental sensitive campsite, dumping biodegradable liquid waste anywhere shouldn't be an issue. It's priceless when you wake up in the middle of the winter night and need to go, without having to walk a long way to the camp bathroom. Also, some overcrowded campsites' toilets are only clean in the early morning, after cleaning crews do their job. Often someone block one of the toilet, or make a big mess in one of them, forming a line in the rest.

Awesome green paving and patching material

My lime sand mixture is going places, more awesome than I thought. So awesome that I think that's why you cannot buy hydrated lime in hardware stores, anything but.

In building supplies you can get 50 lb for less than $15. If you keep it dry and from air in a plastic trash bag, it will last forever. Sand is free. Now I have the habit of bring back from vacation a cup or two of sand, and immortalize them in my pavement or part of the house. Any cheap sand in hardware stores will do. Lime will dominate the color - brilliant white.

The new dry paving technique for gap filling. You just mix dry sand and hydrated lime (white power) together, and pour the mixture onto the gaps. Then you use a push boom, or small brush, to put the mixture neatly into the gaps only, and take away excess mixture. Then you spray water on the mixture with a spray bottle for example, enough to keep the mixture from blowing away by the wind, and not to much to avoid rinsing away the mixture. The next day you can pour water on it gently to finish the re-hydration process and start the recarbonate process.

The bad. There will be a brilliant white haze on the paving slabs. It will blind your eyes like snow if you live in sunny areas. I don't know how long will the haze be worn down by walking and the elements - basically it's lime stone if left for long. May be months or years. Certainly acid can cleanup the haze with little damage to the gaps. There is the biodegradable CLR. I have no idea how effective it will be. The white haze is a small price to pay.

The gaps will be brilliant white. Is it a good or bad thing compare to gray?

The mixture will take a long time to dry and harden. It doesn't matter for paving. You can walk right after as long as your slabs or stones are securely fixed. Light rain doesn't matter. It will probably heavy rain proof after a few hours. My gaps hasn't been hardened yet. Using the wet technique with water added into a paste, the mixture will harden like any other mortar, after days or weeks.

The good. This method is lighting fast. The mortar is permeable - the green way to go. For me that's a way to drain water away without having a level and flat pavement.

You can fill pretty large gaps economically and easily, as long as the lime mortar don't carry stress. It can be hard as limestone, but it takes a long time.

It's natural. Lime is from limestone, and will return to the limestone state gradually if left on it's own. It's non-toxic (but strong alkaline). It's safe for the environment, because it was the environment. I wash the tools confidently in the bathroom sink. There's the cancerous label but I think that's for breathing the dust in long term. Wear a mask and only mix it outdoors.

What is the lime and sand proportion? I have used pure lime. It shrinks and crack a lot when dry. It doesn't matter because no strength is required. The wet mixture in previous post is a guide. Basically, imagine the lime powder glue the sand particles together. So you just put enough lime in the mixture, but not too much.

You can use it on tiles, but they have to be horizontal.

Now for patching work. It has to be the wet mixture unless your holes and gaps are horizontal. Basically you mix lime with water into a thick paste without falling off walls. Then you add sand without too heavy on the mixture. The surface will be sand rough and permeable.

I have used the mortar for outdoor patching, to fill the cracks from ants entering. If not for the ants I'll leave it as it is anyway. So permeability is not a problem. If you have a base that is non-permeable, it doesn't matter. And you can always paint it with a non-permeable paint. You can always add some Portland cement to make it like concrete, but that's a complication. And you are better off buying ready mixed patches.