How to Use Baking Soda to Deal With Common Household Pests – Cockroaches, Fleas, Ants & More

Detail

Baking soda can be useful as a low-toxicity household pest-control aid, but it isn’t a guaranteed insecticide. It works best alongside cleaning, removing food sources, sealing cracks, and eliminating moisture.

1. Cockroaches

Method:
Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar and place a small amount in a shallow dish near areas where cockroaches are active.

The sugar attracts them, while the baking soda may be harmful when ingested.

Important: Keep the mixture away from children and pets, and don’t scatter it across food-preparation surfaces.

2. Ants

Baking soda alone is not a particularly reliable way to eliminate an established ant colony.

A better approach is to:

Clean up food crumbs and spills.
Seal cracks and entry points.
Store sweets and other food in sealed containers.
Use an appropriate ant bait according to its label if the infestation persists.

3. Fleas

Baking soda is sometimes recommended for carpets, but it should not be relied upon to eliminate a flea infestation. Flea eggs and larvae can survive in carpets and upholstery.

Instead:

Vacuum carpets, rugs, furniture, and cracks frequently.
Wash pet bedding in hot water when appropriate.
Treat pets with a veterinarian-recommended flea product.
Address the home environment at the same time.

4. Silverfish

Keeping areas dry and well ventilated is more useful than relying on baking soda. Repair leaks, reduce humidity, and seal cracks around homemade pest mixture away from children, pets, food, and food-pre walls and pipes.

5. General Pest Prevention

The most effective long-term strategy is eliminating what attracts pests:

Keep food in sealed containers.
Clean crumbs and grease promptly.
Empty garbage regularly.
Fix leaking faucets and pipes.
Remove standing water.
Seal gaps around doors, windows, pipes, and walls.
Keep clutter to a minimum.

Safety Warning

Don’t mix baking soda with bleach, ammonia, pesticides, or other cleaning chemicals. Keep any homemade pest mixture away from children, pets, food, and food-preparation areas.

For a serious cockroach, flea, bedbug, or other infestation, a properly labeled pest-control treatment or professional pest-control service is generally much more reliable than baking soda alone.