With the appearance of insecticidal gels on the market, various traps and highly effective aerosol preparations for combating domestic insects, pencils from cockroaches began to seem to gradually become history: in most cases they simply do not compete with more effective modern means of exterminating insects.
However, the chalk from cockroaches Masha is in this sense a peculiar phenomenon. It not only continues to be actively sold in stores (including on the Internet), but moreover, it is often preferred to use microencapsulated preparations instead of aerosols.
There are several reasons for this:
- Chalk Masha really helps to get rid of cockroaches.And although the reviews on this subject may vary to some extent, but the fact is obvious - when using crayfish, cockroaches actually die, and in large quantities;
- This pencil is very inexpensive. Even the most affordable drugs from other types of cockroaches are for the most part significantly more expensive than Masha;
- A very important point is that Masha doesn’t smell like crayons from cockroaches, doesn’t emit harmful substances into the air and isn’t dusty, that is, it’s safe to handle. You must admit that when children live in an apartment, you don’t really want to poison cockroaches with some Dichlorvos or other odorous (especially aerosol) poison;
- Traces of the use of a pencil are easy to wash off the treated surfaces (which cannot be said about the use of some insecticidal preparations for spraying);
- Well, finally, Masha is remembered by the people. Mainly due to the fact that even in times of shortage in Soviet times, it was her who took out ants and cockroaches (and later appeared analogues, which, although they had different names, still were used in the old-fashioned manner to be called Masha).
It is not surprising that even today in some apartments you can see white strips of chalk on the back walls of the furniture and next to the sinks. And sometimes here, nearby, dead cockroaches also lie.
About how small Masha works (what effect it has on cockroaches), what important nuances need to be taken into account when applying it and whether it is possible to kill cockroaches in advanced cases with it - about all this, as well as some other interesting points we will go on and talk more ...
Feedback
“... I remember very well how my mother constantly bought such pencils and smeared the walls in the kitchen behind the refrigerator and stove. When we started fighting cockroaches, I immediately got in touch with my parents, my mother said that she had used Masha crayons from cockroaches before, and now. Somehow I didn’t dare to poison with one small piece, nevertheless, we needed to get rid of insects quickly, and we called pest control. The funny thing is that after the treatment, they advised us to anoint the walls behind the bedside tables with small pieces so that the cockroaches from the neighbors would die as soon as they ran into the apartment. ”
Ilya, Moscow
Active components of chalk
We must pay tribute to the manufacturer Masha: for the entire long history of the drug, its composition changed several times and went more or less with the times: new insecticides were added to it instead of obsolete, so that the tool would remain effective and at the same time safe to use.
That crayon from Masha cockroaches, which can be bought today, incorporates the following components:
- Deltamethrin (0.05%) is a synthetic insecticide of intestinal and contact action. It affects the nervous system of insects, regardless of whether it falls into the stomach of a cockroach, on its legs or on the body. Pretty quickly leads to insect paralysis and subsequent death;
- Zeta-cypermethrin (0.10%) is also a synthetic insecticide from the group of pyrethroids, but slightly different from deltamethrin in composition and structure of molecules;
- Filler (chalk). Actually, this filler is the carrier of the insecticide and in its essence is a common chalk, containing in itself a bit of poison.
Two different insecticides in the composition of the chalk are needed in order to significantly reduce the chances of the cockroaches developing resistance to this agent. (the probability of development of a pest resistance even for one insecticide with a competent approach is very low, and for two it is almost zero).
On a note
Both deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin are used as part of some aerosol insecticides used in the fight against insects.And sometimes these substances can be found in the composition of drugs intended for use by professional services of disinsection.
The pencil Masha works like this: a cockroach runs along a strip of chalk and gets stained with paws, mustaches and belly in tiny solids containing insecticides. In the presence of at least a small amount of moisture (from insect saliva or from the environment), the active ingredients begin to work slowly (contact action), penetrating through the chitinous coat into the insect hemolymph.
However, the main contribution to the poisoning of the cockroach is the fact that the insect is trying to clean its paws and whiskers with jaws from pollution, as a result of which a part of the drug inevitably gets into its digestive tract. Literally in a few minutes the insect's behavior becomes inadequate, then paralysis and death are observed.
All that the owner of the apartment needs to do in order for a similar fate to befall all cockroaches is to use the tool correctly.
On a note
Today, after some rebranding, the Silver Masha appeared on the markets and hardware stores.You can safely buy it - it's the same chalk with the same composition, and, accordingly, it also helps from cockroaches.
Rules for the use of Masha: how to remove cockroaches
Apply Masha easy. The main task is to spread the small places most frequently visited by cockroaches (these places are briefly spelled out in the instructions for using a pencil, right on the package).
So, what to do:
- Draw chalk lines on baseboards and back surfaces of furniture, preferably around the back wall (it is especially important to do this in the kitchen);
- Draw a trash bin around the perimeter with a pencil and place it in the future only inside this circle;
- Make a solid line around the perimeter of the sink, you can bottom. As practice shows, in an average apartment it is from a shell that cockroaches mostly drink water;
- Outline along the perimeter of the openings of all ventilation ducts (since individual individuals of cockroaches may well come to you from their neighbors);
- Outline the legs of the tables around the perimeter with chalk (to get to the table, cockroaches would certainly run along a strip of chalk).
The strips themselves need to be drawn fatter - 10-15 mm.Considering that this chalk from cockroaches is inexpensive and you can buy it everywhere, it’s better not to save here.
The longer Masha will be on the treated surfaces, the greater the number of cockroaches she will destroy. Therefore, it should not be washed off.
Feedback
“But we did not become perverted at the dacha and we simply smeared everything with Masha's pencil. We can buy it from us everywhere, 25 rubles are worth one piece. We bought four pieces, thoroughly painted over all the cabinets at the back, we drew them on baseboards, under the floor mats. And what do you think? It helped! Cockroaches generally almost gone. Maybe sometimes we will meet somewhere, but there is already no such person as before, when they were constantly running in crowds. ”
Ksenia, Tomsk
Meanwhile, it should be borne in mind that the most effective way to use today the pencil Masha against cockroaches is to use it in parallel with additional funds (especially in advanced cases). If there are a lot of cockroaches in the room, it is highly desirable to combine crayon with the use of insecticidal gels, as well as aerosol preparations. Including a good effect is given by modern microencapsulated insecticidal preparations, sold in the form of concentrates for dilution and subsequent spraying from a conventional household sprinkler.
With this approach, most of the cockroaches die when the premises are treated with an aerosol (or spray), and the small ones and the gel are already finished off by the survivors and, quite importantly, they do not allow new pests to breed, if they sometimes enter the apartment from their neighbors.
Protection of the apartment with chalk
Taking into account the above, Masha's crayon is a rather effective means of preventing the penetration of cockroaches into the room from the outside. It is quite obvious that for this, it is necessary to carefully describe all possible places for insects to enter the room — small windows (if the windows are often kept open), entrance doors, air vents. And sometimes the sockets and water pipes - although it is often easier to seal the slots that are available here with alabaster or mounting foam.
With this use of insecticide chalk performs the so-called barrier protective function: so that the cockroach could get into the protected room from the outside, he will have to overcome a kind of barrier in the form of a chalk line. And it is deadly to insects, and most individuals after overcoming such a line will soon die.
By the way, even if it was possible to get rid of cockroaches completely and they, it would seem, no longer exists, it is useful to draw Mashenka’s strip on the back walls of the furniture as a preventive measure. There will be no harm from this, and an additional protection factor will not hurt.
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“As soon as we made the repair, we immediately sanded the cockroaches in the apartment in order to enter it without cohabitants. Used Malathion, had, of course, suffer a terrible smell. And then they simply anointed the floors and the back tables under the walls of Masha. It is cheap, it is easy to buy it, but now even if some cockroaches from neighbors come, they don’t live in our apartment for more than a few days. ”
Anna, Kharkov
Safety when using the machine in the apartment
For safety reasons, small strips are best applied on surfaces that cannot be reached by children or pets. Generally speaking, deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin are chemically quite resistant substances, and if sunlight does not reach the surface, the effect of insecticides will last more than 2 months - the same is said in the instructions for the pencil.
It is advisable to carry out the treatment with gloves and then wash hands thoroughly with soap after it - although the operating components in Masha’s composition are not very poisonous to humans and warm-blooded animals, however, if they are swallowed, their health benefits will not be obvious either. Accordingly, in places accessible to pets and children, Masha is better not to apply.
Feedback
“I once read reviews that a cat ate half of Masha’s crayon at someone’s home. Nothing like terrible happened then, saliva only flowed strongly, but somehow I was afraid. I already smeared Masha with all the cabinets, tables, and a fridge in the back, but I don’t decide everything in open spaces. I hope that cockroaches will disappear anyway ... ”
Irina, Kremenchug
Analogs means and what to do if Masha did not work
The closest analogues to Masha are:
- chalk from cockroaches Clean House;
- crayfish from crawling insects Tornado;
- insecticidal chalk Titanic;
- chalk from cockroaches GloBal;
- and also Chinese pencils from cockroaches.
It is believed that the Chinese crayons are much more toxic and more effectively kill cockroaches. True, for pets and children, they are more dangerous.
It should be borne in mind that in cases where there are a lot of cockroaches in the room, even the correct use of Masha may not give the desired result - many insects simply will not run along the strips of the tool. In this case, you will need to combine the crayons with other types of tools (as mentioned above):
- Concentrates of insecticides (Xsulat Micro, Delta Zone, Get, etc.), which are diluted in water and applied with a spray gun to the walls, baseboards and furniture. This will destroy the cockroaches in just a few hours. If the area is small, then you can use aerosol preparations in cans (Raptor, Combat, Dichlorvos of different brands, etc.);
- Gels from cockroaches, some of which work though not quickly, but very effectively (Exil, Dokhloks, Fas, etc.).
Many disinsection services in the breeding of cockroaches use precisely complex processing, using both fast-acting drugs and prophylactic (barrier) drugs.
If you have experience of using Masha's cockroach crayons, be sure to share information by leaving a review at the bottom of this page (and it’s not important whether this review is positive, neutral or negative).
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A friend comes to the neighbor and asks: how are your cockroaches there, did the crayon help? Yeah, he says, out, see, sit in the corner - draw ...
Does not help at all. Cockroaches do not care - run on this crayon.
Exactly. Bullshit this Masha, cockroaches do not notice her at all. Different gels - the same theme, cockroaches quickly adapt to them, literally after one application. Chinese crayons are much more effective.
That's how much I read, just a nightmare. And all of them do not take anything. Recently, and dust processed, all white cockroaches have become. A day passes — they run, no longer white, showered. There is no water anywhere. Tenacious reptiles. Boric acid with an egg made, this is the last resort. Maybe all this poison is not working? How much money, but to sense ... And the factories do and do. And ammonia does not take them, you will get poisoned yourself, and at least something for them. Maybe all this does not work, shops are bursting, and cockroaches have no business to it ...
Cockroach ran, about 8 mm. For the sake of interest she circled him thinly. Ran fast. I also put a few lines on the road. He began to rush, brush, move unevenly, then fell down and jerked. In total, a meter by 3, he advanced. How many would have survived, I do not know, after 20 minutes I wondered. During the night, a lot of corpses and half-dead sweep away. Whoever fails there - smear thicker, do not be greedy.And buy original crayons, with unexpired shelf life.
With the help of Masha brought cockroaches in his house. They brought them there with furniture, bought with it. It did not immediately help, but when winter came, Masha and the cold did their job ... Cockroaches began to appear less and less, some pale ones. Until they disappeared completely.
Well, maybe fakes are selling.