Everyday Cheapskate: Pest control without poisons -- what actually works?

Got creepy-crawly insects like ants, centipedes, cockroaches, silverfish, even -- gasp! -- bedbugs trying to take over your home or garden? Don’t call an exterminator quite yet. I’m confident this is a problem you can fix yourself -- cheaper and faster!

If you want to treat your home for insects but don’t want to poison yourself, your pets or the earth, your very best option is to use food-grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of centipedes, bedbugs, ants, silverfish, cockroaches, fleas and all other household creepy-crawlies.

DE is an off-white talc-like powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. If you could look at it through a microscope, you’d see that it resembles shards of glass. When sprinkled on a bug with an exoskeleton (centipedes, bedbugs, ants, cockroaches, fleas, etc.) or placed strategically so that a bug crawls into it, the DE cuts into the exoskeleton, causing the bug to dehydrate and die.

Here’s the most amazing thing about DE: It kills bugs but doesn’t hurt mammals. You and your pets can eat it without harm. In fact, many people add DE to their daily diet to promote good health.

Food-grade DE is readily available at garden centers and hardware stores. Just make certain you are purchasing food-grade diatomaceous earth, not the variety for swimming pools, which has been chemically altered and will not work as a pesticide. It must be food-grade.

Using a flour sifter, fine mesh strainer, saltshaker or “bulb duster,” lightly dust the powdery DE in cracks and crevices, along baseboards, windowsills and door frames, beneath and behind appliances, in the garden and yard -- anywhere you see those little pests. This is a non-toxic and environmentally safe treatment, but please wear a face protector because DE is as fine as talcum powder.

Diatomaceous earth is my first line of defense against ants because it’s non-toxic, readily available, and it just plain works!

Sprinkle the food-grade DE outside around the perimeter of your home. You can also safely sprinkle it inside where you see the ants -- as long as it is food-grade, it is totally non-toxic.

Once the ants (or any kind of crawling bugs) walk in the fine powder, they’ll die because the DE quietly destroys their exoskeletons.

For flea-invested carpet, dust the carpet well with the DE, then pound it in with a broom. Leave it to do its job, then vacuum the carpet very well after 24 to 36 hours, emptying the bag or dust collector often.

DE can do wonders for your garden -- it’s a natural, non-toxic and very effective way to tackle aphids, slugs, snails and other plant pests. DE also contains trace amounts of other essential minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron, which are good for the soil. To incorporate DE into your garden soil, mix it into the top few inches of soil, or add it to your compost pile.

When applied correctly, DE is definitely worth a try to tackle creepy-crawly pests in your backyard and is better for the environment than using chemical-laden pesticides. Just remember to keep it away from flowers to avoid harming pollinators, and reapply it if it rains.

For more genius uses for food-grade diatomaceous earth -- from health and beauty to home and garden -- meet me at EverydayCheapskate.com/DE. See you there!

Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”

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