How to use Mashenka chalk pencil against cockroaches, ants and bedbugs

Mashenka pencil is a long-used remedy for cockroaches and other household pests. Insects not only die, but leave human habitation.

But nowadays there are so many insecticides produced that, when faced with a choice, it is not always possible to give preference to the most effective product. Before purchasing another “weapon” in the war against disgusting arthropods, you need to figure out whether it’s really worth it.

Pros and cons of the drug

It seems strange that a small white block can solve the problem of harmful bugs scurrying around the house. Especially when it comes to a room where children, pets or people suffering from allergies live. In such a situation, you need to be wary of any foreign substance, especially a toxic one.

Positive qualities of the insecticide:

• low toxicity;
• no odor;
• low cost;
• easily applied to all coatings and simply washed off;
• multifunctional - works against several types of pests.

This is interesting: the development was originally created in the 80s to protect supplies in military units. Only in the early 90s the drug appeared on the public market, having proven itself well.

The negative side of using a pencil should be considered in more detail:

1. In case of contact with the mucous membranes of the mouth, eyes or respiratory tract, it may cause irritation, allergies or mild poisoning.
2. Another disadvantage is the visual unaestheticness of its use. Not everyone will like seeing an apartment covered in white stains. When the insect infestation is small, its habitat is primarily in the kitchen or pantry. But in advanced cases, you will have to outline the entire apartment, not excluding cabinets, chests of drawers and sections from the inside.
3. The drug does not last long. The lines need to be periodically updated, having previously erased the old “drawings”. Efficiency decreases especially quickly when exposed to direct sunlight.
4. Chalk "Mashenka" is not a brand. The name is not protected by copyright, so the drug is produced by many companies specializing in the production of insecticides. When choosing a product, you need to pay attention to this and give preference to a product that is produced by a company with a good reputation.

The appearance of chalk from different brands is almost the same. The main difference lies in the level of efficiency.

Conclusion: is it possible to remove cockroaches using chalk?

Having considered the general aspects of using a pencil, we can give an overview of the positive and negative aspects of its use.

Mashenka's chalk is unlikely to help get rid of cockroaches in the apartment once and for all. As time passes, the effect of the drug disappears and new cockroaches can freely settle in your home. If you know your neighbors have persistent cockroaches, renew the chalk strips every week. It’s better to remove insects from the entire entrance at the same time, using more powerful preparations or with the help of the sanitary and epidemiological station.

Pros:

Ease of use

Low price

No smell

Low toxicity

The chalk is convenient to use due to its release form. They can be used to apply continuous lines or process surfaces in hard-to-reach places. Compared to other means (aerosols, powders), using a pencil does not require additional preparation of the room and the use of special skills and knowledge.

The low cost (about 20 rubles ) and the effectiveness of the product, according to customer reviews, have led it to wide popularity among analogues. Chalk Mashenka allows you to destroy various insects, which confirms the length of its presence on the insecticide market.

The absence of odor makes it possible to treat the apartment with the residents present in it.

Composition and mechanism of action

Real cockroach chalk “Mashenka” has a pure gray-white color and weighs 20 g. Sold in blue or light blue impermeable plastic packaging. It is produced in Russia, but created as an analogue of the Chinese insecticide “Mashenka Serebryanaya”.

The composition contains deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin as active substances.

Important: both drugs are included in the group of pyrethroid contact poisons. Thanks to them, the insecticide was assigned a 4th degree of danger for warm-blooded animals.

Chalk and gypsum are auxiliary materials that simplify the process of using the drug and give it shape. Occupies more than 90% of the composition.

The anti-cockroach pencil is intended to help in pest control, as a primary or additional tool. The mechanism of action of the active substances is based on direct contact with insects. Once in the body of arthropods, the poison interferes with the conduction of impulses from the nerve nodes to the muscles, causing complete paralysis, which, in turn, leads to death.

One bar of “Mashenka” against cockroaches is usually enough for a small room. On average, to process an apartment or house, you should stock up on 4-5 pieces. Lines that are not in direct sunlight, but in the shade or covered pieces of furniture, retain their active properties for up to 4 weeks.

How it works

Pencil "Mashenka" against cockroaches has enteric-contact activity. The principle of action of the product can be described in four stages.

1. Contact. A cockroach, running over the treated surface, stains its legs, whiskers and belly with the insecticidal composition.
2. Absorption. Under the influence of air humidity, the poison begins to penetrate through the shell into the insect’s body.
3. Eating. Having reached the shelter, the pest begins to clean its paws with its jaw and eats part of the poison.
4. Death. After a few minutes, the cockroach dies.

If the pest population in the room is large, one piece of chalk will not be enough. You will have to combine the product with insecticidal aerosols, gels or traps.

How to use Mashenka chalk against cockroaches

There is nothing difficult about drawing an outline with chalk. But to effectively combat pests, you should study their habits and usual habitats, so as not to leave any chance for insects. You should also not ignore the instructions on the packaging.

Instructions for use

For greatest efficiency, outline each room with a continuous line 2 cm wide around the entire perimeter. The closed loop should be near the baseboards on the walls and floor. This is the only way the cockroach will not be able to pass by the trap.

Entry points for communications, ventilation openings and window sills are all key locations and main “pathways” for household pests.

Additionally, the drug is dissolved in water and sprayed on all living plants in the house. Since there is always moisture next to them, insects often live nearby. The poison remaining on the surface will kill the cockroaches.

Important: active toxic substances do not accumulate in greens, buds and fruits. Therefore, they do not pose a threat to plantings.

Using a spray bottle, it is enough to direct the stream to the place where parasites accumulate and spray everything generously. Returning there again, the pest will receive a dose of toxin.

Poisoning occurs gradually, so there is a high probability that the parasite will bring poison into the nest and infect its neighbors. Cockroaches are cannibals; they eat the corpses of their relatives, and the entire colony becomes infected.

When most of the adults die, there are always young and eggs left in the females, from which new bugs will hatch. These are the hardest to deal with. You should frequently update the lines, and not miss the moment of the emergence of a new generation, which will definitely come. After all, after 2-2.5 months, cockroaches will reach sexual maturity and continue to reproduce.

It often happens that insects after baiting appear again after a long time. This suggests that they live with their neighbors. In order to prevent such a turn of events, prevention is needed.

Places where insects may appear are treated monthly. These include:

• door and window openings;
• ventilation holes;
• communications inputs and outputs;
• area around electrical outlets;
• baseboards.

Just because dirt and disorder reign behind the wall does not mean that all residents of the house should suffer from it.

Features of using a pencil against bedbugs

If there is an invasion of bed parasites, a white block will also help. The insecticide, due to direct contact, remains on the beetle's legs. Then, through the proboscis, it enters the gastrointestinal tract and blood. The action is also delayed - 1 hour. An infected individual can also poison its nest neighbors.

To use the Mashenka pencil against bedbugs, you need to draw a contour around the perimeter of the room. But these insects do not have such an active life as, for example, cockroaches, and live mainly near beds and other sleeping places. Feeding on human blood and moving only in the dark, they try not to move away from their nests.

After wiping the bedbug chalk into powder, you need to treat hard-to-reach areas in beds and sofas. After adding a little liquid so that the consistency becomes similar to sour cream, fill the cavities and lubricate other places where traces of parasite activity were found. Another crushed preparation is stirred in water to spray the upholstery of furniture.

Tip: bedbugs make nests on the back of carpets that hang on the wall or lie on the floor. To ensure that pests are removed, products of this kind are sent to dry cleaning. Bed linen, the contents of sofa drawers and cabinets in which insects have been noticed must be washed at the highest possible temperature according to the type of material.

This insecticide does not affect eggs, so the treatment is repeated, 2 weeks after the first.

Can it be used against fleas?

It is not a fact that fleas appear only in an apartment where there are animals. Neighborhood pets and furry street dwellers can cause an invasion of blood-sucking parasites in any home.

If you have a four-legged friend in the house, then before you start fighting fleas that bite people, you need to cure him. These insects need animal blood, and will not live long on a human “diet.” But they multiply at tremendous speed and can become a real problem. Within a week, all things located up to 1.5 m from the floor will be contaminated.

First of all, you need to arm yourself with a vacuum cleaner and process all accessible places, especially upholstered furniture and carpets. Under the latter, it doesn’t hurt to sprinkle dry wormwood, which is sold in every pharmacy. The smell of this plant can repel any insects, but it quickly wears off - you need to remove the old grass and add new grass once every 2 days.

Important: the vacuum cleaner filter, after getting rid of most of the insects and their eggs, will have to be destroyed or treated with a liquid insecticide.

In case of flea control, the floor and baseboards are treated with chalk. If there is a heavy infestation of parasites, carpets should be dry cleaned. The place where the pet sleeps is covered with powder obtained from a Mashenka pencil, and then washed in hot water.

How to use against ants

A common problem in private houses and apartments located on the ground floor is ants. If left undisturbed, they do not harm people, but they can significantly spoil food. Fighting these insects with chalk is similar to the procedure for getting rid of cockroaches.

Ants are easier to control due to their natural habits. They follow established paths and do not run erratically unless there is an obvious threat. It is enough to watch the insects and remember their routes. The stripes must cross the paths so that the pests are sure to step on the poison. In order to lure them to a specific place, it is enough to drip sugar syrup, honey or sweet jam.

While a flea or cockroach can jump over a line, an ant lacks such abilities. A line 2 cm wide will become insurmountable. The insects will bring grains of toxin to the nest, where they will “treat” the female and other inhabitants with them. After a short period of time, the colony will die.

To increase the efficiency of processing, look for anthills on the street, close to the house. Having found a shelter, sprinkle it around with powder obtained from chalk, or fill it with liquid mixed with an insecticide. The principle of operation is the same.

The effectiveness of chalk in the fight against bedbugs

The pencil helps in killing bedbugs if they have appeared in the apartment relatively recently and have not had time to lay eggs.

Before using it, prepare the room:

1. wet cleaning is done;
2. furniture is moved away from the walls to find possible habitats of bedbugs near the baseboard;
3. all items from the closets are washed due to the possible presence of bedbug eggs in them;
4. if things cannot be washed, then they are treated with steam or taken out into the cold;
5. all carpets are dry cleaned;
6. upholstered furniture (sofas, armchairs) are dismantled down to the wooden frame.

You can use bedbug repellent:

• Like a pencil. Draw them on surfaces: cabinets, backs of sofas and beds, back surfaces of paintings and photographs, sockets, door jambs, window sills and windows.
• Like powder. Mashenka chalk crumbles well and can be used to fill cracks behind baseboards and folds of upholstered furniture. The only drawback: if you pour it on the floor, drafts can cause the powder to rise into the air.
• Like a solution. The chalk is dissolved in water until it becomes creamy and all the cracks are filled with a brush and the surfaces are treated.

After treatment, be sure to ventilate the room and do a thorough cleaning after 2 weeks.

Is Mashenka chalk against cockroaches dangerous for humans?

Despite the low level of toxicity for humans, a baby crawling on the floor may well be poisoned by this drug if he erases a streak with his palm and then puts his fist in his mouth. The same applies to kittens and puppies, who will be interested in licking the bright features. Adult animals and people consciously avoid such things, but they will also feel uneasy after the drug enters the body. The degree of intoxication depends on the amount of toxin consumed.

First aid

If safety precautions were violated and external or internal contact with the drug occurred, you should immediately contact a medical institution for qualified help. Before examination and consultation with a doctor:

If chalk particles come into contact with the mucous membrane of the eyes. You urgently need to rinse them with running water or a soda solution (1 teaspoon of soda per 200 ml of water).

If chalk particles get into your eyes, immediately rinse them with clean water or soda solution.

Running tap water will help you remove Mashenka's pencil from your skin.

Gastric lavage with manganese solution is one of the available measures to cleanse the body during intoxication

Intoxication when working with insecticide is a serious reason to consult a doctor

Security measures

The treatment is carried out by relocating household members to another home for a couple of weeks. Before returning, it will be enough to do a thorough wet cleaning and collect dead insects with a vacuum cleaner.

Further contact with surfaces that previously had chalk marks is safe. No grains of the substance remain in the air. When machining while the core is being worn, the chips fall off rather than moving around like dust.

How to protect yourself and your loved ones:

• Do not unpack the crayon completely. Remove only part of the packaging and hold it while drawing lines. Cellophane will protect the skin from contact with the poison. If by chance the wrapper tears completely, you should work with rubber gloves.
• Wear a mask or respirator. This is necessary in order to protect the respiratory tract from poisoning - some crayons generate dust when drawing lines.
• Protect children. Draw in places inaccessible to children. If age allows, you need to explain to the child what these lines are and why they should not be touched.
• Keep your pets safe. For warm-blooded animals the harm is minimal, but it does exist. You need to try to limit your four-legged friend’s access to the marked areas. It is best to give it to relatives, friends or a pet hotel for a while.

Even after a while, when the chalk has worn off on its own, you should not forget that it was applied. General wet cleaning is the only measure to neutralize active substances that probably remain on surfaces.

Precautions when using chalk in an apartment

• Be sure to read the instructions for using the pencil, which are located on the packaging.
• When applying, be sure to ensure that the product does not get on the mucous membranes or in the respiratory tract.
• It is better to carry out processing of the room while wearing gloves.
• Make sure that the pencil does not fall into the hands of a child or the teeth of a pet.

Analogs

The prototype is a Chinese pencil. As the domestic version of the insecticide became popular, similar products began to be produced that are not inferior in effectiveness, but differ in composition.

The most popular crayons: table

Name	Active substances	Price
Clean house	alpha-cypermethrin	from 20 to 35 rub.
Tornado	cypermethrin	from 30 to 40 rub.
Global	chlorpyrifos	from 13 to 20 rub.
Titanic	cypermethrin and fipronil	from 40 to 60 rub.
Brownie	deltamethrin	from 20 to 30 rub.

Why do bedbugs appear?

The appearance of bedbugs in an apartment does not indicate the owners’ neglect of cleanliness and cleaning. Synanthropic insects enter the house with purchased second-hand furniture, household appliances, and belongings. They can move through the ventilation duct from neighbors who have arranged pest control. Ectoparasites feed on human blood. During the day they hide in the folds of mattresses, furniture, and cracks. At night they climb into bed and bite people. Bedbugs cause skin dermatitis and spread blood-borne diseases. Insects can infect humans with typhus, hepatitis C, measles and other ailments.

Small parasites with a flat body are able to penetrate a narrow gap. Their size is 3-8 mm, the body is brown. Insects live in colonies; if you do not start fighting bedbugs in time, they will spread throughout the apartment.

Reviews

“We brought cockroaches into a new house with things when we moved. It didn’t help much in the summer, but in the winter, along with the cold, we managed. The cockroaches did not disappear immediately. At first they became somewhat sluggish and “pale”, and then disappeared completely.”

“Using the Mashenka chalk we got rid of cockroaches in the apartment and ants in the country house. Now we keep a few pieces in the pantry, as a reserve.”

“An old and proven remedy was recommended by a neighbor. Not immediately, but within a week there was no trace left of the insects.”

“As soon as we got rid of the bedbugs, cockroaches crawled in from the neighbors. Exterminators were called, but the effect was temporary. As soon as they started appearing again, we used Mashenka chalk for cockroaches, and surprisingly, it helped. Now we renew the lines at the baseboards every few months and don’t worry about pests.”

Insect control should always be approached comprehensively. Sometimes even the help of specialists is not effective, and repeated treatments are required, which cost a lot of money. Chalk "Mashenka" is an accessible, cheap, but effective means of getting rid of unwanted pests.

Mode of application

Mashenka against cockroaches can be used as follows:

• applied to the surface in the form of a chalk line;
• spray into places where insects accumulate after preliminary grinding;
• used as a solution.

The first option is most convenient, since in this case you won’t have to remove the apartment’s residents during the treatment, and you won’t need any special protective measures either. It is only necessary to ensure the continuity of the drawn line so that the insects are sure to cross it. It is best to apply a strip along the entire perimeter of the apartment, circling the baseboards and doorways with chalk. It would also be good to outline all the strategically important places for insects where they can gain access to food and water:

• trash cans;
• kitchen sink;
• cabinets with food supplies;
• fridge;
• dinner table;
• stove.

Its effectiveness will depend on the correct location for applying the drug. Therefore, before processing, it makes sense to inspect the apartment to detect nests of cockroaches and places of their greatest concentration.

If it is not possible to apply the product in a continuous line, for example, on an uneven surface, then it makes sense to crush it and scatter it in powder form. In this case, take the necessary protective measures. Rubber gloves are put on your hands, and your mouth and nose are covered with a gauze bandage so as not to accidentally inhale particles of the drug.

This method is less preferable, since the risk of poisoning increases, and the adhesion strength to the treated surface is significantly reduced. However, as an additional treatment measure under baseboards and in hard-to-reach places, it is completely justified.

Mashenka chalk against cockroaches can be used in the form of a solution. To do this, the product, previously crushed to a powdery state, is diluted in 5-6 liters of warm water. The resulting solution is used to wipe the floor and all surfaces in the apartment. The advantage of this method is that the area of ​​the treated surface increases, however, the concentration of the toxic substance decreases, and the effectiveness of the drug decreases accordingly.

One package of the product is enough for approximately 30 m of the treated area if you plan to use it in the form of a chalk line. You will need two or even three times more powder. A solution prepared from one piece of chalk can be used to treat a medium-sized two-room apartment.

The effect of the pencil decreases after a week, so the treatment is repeated 7 days after the first, after first removing the remnants of the drug that has lost its activity with a damp cloth. Repeat the entire procedure as necessary until the insects are completely eliminated.

Interesting fact! It is unlikely that insecticidal chalk can be used as school chalk, since it has a softer structure and crumbles easily.

Price of bedbug repellent

The cost of the Mashenka insecticide varies slightly. Approximate product price:

1. In household goods stores - 25-40 rubles.
2. In online stores - from 9 rubles.

Often in markets, online resources or in hardware stores you can find another type of insecticide called “Silver Mashenka”. The instructions for this product and its composition are completely identical to the previous product. However, the cost of such a pencil is traditionally somewhat higher - in the range of 39-50 rubles.

Is it possible to completely remove ants using Mashenka chalk?

Ants are characterized by differences in the characteristics of their life activity when compared with representatives of other insect species. For example, to kill a cockroach or bedbug, you can use a drug with contact or intestinal action, after which you can expect the death of the infected individuals. This scheme allows you to reduce the pest population. All females are capable of reproduction, so if they are destroyed, the number of pests will be reduced as quickly as possible, and new individuals will not be able to appear.

In the case of ants, the queen, who lives in the anthill/nest throughout her life, is responsible for reproduction; she is not responsible for obtaining food and building housing. The induced functions are assigned to working individuals, who catch the eye of the owners of the house or apartment. If only the worker arthropods are destroyed, new individuals will continue to reproduce as the female continues to lay eggs.

So, we can conclude that the impact needs to be directed at the uterus, which can only be reached by destroying the anthill, which is quite difficult, since it cannot always be located around the perimeter of the home. Most often, arthropods set up an anthill outside the building. If destruction of the queen is impossible, then the use of contact insecticides is required, which the workers will deliver inside the nest.

Taking into account the fact that Mashenka chalk does not contain attractants, it is necessary to apply stripes on the premises as often as possible, due to this the likelihood of picking up particles with a toxic substance will increase. The ants will carry the poison inside the anthill, and when in contact with their fellows, they will quickly spread it to all healthy individuals. This scheme has a fairly high probability of destroying not only the working ants, but also the queen.

When using chalk along with bait, the effectiveness will increase several times. To do this, after applying stripes throughout the premises, you need to leave attractive food for arthropods near them. While looking for food, they will quickly fall into a trap and receive a dose of poison.

Terms of use

The chalk can be used in three ways.

The first option is considered the most convenient. To do this, they need to draw lines along the movement routes of insects.

In the second case, before use, the chalk is crushed to a powder state and only then scattered in places where parasites are located. In this case, the drug is placed in a thick layer. When pouring the powder, be sure to use a gauze bandage or a respirator to protect your respiratory system. This method is best used for closed places - for example, the inside of a sofa or bed.

The third method is preparing a solution. To do this, combine the chalk with water. The finished solution should ideally resemble liquid sour cream. Ideal for processing cracks.

To treat your home, you should move furniture away from the walls, provide access to baseboards, remove carpets from the walls and take them to dry cleaning. Without it, you will not be able to destroy egg clutches, which are most often found in carpets. Clothes from closets need to be washed, steamed, and taken outside. Paintings are also removed from the walls and processed.

If possible, the bed and sofa should be disassembled down to the wooden base. Before processing, put on protective clothing, do not forget about your face and hands. The rooms around the perimeter are subject to chalk treatment, one line is made above the baseboard, the second on the floor. Additional lines are drawn when cracks are found or near wallpaper that has come away from the wall. The bed frame around the perimeter, the bottom of the mattress, the back covers of furniture, and the backs of paintings are also coated. Insects begin to die a few days after treatment. One chalk is enough for a room of about 30 square meters.

Is this product safe to use indoors?

In order for the use of chalk to be more effective, it should be applied precisely to those areas where children and pets will not have access. The drug contains zetacypermethrin and deltamethrin.

These substances are very durable. If ultraviolet rays do not penetrate into the coated areas, the effect of the insecticidal agent will last for a very long time (a little more than one and a half months).

If the chalk was used completely in accordance with the instructions, then it will not cause any harm to the residents of the house and their animals. It is necessary to treat rooms with this preparation using protective equipment (gloves). Although such precautions are unnecessary, it is enough to wash your hands with antibacterial soap.

Review

“Once I managed to read that someone’s dog ate a piece of anti-cockroach chalk called Mashenka. This did not lead to any sad consequences, only the dog developed increased salivation. But I still fear for my pets. Therefore, Mashenka only missed all the areas behind the cabinets and refrigerator. As for the baseboards, I didn’t touch them, I’m very afraid that my cats will lick this drug.”

Lyudmila, Ekaterinburg