Diatomaceous Earth

At Solutions Pest & Lawn, we’re all about providing pest control solutions for our customers. Often our customers would like a more natural means of controlling problem pests, so we offer “green pest control” options in our inventory. Among the best natural active ingredients in pest control is Diatomaceous Earth.

Diatomaceous Earth is not only effective but it is naturally produced and will not harm humans, animals or the environment. It only effects the insects that are being targeted. Learn more about this wonderful natural method of pest control and shop our Diatomaceous Earth contained products exclusively on this page.

What is Diatomaceous Earth?

Diatomaceous Earth (also known as DE in shorthand) is actually a sedimentary rock that is soft and can be easily crumbled down into a fine white powder. Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of sea organisms (marine phytoplankton) known as diatoms. These diatoms are made of a natural substance called silica. 

When crushed and turned into powder, the Diatomaceous Earth acts as an abrasive that can affect the exoskeleton of various insects like bed bugs, ants or fleas. The chemical composition which makes up diatomaceous earth is as follows: 86% silica, 5% sodium, 3% magnesium, and 2 % iron.

Aside from pest control, Diatomaceous Earth has a variety of different uses, which demonstrates its versatility. It can be used as a filtering agent, most notably for swimming pools. Its abrasive nature makes it perfect to be used as an absorbent for liquids, cat litter, a component of dynamite, and a thermal insulator. What may surprise most is that it can safely be eaten by humans and is regularly eaten by us. It’s placed in a lot of grain-based foods in order to protect the grains from insects!

How Does Diatomaceous Earth Work?

Mode of Action

While harmless to humans and animals, diatomaceous is lethal against bugs like cockroaches, bed bugs, mites, and ants. Under a microscope, diatomaceous earth particles look like sharp shards of glass. When sprinkled onto a surface that an insect comes into contact with or if sprinkled onto a bug itself, the DE particles stick to an insect and get lodged between its exoskeleton joints.

As the insects go about and do their usual routine, it exoskeleton shell gets sliced up. As a result, the affected insect begins to dry out and suffocates due to dehydration because the DE absorbs all of its moisture (from fats and oils) of the insect. In other words, the insect is dried out to beef jerky, thanks to the effects of diatomaceous earth.

Benefits of Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is so popular because of how quickly it can kill insects in this way and how it is non-toxic. There is no chemical killing of insects involved, the target pests are being physically harmed by the product, not chemically harmed.

The best way to use Diatomaceous Earth is by dusting or sprinkling it in areas where insects frequent especially when pests are hiding in hard to reach areas like in voids, cracks and crevices. 

Drawbacks of Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth will not work as bait since insects will not be lured by it. They have to cross over it and come into contact with the DE for it to be effective.

Do not use DE in areas where there is a lot of moisture accumulation as it may not be as effective in harming your target pest. You will also not want to use Diatomaceous Earth if you want to kill insects quickly.

Is Diatomaceous Earth Safe?

Diatomaceous Earth is completely safe to use and you do not need to worry about any harm being done to yourself, pets, animals or children. You can rub it on your skin and in your hair and it won’t do anything to you.  The only issue which may occur from diatomaceous earth is accidentally breathing it in. Even then, the issues which arise from that are minor such as irritation of the nasal passages and dryness.

What To Expect

Diatomaceous Earth is not an instant kill product and it can take anywhere from 24 hours to a week in order to be effective against an insect invasion.

Leave the product down for a few days and monitor the infestation to gauge how effective the product is. You will have to be a bit patient and not be discouraged as the DE works slowly to eliminate the infestation.

Featured Products

Alpine Dust Insecticide - Alpine Dust is the industry's first and only reduced risk non-repellent dust and is used to control a wide range of insects. The dust is puffed into hard-to-reach places to kill ants, bed bugs, spiders, and more. It will not stimulate stinging insects and it provides great residual control in undisturbed areas.