If you have an insect problem whereby the pests are crawling out of tight spaces and other control methods are not safe, use Rockwell Labs BorActin Insecticide Powder. It works well in void areas and attics and is excellent for cracks and crevices.

What is BorActin Powder?

BorActin Insecticide Powder is a Rockwell Labs’ original broad-spectrum non-repellent insecticide dust. It contains 99% boric acid (Orthoboric Acid); hence it is a natural product that you can use safely, both indoors and outdoors.

BorActin is a versatile and available in a variety of deployment solutions, including dust, spray, foam, mop packets and a drain treatment. The product is applied to areas where insects live or hide.

Common locations include may drains, window sills, areas in the attic or basement, near plumbing, and beneath household appliances.

Pros and Cons of BorActin

Features of Rockwell BorActin Insecticide Powder

Target Pests

A broad spectrum of crawling pests including Cockroaches, Palmetto bugs, Water bugs, Ants (Excluding Carpenter Ants), Silverfish, Darkling Beetles, Dry wood Termites, and Drain flies 

Packaging

1 lb puffer bottle, 5 lb pail, 25 lb pail, and 4 oz mop packets.

Where to Use

BorActin can be used in almost any man-made structure to treat for pests.

These include, in and around residential, multi-family, commercial, industrial, municipal, institutional, research, recreational, health care, educational, daycare, hospitality and agricultural buildings, garages, transport vehicles, sewers and drains, animal rearing and handling establishments, food handling and food processing establishments, poultry houses and new building construction. 

How to Use

You can use BorActin right out of the container if you have the smaller bottle with the applicator tip or use a handheld pesticide duster. Inspect your pest problem and observe where they are active, so you know where to focus your treatment.

Apply as follows: Dust: Apply using a Bellows Duster at 1 lb. per 1,000 sq. ft.

Liquid: 1 lb. per gallon of water per 1,000 sq ft.

Foam: Mix as for liquid and add a foaming agent

Mop Solution: As a supplemental treatment, 1 cup per gallon of mop water (up to a quart of solution can be poured into each floor drain to control drain flies) 

Safety Data Sheet | Product Label

Special Applications of BorActin

Treating Drain Flies, Phorid & Fruit Flies

Drain flies are small gnats that spend most of their time perched on walls or ceilings. They are primarily a nuisance and don’t bite. However if you don’t take action, they can quickly spread and leave your home completely infested.

Drain flies feed and breed in areas with organic build-up and scum. The best way to get rid of these flies is by eliminating their breeding grounds, and not by simply killing the adult drain, fruit or phorid flies.

Treatment with BorActin will effectively add a toxicant to the pest’s food source. This will efficiently kill both adults feeding on the scum and larvae living in the scum. For application:

• As dust, apply at the label rate (1 lb per 1,000 sq ft) to organic build-up to kill adult flies and larvae living in the organic build-up. Apply up to 1 oz to each floor drain.
• As a liquid spray solution, mix BorActin at 4 oz by weight or 1 cup by volume (use the included scoop) per gallon of water. Mop or spray floors and other non-food contact surfaces to kill fly larvae. Apply up to one quart in each drain.
• BorActin may also be tank-mixed with a microbial-based bio-sanitation product such as InVade Bio Cleaner at the same rate. Add the cleaner to the water first, followed by the BorActin.
• For foaming applications, mix product at the same rate, adding the foaming agent or the foaming microbial cleaner concentrate (such as InVade Bio Foam) to the water first, followed by the BorActin. Do not mix with acidic/caustic cleaners.
• To kill and control phorid or fruit flies resulting from a sub-slab sewer pipe leak, excavate as much wet dirt as possible, and then apply BorActin to the ground beneath the slab per the product label dust, liquid, or foam application.

In addition to the treatment solutions listed above, you can use the mop solution in problematic scummy areas. (The company also makes 4-ounce mop packets for this purpose.)

New Construction Pre-Treats

To prevent dry-wood termites and roaches, apply at a rate of 4 lbs per 1000 square feet. Apply around the edges of attics near the eaves and vent stacks. Also, use on baseplates and in plumbing voids. Sure you might not be building a home, but it’s good to know!

Sewers

Apply with a powder duster or portable blower at a rate of not more than 8 lbs per 3000 square feet. Drain flies, also called sewer flies, love that delicious slop buildup. So this interesting approach might be effective. For the price of the powder, it’s certainly worth testing.

BorActin Side Effects

BorActin is a green pest control product since the active ingredient (boric acid) is a natural chemical. Boric acid is low in toxicity, and in the form of . borax, it can be damaging to the eyes. It can also be irritating to the skin.

When accidentally ingested, people have reported people nausea, vomiting, stomach aches, and diarrhea.

Otherwise, BorActin Insecticide Powder is safe to use when applied according to label instructions and safety protocols. Ensure that no powder is visible in living areas after application. Apply only in areas inaccessible to children and pets, since lower concentrations and ingestion.

The Nation Pesticide Information Center does say that no data was found on the potential developmental effects of boric acid or borates in humans. However, when ingested, the chemical can cause poisoning.

FAQ

Final Thoughts

Like any other pest management program, for BorActin Insecticide Powder to be effective, use it as per the label instructions and the safety protocol. Rockwell labs is known for their invade bio drain products. Overall, their solutions work well for a variety of uses, including combating drain flies!