Does diatomaceous earth work for pest control?

Hi, I’m Christopher Sablich, Service Center Manager from the Ehrlich office in Binghamton, New York. I’ve been providing services for our customers for 21 years. Recently, I was asked the question: Is diatomaceous earth good for pest control?

Diatomaceous earth is a very, very, very old pesticide. How it works is that it’s like fine glass to the insect and it cuts up the chitin, which makes it lose water. Does it work? Yes. But the question is: How long are you willing to wait?

Diatomaceous earth takes a long time to eliminate that insect. The way I’ve seen it done by laymen is they sprinkle out lines and piles and cover everything with it. Kind of like they’re doing an ancient ritual to the pest gods. This does not work. One thing I do know is the insects won’t go there. And two, that there won’t ever be any insects in that spot again.

The issue is that when you put diatomaceous earth out, you have to put it out like a fine sheen. Go to pretty much any window sill, the top of the window sill in a house that people don’t dust a lot and run your finger across the top. That fine sheen of dust is exactly how you want to put out diatomaceous earth. Almost like you can’t see it.

My recommendation is to get a service from Ehrlich Pest Control if you intend to repel insects from your house. We would come out and make an assessment on what we could do for you and resolve all your pest issues.