We use Tsifoks against fleas. Composition and active substances. What you need to know about the correct treatment of apartments. Security measures. What determines the effectiveness of the drug? Customer reviews. Tips and recommendations for use at home.
When fleas appear in residential premises, we immediately begin to search for an effective remedy that would quickly help get rid of such an unpleasant and dangerous neighborhood.
It should be said that choosing a specialized product is a rather difficult procedure, because you need to take into account not only the effectiveness and result that the drug will help provide, but also its particular advantages and disadvantages.
One of the drugs that is quite popular today as a means of helping to get rid of fleas in an apartment is Tsifox. Let's consider its use in domestic conditions in more detail.
General description and characteristics
This insecticide is produced in the form of a clear concentrated liquid. The drug has a yellow tint and a sharp, rather specific odor. Since treatment with the drug is carried out in residential premises, the pungent odor is quite an important point, but according to the manufacturer, it can be easily gotten rid of with ventilation.
The effectiveness of the drug is ensured by the main active component – cypermethrin. The product is produced with a 25% active substance content; it also contains emulsifiers and fragrances. You can buy Tsifox in bottles of 50 ml, 500 ml and 1 liter. Large volume bottles are intended for large rooms; for apartments this quantity is too much.
Speaking about the advantages of Tsifoks, it is worth noting its fast action. After contact of the parasite with the active substance, death occurs within 30 minutes. In addition, it is capable of destroying not only fleas, but also other parasites. It is often used in the fight against cockroaches, ants, and bedbugs.
This speed of action of the drug allows it to be used not only indoors, but also outdoors. It is effective against shrews and even rodents, but different dosages are required when used in this manner. Remember that when using Cifox, you must strictly adhere to the instructions for use and follow the dosage.
Security measures
Efficacy of Tsifox
Cypermethrin is a broad-spectrum insecticidal and acaricidal drug. Kills all insects upon contact. On soil, grass, and cultivated plants, it retains its properties for about 60 days. Before using mosquito poison, you need to weigh all the pros and cons.
Indoors, cypermethrin quickly settles on the surfaces being treated. It remains to work for about a week. The maximum concentration is observed during the first 2 hours after disinfestation. In people with respiratory tract disease, the drug can provoke a deterioration in well-being and attacks of suffocation. If the insecticide enters the lungs, it causes poisoning with dizziness, weakness, headache, nausea, and vomiting. At the first signs of poisoning, it is necessary to provide access to fresh air, drink activated carbon, and rinse your mouth with a soda solution.
Customers regularly leave reviews about Tsifoks on forums. The product is especially popular in the warm season.
Mechanism of action
The drug has a detrimental effect on parasites in several ways, which significantly increases its effectiveness. After application to the surface, the flea comes into contact with toxic components that penetrate the chitin coating and affect the nervous system, death occurs within a few minutes. The drug can also act through the gastrointestinal tract, which accelerates the effect. The substance can enter the intestines along with food or while the flea is cleaning itself.
The drug has a fairly long period of action after application. The active components remain effective for 3 months. Tsifox has the greatest activity on the first day after treatment, then it begins to decrease, but this happens gradually. It is worth considering that indoors the product remains active for the longest period of time. In the open air, activity is influenced by external factors, and it dissipates faster.
If we consider the reviews of those who have already used Tsifoks in the fight against fleas in their apartments, then it is worth considering that repeated treatment may be required. Much depends on the degree of infection. If the infestation is minor, one procedure will be sufficient; when large colonies live in the apartment, a repeat procedure is required.
How to breed Tsifoks to fight mosquitoes
Tsifoks is a highly concentrated product, so it must be diluted with water. According to the instructions, prepare a solution containing the main active ingredient (cypermethrin) 0.01%. To do this, one cap of concentrate (5 ml) is diluted in half a liter of water. Mix everything thoroughly until the insecticides are completely dissolved. The resulting solution is poured into a device for spraying the area.
To get rid of adults and larvae, it is necessary to treat an area within a radius of approximately 100 meters with Tsifoks. Be sure to cover particularly wet places, lowlands, dams, and banks of reservoirs. This way you can destroy the larvae and part of the imago, and temporarily scare away the remaining adults. The females will not have time to lay eggs and the number of mosquitoes in the area will be significantly reduced.
Additional article: Means for killing mosquito larvae
To kill mosquitoes, the manufacturer recommends the following consumption of the drug Tsifox:
- Imago – 50-100 ml of the resulting solution per square meter.
- Larvae. To combat bloodworms in small standing reservoirs, 10-30 ml of solution will be required. For large bodies of water 100 ml per square meter.
Important! The amount of diluted drug is given on average. If the insect population is large, the dosage is increased.
Correct Application
If you have to work with the drug, you need to remember safety. This is a very toxic substance that, if used incorrectly, can harm the health of humans and animals. It is forbidden to use the product undiluted; the concentrated liquid is very toxic. Remember that you should not allow the substance to come into contact with your skin or mucous membranes; toxic fumes are very dangerous.
Treatment of a room consists of several stages, each of which affects efficiency and safety. Therefore, when working, you must follow the instructions for use and adhere to the recommendations. The main stages include preparation of the premises, safety measures for people and animals, drug preparation and processing, and post-procedure activities. Let's look at all the stages in more detail.
Important facts about insects.
Small fleas are blood-sucking insects from the order of arthropods. More than 500 varieties of them are found in Russia. Most are distinguished by their miniature sizes: from 1 to 5 mm in length. Large varieties with a body length of 10 mm are very rare. All of them are wingless and move with the help of their limbs. Their legs are strong and long, thanks to which insects can jump high and far.
The life cycle of an individual does not last long, on average a month or two. But under favorable circumstances, fleas live for two or even three years. At the same time, they can go without food for a long time, being content with the accumulated supply of nutrients. Each female lays 350 to 450 eggs. She lays them out randomly, so you can find such clutches anywhere.
The extreme fertility of insects explains their rapid spread. Once in the house, the “aliens” master the new territory in a matter of days. The eggs laid by females develop into larvae, then undergo pupation, and after three weeks they become sexually mature individuals. Therefore, the fight against uninvited neighbors must begin at the first sign of their appearance.
A sign that announces that it’s time to look for how to get rid of fleas in an apartment is itchy red dots on the legs and arms. They are most often noticed in the morning, as the number of bites increases during the night. If the number of insects is large, they can be seen during the day when they jump on the legs of a person standing on the floor. You can conduct a kind of test. A large white sheet is laid on the floor. Black dots that disappear and appear on it indicate the presence of a large number of parasites.
It is imperative to get rid of them. It has been proven that bloodsuckers carry more than 25 serious diseases. When they bite, they release their saliva into the puncture. It contains bacteria, and this is how infection occurs. Parasites use any blood for nutrition, so it is possible to transfer diseases from rats and other wild animals to humans. This can be very dangerous. In the same way, insects become infected with endoparasites.
Preparation of working solution
To prepare the working solution you will need 4 ml. tsifoksa, which is diluted in a bucket of water. With these proportions, the concentration of the solution is 0.1%, which is quite enough to get rid of parasites. You cannot change the proportions yourself; firstly, this will not affect the result in any way, and secondly, it can only harm those living in the apartment.
After mixing the components, the solution needs to sit a little for 5-10 minutes, then it can be used. The solution is applied in two ways. Some of it is poured into a spray bottle, which is convenient for treating hard-to-reach places and crevices. The second part can be applied using a regular brush. After 2 days the procedure is repeated.
If during the procedure you feel symptoms of poisoning, for example, dizziness, nausea, lacrimation, etc., immediately stop work and go outside. It is necessary to change clothes, wash and rinse your stomach. When symptoms do not go away, consult a doctor.
Preparing the premises
As mentioned earlier, a lot depends on the degree of contamination of the room. If you noticed these parasites at an early stage, and they did not have time to create a huge colony, then the treatment itself will follow a simplified scheme. In the case where there are already a large number of them, you need to carry out the procedure very carefully.
The result will also depend on how correctly you prepared the room before the procedure. Preparation is also necessary for safety reasons.
- Be sure to remove all food from surfaces; they can be hidden in the refrigerator and packed in bags. Also hide dishes and kitchen utensils.
- We hide all personal hygiene products, children's toys, and hide clothes.
- We clean all surfaces as much as possible from any things and objects.
- We remove bed linen, bedspreads and other textiles; they need to be washed.
- Be sure to wash animal bedding.
- After washing all textiles, they must be ironed to high temperature, this will help get rid of parasite eggs.
A few words should be said about the parasites themselves in order to understand what we are fighting against. The fact is that fleas do not lay eggs in one place, nor do they parasitize only on the body of an animal. They use the body of animals and humans only for saturation, then the females leave it and lay offspring. With this procedure, they can leave eggs on absolutely all surfaces. Most often these are carpets and rugs, upholstered furniture; in large populations, they climb into hard-to-reach places, crevices and baseboards, where they also leave offspring.
It is very important to carry out a general cleaning of the premises before processing, during which it will be possible to get rid of a large number of eggs, from which the younger generation emerges within 2 weeks. The first thing you need to do is thoroughly vacuum the carpets, furniture, and all textiles. Next, get rid of cobwebs and dust and perform a wet cleaning.
Treatment
During this procedure, only the person performing it can be in the apartment. All residents and pets must leave the premises. If there is an aquarium in the apartment, then it is better to take it out; when this is not possible, be sure to cover it with a lid.
So, protective equipment must be used. It is necessary to wear protective overalls that will prevent the substance from coming into contact with the skin. If this is not available, you can wear pants and a long-sleeved sweater, but remember that the clothes must be washed after treatment. Rubber gloves are also used. Since application is carried out using a sprayer, keep in mind that microparticles of the drug will be present in the air throughout the room; be sure to use a respirator and safety glasses.
The substance is applied to all surfaces where the largest concentration of parasites is expected. If the infection is severe, you will need to move the furniture away from the walls to treat the baseboards.
After the substance is applied to the surface, you must leave the apartment for at least 8 hours. The ideal option is for the family and their pets to move for several days during the treatment, which allows them to complete all the steps without haste and take maximum care of safety.
You need to change clothes, wash your hands and face, and go outside.
Activities after treatment
One person returns to the apartment, who must ventilate the room well and carry out wet cleaning. It is necessary to pay special attention to surfaces with which people and animals come into contact; there should be no toxic substance on them.
The poisonous agent can only remain in hard-to-reach places. Keep in mind that small children and animals can pick up objects from the floor and they should not come into contact with the drug.
Processing rules
To better destroy bloodsuckers, treatment of a summer cottage against mosquitoes is carried out after preliminary preparation: mowing down unnecessary plants along the perimeter of the area near fences, as well as around ponds. This reduces the number of hiding places for adult mosquitoes.
After preparation, the surfaces of the walls of all buildings, bushes, trees and grass are treated with the Tsifox solution. To destroy the larvae, spray the surface of reservoirs with standing water.
Important!
Fish ponds, water sources for irrigation and drinking, swimming places, and running water should not be treated.
Use of Tsifoks for protection against mosquitoes
special instructions
Since Cifox is a toxic substance, some rules must be followed when working with it. Otherwise, complications arise in the form of poisoning, rashes and other reactions. This medication is not recommended for use by people who are sensitive to pesticides. It is better to move out of the apartment for a few days until the drug wears off. The following recommendations must be followed:
- Do not leave dishes or food in the room. If it is not possible to take away kitchen utensils, you should wrap them in plastic bags or cling film.
- Children's toys and clothes must be taken out of the room.
- After disinsection, if there were any fabric items left in the rooms - bedspreads, curtains, they should be washed in water at a temperature of 90-100 °C.
- Ideally, the room is de-energized, since sockets and switches must be sprayed with the product.
Precautionary measures
It is necessary to use Tsifoks for disinfestation in the house while observing personal safety measures. Before preparing the solution and carrying out the treatment, you need to wear goggles, gloves, a respirator and clothing that covers the exposed areas of the body as much as possible.
Respirator
You can work continuously with the product for no more than 3 hours, and the windows must be open. During disinfestation, it is prohibited to drink, smoke, or eat food. If a solution or suspension gets on the skin or mucous membranes, immediately wash off the drug with a stream of water.
Failure to comply with personal safety rules can cause poisoning. If you feel nausea, headache, general weakness, or dizziness, you need to go out into the fresh air and take activated charcoal.
Where do they come from?
Insects parasitize warm-blooded animals, so they most often live either on them or in their shelters and nests. So, in summer or spring it is easy to accidentally bring them into a private house. Let's list the most common reasons for their appearance.
Reasons for appearance.
· They enter rooms located on the upper or lower floors from basements and attics.
· Dogs or cats infected while walking come home with them.
· Transferred by humans along with street dust or dirt.
· High humidity and heat. These are the best living conditions for bloodsuckers.
Not all types of bloodsucking species take root at home; only about 30 species settle near people. These are mainly rat, cat, basement, human, and dog fleas. Initially they start on bedding, entrance mats, etc. Gradually spread throughout the apartment.
Where do fleas live?
· Upholstered furniture, textile toys, mattresses.
· Gaps, space under the baseboard, cracks.
· Parquet, carpet or carpet, laminate, linoleum.
· Clothes, especially where they are stored;
· Household waste.
However, eggs can be found in the most unexpected places. Females lay them not in nests, but literally everywhere. They do not require care or any special conditions to survive. Therefore, if an unpleasant neighborhood is discovered, you will have to carry out a total disinfestation, without missing a single centimeter.
