A common homemade pest-control mixture uses baking soda and sugar. It’s often shared as a way to reduce some crawling pests, particularly cockroaches, though evidence for its effectiveness is mixed and it is not reliable for flying insects.
Homemade baking soda bait
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon sugar
How to use it
- Mix the baking soda and sugar thoroughly.
- Place small amounts in shallow lids or bottle caps.
- Set them near areas where you’ve seen crawling pests, such as under sinks, behind appliances, or along baseboards.
- Leave the bait in place for about an hour or longer, then replace it if it becomes damp or contaminated.
How it’s supposed to work
- Sugar attracts some pests.
- Baking soda is claimed to react inside the digestive system of certain insects after they eat it.
However, scientific evidence that this reliably eliminates infestations is limited. For established cockroach or ant infestations, commercial baits are generally much more effective because pests carry them back to the nest or colony.
For flying insects
This mixture won’t do much. Better approaches include:
- Removing standing water (for mosquitoes).
- Keeping food covered and trash sealed (for flies).
- Using window screens and sealing gaps to prevent entry.
- Reducing moisture and fixing leaks, which can also discourage many crawling pests.
If you’re dealing with a specific pest—such as ants, cockroaches, fruit flies, mosquitoes, or houseflies—I can suggest methods that are more effective for that particular insect.
