The presence of insects such as cockroaches or bedbugs in the home is a serious problem that anyone can face. It's worth noting that a clean home doesn't guarantee the absence of these unpleasant infestations, as they often move into a house or apartment from sloppy neighbors. Furthermore, cockroaches and bedbugs can "travel" with you from business trips, hiding in suitcases and bags. Having such insects in your home is unpleasant and poses a health risk, so even if you discover a single cockroach or bedbug in your home, you should address the problem immediately.
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What is Mashenka chalk?
Mashenka Chalk is a product for controlling cockroaches, bedbugs, ants, fleas, moths, and even flies. It's similar to the Chinese pencil for keeping harmful insects out of the home, is inexpensive, and effectively combats household pests.
Mashenka chalk is based on a Chinese insect repellent pencil with a similar composition.
The chalk contains:
- deltamethrin (0.05%) is a synthetic insecticide that blocks neuromuscular transmission and leads to paralysis and then death of the insect;
- Zeta-cypermethrin (0.10%) is a pesticide that causes synoptic disturbances in the body of pests (a disruption of nerve impulses occurs, resulting in paralysis and then death of the pests);
- chalk acts as a filler.
Mashenka's appearance resembles an ordinary piece of chalk.
Once inside the insect's body, the active substances stop muscle function and block the nervous system, resulting in the death of the parasite. It should be noted that to achieve this result, the cockroach or bedbug does not necessarily have to eat the poison; it is enough to simply run along the chalk line. This is explained by the fact that the substances contained in this preparation penetrate the enemy's body not only through the mouth, but also through the chitinous shell. Furthermore, insects smeared with the chalk transfer the deadly poison from one insect to another.
The modern market offers consumers a huge selection of all kinds of products for combating unwanted neighbors in the home: sprays, gels, traps, and more. Although these products are often more effective than Mashenka chalk, the Chinese pencil equivalent remains popular. This can be explained by the following factors:
- effectiveness of use against home pests;
- low cost of the product;
- ease of use.
It's worth noting that Mashenka chalk, unlike many other insecticides, doesn't kill insects quickly. Getting rid of cockroaches or bedbugs in your home can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. In cases where the pests are present in large numbers, using Mashenka chalk should be combined with other, more effective treatments.
In particularly severe cases, it is worth using chalk in combination with other insect repellents in the house.
Video: Cockroach Control Products
How to use
The main method of using Mashenka chalk is to draw lines in places where cockroaches and bedbugs appear most often:
- baseboards;
- pipes (water and heating);
- ventilation holes;
- under sinks and around trash cans;
- joints between tiles;
- cracks in the floor and walls;
- back surfaces of carpets, furniture, paintings, mirrors, etc.
Bedbugs and cockroaches can hide anywhere.
Chalk lines should be continuous and wide, at least 1.5 cm. Compliance with this condition provides the maximum effect, since when crossing the line, the insect manages to capture a sufficient amount of the drug for rapid death.
When drawing with chalk, draw continuous wide lines
One Mashenka chalk is enough to process an area of about 30 square meters.
Besides this, chalk can be used in other ways:
- Powdered chalk. In this case, the chalk is ground into a fine powder and carefully sprinkled into hard-to-reach places that can't be reached with a pencil: crevices, corners of sofas, cracks in walls.
- As a thick solution. Crushed chalk is mixed with water to form a paste and applied with a brush to pest infestations.
- As a spray. The crushed pencil is mixed with water (1 bar of Mashenka per 1–1.5 liters of liquid), poured into a spray bottle, and sprayed where needed. This method is convenient for treating large areas, such as the backs of carpets or furniture to kill bedbugs.
For quick treatment of large areas, you can use a solution of chalk and water, which should be poured into a spray bottle.
The chalk's effectiveness against insects lasts for about a month. However, the effect begins to wane within 7-10 days of application. After 2-3 weeks, any remaining product should be washed off with a baking soda and soap solution, and the area should be re-treated with the chalk if necessary.
Mashenka Chalk should be stored in a dry, dark place at a temperature no higher than 40 degrees Celsius. In an open package, the product begins to lose its potency at temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius.
Security measures
The effectiveness of Mashenka chalk is due to the presence of harmful chemicals in its composition, which can be harmful to humans and pets. Therefore, certain rules should be followed when working with this product:
- It is prohibited to use pencil treatment in rooms where small children and animals live.
- When working with chalk, wear rubber gloves and a face mask. It's also advisable to protect your eyes with goggles. When working with chalk without gloves, you should hold it without removing it completely from the factory packaging.
When starting to work with chalk, do not forget about safety precautions.
- Do not apply the product to the interior surfaces of cabinets where food and dishes are stored.
- When using the processing method that involves grinding chalk into powder, it is necessary to carefully ensure that particles of the substance do not come into contact with the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth.
- After finishing working with the drug, you must thoroughly wash your hands and face with soap.
After working with the insecticide, wash your hands and face thoroughly.
First aid
If safety precautions have been violated and external or internal contact with the drug occurs, seek qualified medical attention immediately. Before examination and consultation with a doctor:
- If chalk particles come into contact with the mucous membrane of your eyes, immediately rinse them with running water or a baking soda solution (1 teaspoon of baking soda per 200 ml of water).
If chalk particles get into your eyes, rinse them immediately with clean water or a soda solution.
- If the pencil comes into contact with skin, immediately rinse off the insecticide with running water.
Running water from the tap will help remove Mashenka pencil from your skin.
- If Mashenka is ingested, drink several glasses of a weak solution of potassium permanganate and induce vomiting. To prepare a potassium permanganate solution, dissolve 2-3 crystals of the substance in 1 liter of water. Remember that a more concentrated solution can cause serious disruptions in the body's functioning. To avoid manganese particles coming into contact with the gastrointestinal mucosa and causing subsequent chemical burns, the prepared solution should be filtered through several layers of gauze before use.
Gastric lavage with a solution of potassium permanganate is one of the available measures for cleansing the body in case of intoxication.
- If the victim loses consciousness, do not take any action—medical assistance is required in this situation.
Intoxication from working with insecticides is a serious reason to seek medical attention.
Reviews of Mashenka chalk
We were renovating our kitchen and temporarily left the range hood bare—two days later, we found three bedbugs! My husband is so squeamish about any kind of critter—he spent the night online researching pest control methods. So, bedbugs can appear in new apartments, even after renovations, and even in new furniture! I read that bedbugs are afraid of wormwood. So, we rushed to the pharmacy, bought eight (!) packets of wormwood—the pharmacist gave us a sigh of relief—three bottles of wormwood essential oil, and some Mashenka chalk. So, we spent the entire evening drawing on the underside of the furniture, scattering the packets everywhere and smearing them in places the kid wouldn't lick. That's it—NO ONE (knock on wood)!!!
There were also black cockroaches. I bought a Mashenka pencil at Ozerka—nothing. I haven't seen any living red ones for about ten years.
When the cockroaches came to us, the neighbors exterminated them, we bought some Mashenka chalk, and these monsters started crawling out and running everywhere, I was so scared I ran from the house to my parents, spent the night there, and in the morning I came back... and not a single cockroach, not even a corpse, I don’t know where they went, but there were no more
I got rid of them with regular "Mashenka" chalk. I had to keep it spotlessly clean and coat the air vents with it (the neighbors were the ones who got it). I haven't seen it for two months.
I'd like to say, we had bedbugs, and we fought them for two months. We tried everything—it was terrible. We took the beds apart down to the last screw, soaked everything in aerosols and all sorts of chemicals, but they, like jack-in-the-box, crawled out and bit us and the child. We almost threw out and burned all the sofas, but we finally did it. I even bought a Karcher steam cleaner to steam everything out, but it was useless. What helped, you won't believe it, was Mashenka chalk. We bought eight of them and drew around the perimeter of all the beds wherever we could, as they say, with all our heart. So far, we haven't had any complaints about bedbugs. And most importantly, it's not harmful to people. Just try to buy fresh chalk and not counterfeit. We bought it online; there was no other option. Good luck to everyone!!!
Mashenka. Have you ever studied descriptive geometry? No? You buy Mashenka chalk and draw on the walls. It gets rid of both bedbugs and cockroaches like a charm!
Mashenka Chalk is an effective insect repellent for your home. Its affordability and effectiveness have made it a popular choice for many years.
