About scorpion repellents
Scorpion repellents work on the same principle as other insect or rodent repellents. Spray repellents include chemicals – either natural or artificial – that kill or repel the pests. Electronic ultrasound repellents emit an ultrasound that is highly unpleasant for them and thus forces them away from the area. And the various traps you can employ simply catch and/or kill them. A good combination of all these methods, together with a proper home cleaning and maintenance can quickly end any scorpion or other pest threat.
The only more delicate and complicated part of this is the exact ingredients and scorpion spray repellents. There are lots of different things that manufacturers can put in a spray. As far as natural sprays are concerned, peppermint oil, lavender, citrus, and other essential oils make up for great ways to kill and repel scorpions, as well as other pests. If you’re looking for something with stronger and more toxic artificial chemicals, there is a lot the market can offer, including the infamous pyrethrins, pyrethroids, permethrins. Keep in mind, however, that such toxic chemicals can be damaging to the surfaces you apply them on, as well as harmful to your kids and pets. This is a big reason why natural scorpion and insect repellents are so popular – most households have either pets, kids or both, so using highly toxic repellents can be tricky. Ideally, you’ll apply them only in spaces where your pets and kids can’t reach, but that limits the repellent’s application.
Another thing to consider when looking into combating a scorpion presence is what types of scorpions you’re facing.
Scorpions come in approximately 1,300 different species worldwide which can vary a lot in their preferred habitat, in size, in feeding habits, nesting habits, venom strength, and so on. Additionally, they can also vary in the chemicals that they are resistant to. In other words – what can kill or repel one species of scorpion may be useless against another.
That’s why it is quite important to first find out what species of scorpions you are dealing with. Scorpions vary in color from yellow and reddish to brown, blue, or black. That, together with their size and geographical distribution around the world makes identifying them easier than it might look like at first. Simple take several photos of your scorpion guests and look up online in arachnid forums and knowledge bases what types they are. From there, you can figure out what types of chemicals and other natural substances or repellents work on your particular brand of scorpions and you’ll be well equipped to deal with the problem.
Another reason why it is vital to carefully research the exact type of your 8-legged pests you’re dealing with is so that you know exactly how dangerous they are. Scorpions are almost never life-threatening to humans, but there are 25 – 40 species (depending on which literature you’re reading) that have venom strong enough to hurt humans. Particularly pets and children (and especially infants) can be in much greater danger than adults, so finding out whether the scorpions you’re dealing with are dangerous should usually be your first priority.
Scorpion repellent buying guide
- Buy a scorpion repellent of high quality. Figuring out which product is worth buying can be confusing since virtually every product is marketed as “The Best Ever”. Especially if you are new to this niche, you may not know which brands and types of products are worth buying and which – not so much. To help you out further, here are some of the brands that we’d consider “safe” for you to start with: Wondercide, Terro, Eco-Defense, Raid, Ortho, and others.
- Of course, you can just rely on brand recognition to be sure that what you are buying is truly what you need. Unfortunately, the one true and tested method to gauge the quality of a product remains reviews. Both consumer reviews and industry reviews have their issues, but using them as a guideline can work if you’re reading an awful lot of them and you’re reading them adequately.
- The main problem with user reviews is that they are usually “unprofessional”, meaning that they often don’t offer complete information, they are incomplete in their assessments, they are too subjective, they don’t account for mistakes the users themselves might have done when applying the product, and so on.
- Industry reviews, on the other hand (reviews by industry professionals), often don’t include those mistakes, however, they can be biased towards or against some products.
- Reading enough reviews from both kinds and carefully correlating the information you get from them is a good way to assess which products are worth buying and which – not so much.
- Consider what kind of repellent you want. Do you want a spray solution that you can spray in and around your home? If so, do you want it to be more natural-based to protect your kids and pets, or do you want it to be as toxic as possible so that it is more effective? Would you rather use something more unorthodox as an electronic ultrasound device? Or do you intend to employ the use of good old scorpion and insect traps? Figuring out exactly what type of scorpion killer and repellent you need is the first and most important step to making the right purchase.
- How much are you willing to pay? The irony of repellent prices is that if the pest problem is relatively minor, the price doesn’t matter because you’ll be using just a little of the repellent. However, if you are having a truly excessive scorpion infestation, then you’re bound to use your repellent product excessively and you’d be happy to save some money on its price but you can’t compromise with its quality while doing so. This means that finding the best price/quality ratio is crucial and that usually includes a lot of research.
As you can see, buying the right product can often include quite a lot of prep time, but hopefully, this article will save you a fair amount of it.
Other useful information on scorpion repellents
- Don’t ignore the “Catch and release” method. We understand that scorpions can be creepy and spraying them to death is a satisfying way of dealing with them, but unless you’ve been overrun with them, consider the “catch and release” option for individual scorpions. Scorpions are actually considered a beneficial predator in nature and returning them outdoors will have a positive effect on your home’s surroundings. Eliminating a scorpion populace from your area can drastically increase the number of other unpleasant insect pests that scorpion feed on and that can be much more dangerous to us and harder to deal with.
- Fix the holes and cracks of your home. Scorpions are not as nimble as cockroaches so you can effectively stop them from entering your home if you simply wall off their entry points. The space underneath your door, as well as cracks and nooks in your walls, are usually where scorpions enter from and these can be easily sealed shut. Additionally, you can also make the scorpions’ entry points less inviting – caulk or spray a repellent around holes that you can’t seal off; treat all areas around pipes, drains, fittings, walls, vents, and so on; don’t ignore the ceiling fixtures, since scorpions are actually quite good climbers; pour bleach in the drains of your septic system; treat the outside of the dryer vents, the outside of cables, wires and pipes; fix leaky faucets, pipes and other dripping sources of water; and so on.
- Don’t kill your house spiders. If you are creeped out by scorpions we’d venture a guess that you’re not a fan of spiders either. However, non-harmful pest-catching spiders often kill a lot of species of scorpions quite effectively, so you can consider leaving them alive. Remember to remove most of their other sources of food, however, such as crickets, cockroaches, ants, cicadas, etc.
- Plant lavender around your home. Lavender is a miracle plant when it comes to fending off scorpions and other insects. Not only is it beautiful and has a nice aroma, but it’s also widely despised by scorpions and other pests. Plant it in and around your home buy dried lavender plants, get lavender essential oils – make your home a lavender paradise and scorpions will quickly start avoiding it. If you are a fan of citrus plants, they too have a repelling effect on scorpions.
- Take care of your yard. Scorpions don’t just materialize in our homes, they come from outside. Cleaning up your yard is a good way to reduce the amount of insect home invaders. Scorpions love to dwell in tall grass, in piles of firewood, rocks, and lumber, as well as in compost heaps. Whenever possible, keep all such things away from your home. Mow your lawn methodically and keep the grass short, and remember to prune the bushes and overhanging branches as well as possible.
- Get a pet. There are thousands of great reasons to get a cat or a dog so we’re not saying that you should get one purely as a “Scorpion-killer”. However, if you were wondering about getting a pet anyway, consider their fondness for killing scorpion a pleasant plus. Cats, in particular, love killing off any insect or scorpion that is large enough to catch their attention and a lot of dog breeds and very fond of killing creepy crawlers as well.
- Do some night-time scorpion hunting in the yard. Scorpions fluoresce under the ultra-violet light so if you arm yourself with a black light or an ultra-violet light, as well as with some heavy boots, you can do a lot of killing overnight and end some major scorpion nests and gatherings before they’ve even entered your home.
Tips for using scorpion repellents
With other sprays, however, particularly ones that are prepared on a more toxic base, even the dried off product can be toxic for your pets should the lick it, so using such products is only advisable if you don’t have pets or in locations where they can’t reach.
Speaking of locations, with scorpion repellent sprays location is the key guiding principle regarding how you should use them. Spraying the middle of your kitchen floor, for example, is simply pointless most of the time as it will neither stop the scorpions from getting in nor will it stop from walking around.
Instead, focus on spraying the nooks, cracks, and crevices where the creepy crawlies enter from. Focus on darker and damper places as well, since most species of scorpions prefer more moist places.
If you want to spray a scorpion directly and kill it, make sure you spray it sufficiently, especially if it’s a rather big one. Keep in mind that even a lot of sprays that are advertised as “killing instantly” don’t usually kill scorpions instantly, but it may take a while, especially with a more natural-based product.
As far as electronic ultrasound products such as the ultrasonic device we showcased, they all have detailed instructions that you’d want to read quite carefully. To be as effective as possible you’ll always want to place them in rooms of the suggested square footage, their doors shouldn’t be left open, and the furniture shouldn’t be too obstructive.
Good ultrasound devices can work around and through most furniture, but there’s no need to make their job needlessly harder if you can avoid it.
As far as traps such as sticky and glue traps, bait bags, and so on – putting them in the right location is of course of the utmost importance, as is handling them with care. Be very mindful when throwing away a bag of scorpions as a lot of species can sting quite painfully.
To conclude
There are many different ways to combat a scorpion infestation – repellent sprays, electronic ultrasound devices, glue traps, essential oils and plants, simple burlap bag traps, and many others.
Keeping your home clean, sealed, and scorpion-unfriendly is also a good thing.
The products we listed at the beginning of the article are among the best possible solutions to a scorpion invasion, so adding them to your arsenal is usually a good idea.
To wrap up this article, let’s take a last look at our Top 3 products:
The Wondercide Natural Scorpion Repellent is a highly effective natural solution to most scorpion problems. It doesn’t include any unwanted chemicals such as pyrethrins, pyrethroids, or permethrins but is instead based on cedar oil and other essential oils and plant extracts. These give it a lot of kick against a lot of types of insect pests, including scorpions who cannot stand such plants and oils. The repellent offers on-contact kill potential against a lot of pests and long-term repelling effectiveness.
Similarly to the Wondercide repellent, the Eco-Defense Organic Scorpion Deterrent is based on entirely natural ingredients, mainly peppermint oil.
This makes it highly effective against scorpions and other insect pests and safe for people and pets once it has dried off. It even has a very good on-contact kill potential against most insects and a long-lasting repelling effect.
If you are looking for an electronic solution to your scorpion problem, the Electronic Ultrasound Repellent works against all kinds of household insect pests and scorpions. It emits an ultrasound that is undetectable for people and most pets (unless you have rodent pets) and doesn’t affect us in any harmful way.
It is very unpleasant for scorpions and insects, however, which makes it such a great choice in your combat against them. Still, some pests are known to adapt to the ultrasound so using this product in conjunction with another repeller is always a good idea.