Chemical Warfare On Insects (Raid Fly and Wasp Killer)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Raid Fly and Wasp Killer
Date:	02/09/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Kills flies instantly

Disadvantages: not so great on wasps and toxic

I'm not a person who normally buys fly sprays and this can was only bought after a hysterical me begged the nice lady in the co-op at 9:30pm on a Sunday night for something to kill the monster spider which had invaded my space. The co-op, surprisingly, don't sell spider killer but I got some sympathy and came out with a can of Raid because it was the closest thing to my needs. My 400ml spray can cost £1.85 but is probably cheaper elsewhere.

I came home and sprayed every nook and cranny where the evil spider could have hidden but frustratingly have no idea if it worked as I have never found a body or a live spider either.

Oh well, I decided to put my Raid to the test to see if it was any good. I get loads of daddy long legs which fly in when they see me smoking at the back door and decide to come in for some heat. Daddy long legs don't bother me in the least and my cat thinks they are mini birds to hunt and devour so I normally leave them alone but my poor daughter is terrified of them. One blast of the Raid and the daddy long legs seemed to become more hyper and then fell to the floor. It was still alive so had to put it out of its misery with my foot and I had to hide the corpse so the cat didn't eat it!

Next task was to get rid of the flies that had been buzzing around. One spray of Raid in their direction and it was almost comical to see them fall from the air straight onto the floor stone dead.

My next victim was the poor hapless wasp which decided to make an appearance. I felt quite sorry for it because it looked as if it was dying anyway. Despite being stung a few times wasps don't bother me much but again the cat loves them and I don't want him to catch one and get stung in his wee mouth so out came my can. The wasp fell to the floor on the first spray but was very much still alive and making an attempt to fly off and it was probably now angry and more likely to sting me. It took several more blasts from the Raid to render the stripey intruder dead.

It's clear to me that Raid works best on flies and despite claiming to work in seconds on all flying insects it is less effective on bigger beasties like wasps and daddy long legs.

I feel really uneasy using such a toxic spray (except for spiders where I would use a nuclear bomb to clear them if needed!). The tin warns me not to spray near food, eating utensils or walls and that it is toxic to marine life. When you spray the Raid, the smell is not bad but I don't like the thought of me, my child or little kitty breathing in poison; no matter how carefully I spray it some of it is going to get into our lungs. I also have to immediately hunt down any insect corpses before the cat finds them to stop him eating them and ingesting the poison this way. I also clean any surfaces the spray may have come into contact with so it ends up a lot of hassle just to kill a humble little fly.

I'm sure I'll use the whole can of raid now that it's in the house but I don't think I will buy another, I would rather use non chemical means to get rid of any insects in my home.

Summary: I'm not keen on spraying poison about