General Insect Treatment (GIT)
Spiderman YP offers a General Insect Treatment (GIT) which controls all common household insects including spiders, flies, millipedes, mosquitoes, earwigs, beetles, and fleas.
We also offer specialised services for specific infestations which are tailored to your property and to your situation.
The product
The surface spray used for our GIT treatments is safe, colourless, odourless and eco-friendly. It dries completely clear, so you won’t even know it’s there! The product is biodegradable; meaning it doesn’t accumulate in the environment.
Safety
Our GIT product has a Schedule 5 and 6 poison rating and it is AQIS IOA approved for use within food-processing establishments.
When applied as per the registered labels it is less toxic than many cleaning products used in the home; in fact, it’s less toxic than table salt.
Apart from fish, our product is safe for pets. We ask that you cover any aquatic pets you may have (eg. fish tank, pond etc.) and notify your technician of their location prior to treatment. In the unlikely event that people, plants or animals come into contact with our product—either by touching it while it’s wet or by ingesting it orally—there is no concern to their safety; the amount of active constituent that they may take in is very small and is completely harmless.
How it works
The product we use for our GIT is a ‘residual insecticide’, which means it must be ingested, inhaled or absorbed by the pest to be effective. Once the pests come into contact with a treated surface, they will become affected and die. The time it takes for the insect to die will depend on its size—a large spider can remain active significantly longer than a mosquito or fly.
This treatment is not a repellent. It is possible that insects may enter your home from outside (eg. in washing, through open windows/doors etc.). Chances are that they will have crossed treated areas and will die shortly after. Generally after treatment, you will notice a large number of the insect population has disappeared and will stay that way for months. If you have concerns that the amount of insects you’re seeing after treatment is excessive, please let us know and a technician will contact you to discuss solutions. We’re not happy unless you are!
Areas we treat
Our technician will treat both indoor and outdoor areas of your property. We treat surfaces that get the most traffic from pests, such as ceilings, entrances, skirting boards, door and window frames, walls, eaves, and paths. The GIT surface contact spray is pre-mixed and applied using a hand-pumped backpack. Outdoor areas such as your clothesline, dog kennel, fence lines, garden borders, letterbox, outdoor furniture, pergola, retaining walls, verandas, wheelie bins, and children’s play equipment can also be treated.
Discuss your specific requirements and options with your technician prior to treatment.
Vacating your property
The treatment process takes 1 to 1.5 hours to complete for the interior and exterior of an average sized (3-bedroom, 1-bathroom, single-garage) house. This will depend on variables, such as ease of access, size of property, height of ceilings, extra sheds, level of infestation etc. Your technician will ask you to vacate the property whilst the GIT is being performed inside. This is not for any ‘toxic’ reasons but rather so that you don’t slip on any wet surfaces! Once the treatment is dry (usually 30 to 60 minutes depending on the weather) it is safe to re-enter.
Weather
In order to adhere to surfaces properly, our GIT product requires surface areas to be dry prior to treatment. Therefore, it cannot be applied to external areas during very windy or rainy weather.
If the weather turns bad the day of your treatment booking, we will contact you. We may still be able to service indoors and arrange another time to treat the outside. Alternatively, we can reschedule the whole appointment. Surface treatments applied to the exterior of the home need 10-20 minutes to dry (depending on the weather) to be effective. Rain after this period will not wash the treatment off or make the treatment ineffective.
Maintenance
There are many variables that determine how long treatment lasts but in our part of South Australia, the General Insect Treatment (GIT) remains effective for around 12 months—sometimes longer! Because our product is biodegradable, its strength will weaken over time. It will break down faster outside due to natural elements such as wind, rain, sun, dust etc. Indoors, it will break down first in areas such as the kitchen and bathroom, as steam and moisture can increase the speed of biodegradation.
Generally, we recommend treatment every 12 months. The return of spider webs indicates biodegradation of the treatment. Similarly, if you find the time insects take to die becomes excessive, a further treatment may be necessary. If the property has not been treated previously or there is a large, widespread or heavy infestation, it may be a good option to re-treat after a shorter period of time (eg. six months).
Our Technicians are able to further advise treatment programs, depending on each individual situation.
Preparation and after-care
Before Treatment, we ask that you:
- Cover or clear all food items from bench and table tops. Although not necessary, you may also like to cover sensitive items: toothbrushes, pillows, baby’s cot, toys etc.
- Remove general clutter for ease of access around your home
- Move any small items away from skirting boards to allow your technician good access to treatment areas.
- Open/raise curtains and blinds internally and raise any external roller shutters
- Heavy furniture does not need to be moved
- Use an old towel or sheet to cover fish tanks and a tarp to cover ponds and don’t forget to let your technician know where they are located. These can be removed once the technician has finished
After Treatment, we ask that you:
- Please watch your step when returning as floors may be slippery!
- Wipe down any food preparation surfaces prior to use.
- If possible, leave any existing spider webs for 1—2 weeks after treatment before brushing them down. This allows the spider to enter the web and treatment to take effect.
- Avoid washing it off! Our product is biodegradable and will break down faster outside due to natural elements such as wind, rain, sun, dust etc.
- Mop approximately 5 cm from skirting boards when washing floors, as detergent will neutralise the treatment. When cleaning windows, try to avoid washing product from window frames.
- Try to keep run-off to a minimum when watering. Avoid use of high-pressure hoses to wash down treated areas.
- Be vigilant! Many insects will be on the move immediately after a treatment. The fact that insects are fleeing means that they have been affected by the treatment and will die soon after. It may take 24—48 hours for the insect traffic to settle after treatment.