Raid Fly & Wasp Killer > Reviews (10)

I have never (touch wood) been stung by a wasp or bee in all my 28 years. While this does make me feel a little special, it has left me with an irrational fear of wasps in particular. I think if I knew what to expect then I wouldn't be so freaked out by them. Now, since I can't abide a house with closed windows at any time of year and I smoke so the back door is always open, I often have renegade trespasser wasps to deal with when I am alone in the house all through Summer. Alone save for the dog, but I'm not sure what he would do except stare and possibly try to eat it.

So I have a can of Raid fly and wasp killer to hand (literally, it sits on the worktop beside my laptop where I spend a lot of the day!) at all times. The last can I got was bought from Tesco, and it was around £2.75 but I can't remember exactly. I hadn't bought it for ages so I wasn't sure what it would cost but I can say I was a little peeved at such a high price tag! I was hoping to find an own brand maybe, but Raid was the only insecticide available in that store. So I bought it obviously, I can't be without it!

It comes in a serious looking 300ml blue and yellow aerosol can, with a couple of poor flying creatures being killed by a rather nasty looking lightning bolt. It proclaims "kills flying insects in seconds" and "kills bugs dead". I have to say this makes me feel a bit sad, after all they're only going about their business, right? If they would only listen to me and just stay out my house....

The spray itself comes out quite thick, and is nice and even. There is a lot of information on the back, as this is quite a nasty product. I will summarise the majority of it throughout the review, but make sure you do read it before using. It is extremely flammable, very dangerous for the environment (potential long term adverse effects in aquatic environments) and very toxic to aquatic organisms; you must ensure that any pets are not in the way of the spray and that you cover all aquariums or cages. The active ingredients are tetramethrin (0.32% w/w) and d-phenothrin (0.07% w/w), both strong insecticidal agents. Breathing the spray and skin and eye contact should be avoided.

The directions are simply to shake well and spray short bursts into the air in the vicinity of flying insects, avoiding contamination of foodstuffs, food preparation areas and utensils (or making sure you wash everything thoroughly if this is unavoidable). It also states to keep the spray at least 1 metre away from wallpaper and surfaces, but I so don't do this!

The way I use it, is by spraying it pretty much directly onto the wasp; when they come in they go straight to my large kitchen window so I simply spray them directly to trap them at the window - I get the spray on my window, windowsill tiles and probably even the walls and it's caused no problem for me. I do have to clean up afterward as my sink is right under my window and often there may be crockery on the draining board; this all gets washed again. I have to be very careful with this as I have 5 open topped turtle tanks and a lidded aquarium, as well as a large collection of other critters upstairs (including many exotic invertebrates - i.

e. insects!) This is why I have to trap the offending wasp against the window, I cannot spray this into the air and end up chasing the poor dying thing around with it. I simply cannot use it outside of those 2 square metres at the kitchen window. Using it this way has been very effective though and as said, I have experienced no problems. Might be worth noting though that my kitchen walls are papered, painted with kitchen and bathroom paint so they can take a lot of washing.

So does it kill in seconds? Well, no. It may kill some small defenceless houseflies in seconds, but I would never use it on them. I only use it against wasps, and bees if I really have to. But it does kill in minutes. After a couple of sprays, I see the wasp has fallen onto the windowsill, usually on its back and I can hear it buzzing for several minutes after, although it is immobilised. So it does work fast. It also promises to be effective against mosquitoes.

It does make what I think is a laughable claim - "A pleasant outdoor fresh scent". Ha! This smells anything but pleasant, it smells like chemical warfare! It smells exactly as fly spray typically smells; heavily chemical and cloying that catches at the back of your throat. I do find it doesn't linger for too long though so it's not bad. I would never expect insecticide to have a nice fragrance and I don't think anyone else should either. It may be attempted but this one certainly doesn't deliver on that. I don't think the true smell of the chemicals used can be covered up or disguised.

In terms of value, I have to admit this isn't bad. It is quite expensive but you don't need to use too much (I use more than directed, I know it) and since it's not something you will definitely use every day or all year round the can lasts a fairly long time. I can't say how often I buy this yet as I still have most of the can left, even though I bought it a few weeks back. The can before that I had for years. So it is probably fabulous value actually!

Fact is, I won't be stopping buying this anytime soon. It works very well and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it against flying and stinging warmongers. You just have to exercise caution as insecticides are nasty not only to bugs but to a whole host of other animals and people too.