In this feature, Agserv business consultant Andy Knox invites a pest control professional to talk about their favourite product. Here, he asks pest manager Colin Urey, “What is your favourite product and why?”
Colin Urey (above, centre right) is the owner and managing director of Drop Dead Pest Control in Menai, southeast Sydney. Mr Urey and his wife Jodi (above, right) started in pest control about 20 years ago, and opened Drop Dead in 2008. Now with a second office in Gymea, a little bit closer to the coast, Drop Dead services customers all the way from Newcastle to Canberra.
The company has grown significantly since those early days and now employs some 22 technicians and ten office staff. Drop Dead’s business is a good mix of residential and commercial contracts. Being able to deliver consistently successful control programs, especially for challenging pests such as German cockroaches, has been key to their success.
Drop Dead’s technicians have been using ClearOut Aerosol ever since they first learned about it, using it specifically against German cockroaches. They use it extensively in both residential and commercial kitchens for crack and crevice treatments and behind and underneath appliances.
Mr Urey said, “ClearOut Aerosol has largely replaced cockroach gel baits in our arsenal – it lasts longer and stays effective where we found that gels could easily become contaminated.”
ClearOut Crawling Insect Aerosol from Sherwood Chemicals contains a duo of active ingredients: fipronil and pyriproxyfen.
Fipronil is a non-repellent phenylpyrazole insecticide that disrupts the central nervous system of insects. It takes time to impact the cockroach, allowing for delayed mortality. This delay is strategic; it enables the cockroaches to return to their harbourages, spreading the toxicant through contact and ingestion, effectively turning the infestation against itself.
Meanwhile, pyriproxyfen is an insect growth regulator that mimics juvenile hormones, preventing pests from maturing or reproducing. When paired with fipronil, it creates a multi-generational kill effect, reducing reinfestation risks and slowing down the potential of resistance development.
Mr Urey added, “We find ClearOut Aerosol to be a stable and reliable product, with a longer-lasting residual than any other product that we have tried. It is easy to use – quick and efficient – as well as surprisingly economical. It’s a non-repellent product that is always good to have in your bag.”
Mr Urey explains that his technicians don’t use ClearOut Aerosol exclusively on a job, but use it in combination with other insecticides, particularly in heavy infestations.
Mr Urey has been a long-term customer and supporter of Agserv’s Sydney branch, where he also sources Chaindrite and Fipforce Dust (for treating active termites) from the Sherwood range.
