Does Bleach Kill Ticks? Using Bleach To Kill Ticks

If you’re a frequent hiker like me, chances are you’ve come across a tick or two in your life and it can always be a scary experience.

Spotting one of these guys on your body can be a nasty moment, and it can be even worse if you end up bringing them into your house or if ticks end up in your car.

There are a number of ways you can go about killing a tick using household items, and I’ve seen many people name bleach as a powerful pesticide.

But does bleach kill ticks? And if so, how do you use bleach to kill ticks? 

Bleach will instantly kill ticks due to its caustic nature. Although it kills ticks effectively, you should never use bleach to kill ticks that are still attached to your skin due to its toxicity. You can carefully use bleach to kill ticks in your home, on clothes, or ticks that have been removed from the skin, but be sure to keep pets and children far away.

Bleach will kill a tick in an instant, but I wouldn’t really recommend it for home use. Bleach is a dangerous chemical, and if used in the wrong way it could be harmful to the people and pets living in your house.

If you’re willing to accept the risks there are a number of safe methods to use bleach to kill ticks, and you should continue to read below to learn if bleach can be used in your tick encounter.

How Do You Use Bleach to Kill Ticks?

Before you attempt to kill ticks using bleach, you should always be sure to wear long sleeve clothes and gloves to protect your skin.

As a parent, I’m always pretty hesitant to use bleach in areas where my kids might be, or if I do use it then it'll be somewhere like the bathroom where I can wash it away after I've cleaned the shower and killed the mold I'm cleaning.

You should be sure to keep pets and any young children away while killing ticks with bleach.

If you find a tick attached to your body and want to use bleach to kill it, start by finding a pair of fine-tipped tweezers or use a tick-removal kit (this Tick Remover Kit from Amazon works great).

TickCheck Premium Tick Remover Kit
$12.95

Kit includes stainless steel tick remover for safely removing larger embedded ticks and a specially shaped super-fine-tip tweezer for removing nymphs and small deer ticks. All kept in a leather pouch with a handy tick identification card.

Buy Now at Amazon
03/07/2024 01:07 am GMT

Using your tweezers or tool, grab the tick as close to your skin as you can and pull in an upwards motion until it is removed from your skin. 

I always take a pair of tweezers with my when I go hiking just in case myself or one of my kids gets a tick and it makes it fairly easy to remove them straight away.

TickCheck Premium Tick Remover Kit - Stainless Steel Tick Remover + Tweezers, Leather Case, and Free Pocket Tick Identification Card (1 Set)

You can now kill the tick instantly by placing it in a small container/cup of bleach. You can also use rubbing alcohol in a similar fashion to kill ticks.

If you really want to be precautious, hold onto the body of the tick by taping it to a notecard or piece of paper. Ticks can carry various diseases such as Lyme disease, and if you start feeling ill after a tick bite, having the tick’s body can allow a doctor to identify if it carried a disease.

Can You Use Bleach to Kill Ticks in your Home or Garden?

If you want to use bleach to kill ticks in your home, fill a spray bottle with a 1:10 concentration of bleach and water. 

This works best for large nests or infestations of ticks that may have found their way into your home. Make sure that the area you are spraying is well-ventilated, as it’s harmful to inhale bleach fumes.

Be careful around fabrics as bleach can cause discoloring. To tackle ticks on fabrics like couches or pillows, I would recommend using one of the fabric repellents listed here.

In your yard or garden, this spray will still work effectively but I wouldn’t recommend it as bleach kills everything it touches. Instead, use the spray to kill ticks on fences or patio areas.

And always be sure to keep young children and pets far away when spraying bleach.

If you’ve spotted a tick in your car, I wouldn’t recommend bleach as an effective solution. Instead, read my guide here on the most effective ways to kill ticks in a car.

Can You Use Bleach to Kill Ticks on Dogs?

Bleach cannot be used to kill ticks on dogs. Bleach is toxic and can be very harmful to your dog's skin.

Bleach CAN be used to wash any bedding or fabric that your tick-covered pets have come into contact with, but if you’re looking for the best way to remove ticks that are embedded in your dog's skin, consider picking up a tick remover kit.

TickCheck Premium Tick Remover Kit
$12.95

Kit includes stainless steel tick remover for safely removing larger embedded ticks and a specially shaped super-fine-tip tweezer for removing nymphs and small deer ticks. All kept in a leather pouch with a handy tick identification card.

Buy Now at Amazon
03/07/2024 01:07 am GMT