Cy-Kick CS - Questions & Answers

Cy-Kick CS and Talstar are both great products and are both very popular choices on our website.  Other than them both being different active ingredients and killing insects in different ways, they are both very effective and can be used indoors and outdoors and they are both very safe.  We would say that the main difference is that Cy-Kick CS is microencapsulated which means it will hold up a little better outdoors in UV light, probably about 3-4 weeks longer than Talstar.  Either one would be a good choice and really just depends on personal preference. 

For scorpion control, you are always going to use much more product than you would for general pest control. For general insects like ants, spiders and roaches you would only spray 2 feet up and 2 feet out just around the foundation of the home. For scorpions you need a much wider barrier for them to cross to have the product pass through their tough exoskeleton. It normally takes spraying 6-10 feet out on the ground around the home, plus any other landscape harborage areas to control them effectively. Depending on the outdoor elements in your area will depend on whether you will need to treat monthly or every 2-3 months. The Cy-Kick CS is a great option for scorpion control but you will use a fair amount of it to treat and keep your property free of pests. You normally mix it at the rate of 1-2 ounces per gallon of water, and each gallon you mix up will cover roughly 1000 sq/ft, depending on how heavy you wet the surface area.

The Demand CS and Cy-Kick CS are very similar in performance for killing scorpions. Both products contain active ingredients that are synthetic pyrethroids and both products are micro-encapsulated. Cy-Kick CS is a bit more popular with customers that are trying to control scorpions.

The main difference is that the Cy-Kick CS is a microencapsulated suspension. Micro Encapsulation means that each droplet of insecticide is encased in a protective microscopic capsule, which provides a long residual even in direct sunlight. Micro cap also means the product can be more easily picked up by the tiny hairs on insects and especially flying insects.  So, while both the Bifen IT and the Cy-Kick CS are great products there are some instances where Cy-Kick CS is a bit more effective such as spider and scorpion control and on outdoor surfaces that are exposed to the elements.

Yes, Cy-Kick CS will kill just about any spider that it is sprayed. Spiders are very difficult to control however and most residual insecticides like Cy Kick CS will kill any spider that it is physically sprayed on, but new spiders entering the area are very difficult for any insecticide to control.  This is because spiders bodies are high off of the ground and they do not groom their legs like other insects do. How these products mainly control spiders is that they kill the spiders food that is around, all of the other bugs, and if there is no food around, then the spiders will not want to be in that area anymore. For more information, please take a few moments to review our treatment article on How to Get Rid of Spiders.

As long as the cap has been kept on the bottle and the bottle has been kept out of extreme temperatures and direct sunlight a bottle of Cy-Kick CS should last for about 3 years after it has been opened.

Cy-Kick CS is pet safe when used as directed on the product label.  Pets should be out of the area until dry.  The small amount of active ingredient is only enough to kill an insect, for it to harm your cat they would have to eat their body weight or more in insects that were killed with the product.

No. You can only apply Cy-Kick CS on dry days. Applying on rainy days can cause the product to "run off" of the surface you sprayed and go into undesirable areas. For best results, it is best to have 24 hours before and 24 hours after the application with no rain. This will allow the product to stick to the surface that you have sprayed.

The Cy-Kick CS is our number one product for scorpion control. You have to create a wide barrier with it around your home, much more than you would for regular insects as scorpions exoskeletons are harder to penetrate. You would spray 3 feet up on the side of the home, and 6-10 feet out on the ground, all the way around the foundation. Be sure to spray around window and door frames, as well as any other entry point the scorpions could use like areas where pipes enter the home. Anywhere around the home that you might have landscape mulch or rock is going to be a prime harboring area for the scorpions so be sure to saturate those areas and get under the mulch where they can hide. You can spray the Cy-kick inside around baseboards and cracks and crevices so that if they make it past the outside border of the home there is more insecticide waiting on them. To try and cut down the risk of getting stung in case they make it indoors, put down glue boards to catch them on around baseboards and doorways. As for the increase in population, it is mostly due to the fact that weather and conditions across the US have been prime for these type of pests, as well as others that they feed on, to grow and multiply rapidly. When conditions are moist and right due to heavy rains and warmer than normal winters like we have had, it is normal to see a huge surge in activity, especially for this year.

While both products are indeed labeled for scorpion control and will kill scorpions most professionals prefer Cy-Kick CS because it is micro encapsulated which helps the product stay up on top of porous surfaces and helps it to hold up a bit better to UV rays and rain. You can spray around the base of the palms and on the trunks to help get rid of any scorpions that are harboring in the trees.

All of these products are excellent choices for general perimeter pest control. Talstar is our most popular product because it is so safe for both indoors/outdoors and even food handling areas - it dries clear and has no odor and has a very broad label. Phantom, on the other hand, has a powerful non-repellent active ingredient. Pests can't even detect Phantom, so they walk right over it and then spread it to other insects hidden behind walls or in their home colony, killing every other pest they come in contact with. Cy-Kick is one of the top products we recommend for scorpions and centipedes. It is hard to say which one is best because they are all excellent in their own way. Knowing which bugs you are targeting would help narrow down what type of product would be best for you. All in all - you will not go wrong with any of the three.

Cy-Kick CS is not a repellent. It is a liquid concentrate insecticide that requires the insect to come into direct contact with the treated areas to be eradicated. It offers a residual that will continue to kill the listed insects for 90 days indoors and 30 days outdoors.

Cyfluthrin belongs to a class of insecticides known as synthetic pyrethroids. Synthetic pyrethroids are man-made insecticides created to mimic the chemical properties of the naturally-occurring insecticide pyrethrum, which comes from the crushed petals of the Chrysanthemum flower. Synthetic pyrethroids, like cyfluthrin, are often preferred to the real thing as an active ingredient because they offer the added bonus of remaining effective for longer periods of time, sometimes up to 3 months.

Cypermethrin belongs to a class of insecticides known as synthetic pyrethroids, found in Cynoff EC, Cynoff WP, Cyper TC Termiticide, Cyper WP, and Demon WP pesticide concentrates. Synthetic pyrethroids are man-made insecticides created to mimic the chemical properties of the naturally-occurring insecticide pyrethrum, which comes from the crushed petals of the Chrysanthemum flower. Synthetic pyrethroids, like cypermethrin, are often preferred to the real thing as active ingredients because they offer the added bonus of remaining effective for longer periods of time.

They are very similar. The differences usually depend on the products themselves.

Cy kick CS is safe for dogs to be around after it has dried. approx. 2 hours. 

Exciter and Kicker are pretty much the same product, they are just made by different manufacturers and contain pyrethrin as the active ingredient. Pyrethrin offers the fastest knockdown or kill of insects. Cy-Kick CS on the other hand will offer the longest residual; about one month outdoors and three months indoors. For the fastest punch and the longest residual, you can mix the Exciter and the Cy-Kick CS together as long as you follow the product labels.

You should vacuum and mop prior to the application of Cy-Kick CS to the cracks and crevices. You can vacuum without retreating with the product. It has a 90 day indoor residual so if you mop the area, you will need to reapply.

We recommend Cykick CS. This product can be used indoors and out and has a broad spectrum label including spiders, ants, mosquitoes, bees, cockroaches, crickets, fleas, flies, bed bugs, silverfish, ticks, wasps, wood infesting borers and more. When sprayed, Cy-Kick CS creates a thick barrier of microcapsules that is impossible for insects to cross without being exposed to a lethal dose of insecticide. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Cy-Kick CS is a fantastic outdoor and indoor general use insecticide that is safe for children and pets as long as they are kept out of the treated area until the insecticide has dried. Drying time is normally an hour or two.

Cy-Kick CS has an indoor residual of 90 days and an outdoor residual of 30 days. You can apply quarterly inside and monthly outside.

Cy-Kick CS is a great product and will do a great job helping you to get rid of roaches. We recommend using a roach bait gel to help get rid of roaches in places where you cannot spray. We also recommend using an IGR (insect growth regulator) which helps stop the roaches breeding cycle while you are trying to get rid of the infestation. Take a look at our Roach Control Kit # 2. It contains all of the products needed to help rid your home of roaches.