Surfactants

What Is a Surfactant?

A surfactant (emulsifier) is a type of chemical adjuvant that is designed to break up the surface tension of a liquid. A Surfactant is also known as a “wetting agent”. The reason they are used for lawn and garden purposes is that they break up the natural resistance of a plant’s leaves to whatever chemical is being applied. This means that the herbicide or pesticide that you are applying will reach the intended target more quickly and thoroughly than if it was applied by itself. This increases the power of whatever product you’re using without changing its effects or chemical structure. 

Among our ever-increasing number of pest control supplies, you will find all of the advanced and most common surfactants that are sure to improve your success rate, whether you are trying to kill weeds with an herbicide or trying to get rid of insects with a pesticide, and need either product to stay on and seep into whatever you’re spraying it on. As always, you will also find all the free expert advice you’ll need to get the job done right the first time, both online and over the phone.

How to Use Surfactants

• First you need to figure out what product you’re going to be using the surfactant with. If you’re using an herbicide product such as glyphosate you’ll need to check the labels and the manufacturer’s instructions to make sure that the product can and should be combined with a surfactant.
 
• Once you have figured out that you want to use a surfactant, your next step is to decide how to apply it. You have two choices; you can either: 
 

• Mix the wetting agent with the herbicide in the same container, and apply them simultaneously to the plant. 
• Or you can spray the plant with the surfactant first, and then apply the herbicide. 

The first option is by far the better one, since it cuts down on time spent doing the application and allows the herbicide to get to work immediately on the weed. All of our surfactants are labeled to be mixed with all of the herbicides we sell, and will not cause any degradation of the original product.

• Non-Ionic surfactants, also known as wetting agents are by far the most common variety, and these are the kind that you will be using in combination with herbicides and pesticides. The term non-ionic refers to the surfactants natural ionic charge that helps it to break up the surface tension of water or any other liquids that it is added to in order to help them seep more thoroughly into the plant that they are applied to.