DIY Termite Treatment with Orange Oil – Does it work?

Termite infestations are one of the most expensive and harmful infestations a home can have. Treatments are often difficult or can take weeks or months to work.

Orange oil treatment is gaining in popularity because it can kill termites without more aggressive, expensive, and invasive methods such as tenting.

However, there is much debate over its effectiveness – does orange oil really help against a termite infestation?

Let’s look at the facts.

Does Orange Oil kill Termites?

Orange oil is quite effective on direct contact and will kill termites and their eggs fast.

Like essential oils, orange oil is highly concentrated and extracted from orange peels. D-Limonene is the active ingredient that causes its effects – which are harmful for both humans and insects.

Orange oil is becoming more popular as a green or natural pesticide because it can kill many common pests such as termites, ants, crickets, flies, and even mites on contact.

In one study, direct contact with Formosan subterranean termites, orange oil extract achieved a mortality rate of over 96%. Even in indirect contact, with only the vapor of orange oil, about 60% of termites died within 3 days.

How Orange Oil Treatment for Termites works

Since orange oil is mainly deadly to termites on contact or in very close proximity, orange oil treatments are done by injecting the solution into the termite-infested walls. There, the oil spreads through termite tunnels, killing both termites and eggs that it comes in contact with.

For this treatment to work, you have to locate the termite colony first – then drill small holes and pump the orange oil solution into the wall – and multiple treatments are usually required for lasting effects.

Orange oil may also be used to treat wood against termites pre-emptively. The residue lingers in the wood for years and repels termites passively.

Orange Oil Treatment vs Subterranean Termites

Since subterranean termites do not build colonies in buildings, but rather underground, orange oil treatments do not work against them.

However, the previously mentioned study suggests that sand mixed with low concentrations of orange oil extract is quite effective at stopping Formosan (subterranean) termites from tunneling through the sand – and killing them. This may prove a useful tool to protect a house against termites tunneling in, like an invisible, below-ground termite shield.

Is Orange Oil effective against Termites?

Looking at the data, you might think that orange oil extract is highly effective against termites – a 96% mortality rate seems promising, after all.

However, since termite colonies can quickly become quite large, it is unlikely that you can kill significant numbers of termites with orange oil.

If you can locate the center of the colony, the royal chamber and incubation chamber(s), this type of treatment may work, as the colony would crumble without its queen.

Most likely, though, orange oil treatments are like a game of whack-a-mole unless you can spread it through large parts of the colony and regularly kill off big numbers of termites.

Even then, a termite colony is not defeated or exterminated until the queen and all eggs are dead – otherwise, they will continue to reproduce.

Since this is often difficult to achieve with orange oil, this type of treatment will likely remain an experimental, green alternative to more common commercial treatments.

Orange Oil Treatment vs Fumigation

Fumigation may just be the most effective treatment for termites, but also the most invasive. Your entire house must be covered by a huge tent, and all people, pets, and plants must be removed first.

Orange oil treatments are not only much less expensive, but also much less invasive. You do not need to vacate your home or remove anything.

If you get a professional assessment from an exterminator who finds only a small termite colony, it may be effective to start with orange oil before moving to stronger chemical pesticides.

You can likely find a local exterminator who offers this as a service, which is more effective than experimenting with it on your own.

You can also use it in combination with termite bait traps, which can spread poison into the colony – even into the parts that you might not be able to reach with orange oil mixtures.