The simplest way to kill a tick after removing it is to drop it into a small container of rubbing alcohol. The alcohol penetrates the tick’s breathing apparatus and kills it reliably. But alcohol isn’t your only option. The CDC lists four acceptable disposal methods: placing the tick in a sealed container of alcohol, wrapping it tightly in tape, flushing it down the toilet, or sealing it in a closed container.
Why You Shouldn’t Crush It
Your first instinct after pulling off a tick is probably to squish it. Don’t. The CDC specifically warns against crushing a tick with your fingers. Ticks can carry bacteria, viruses, and parasites in their body fluids, and crushing one with bare hands creates a direct path for those pathogens to reach you through any small cut or crack in your skin. Ticks are also surprisingly tough. Their flat, hard-shelled bodies can survive significant pressure, so you may think you’ve crushed one only to find it crawling away minutes later.
Rubbing Alcohol
Dropping the tick into a small cup or jar of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is the most popular method for good reason. Alcohol disrupts the waxy coating on the tick’s spiracular plate, which is the structure it breathes through. Research on dog ticks found that wetting this plate with alcohol eliminates the tick’s ability to trap air and survive, making it far more lethal than plain water. Standard 70% rubbing alcohol from any drugstore works. Just drop the tick in and leave it. You can also use this method to preserve the tick for later identification or testing.
Tape, Flushing, and Sealed Containers
If you don’t have rubbing alcohol handy, wrapping the tick tightly in a piece of duct tape or packing tape traps it permanently. Fold the tape over the tick so it’s completely enclosed with no gaps. This suffocates the tick and prevents any chance of it escaping into your home.
Flushing works too, though it’s worth knowing that ticks are remarkably resilient in water. Research has shown that hard-bodied ticks can survive submerged underwater for up to 15 days, and some species have been observed surviving weeks to months in water at larval stages. A toilet flush doesn’t drown the tick so much as it sends it through your plumbing and into the sewer system, where it won’t find its way back. The key is making sure it actually goes down. A single tick can cling to porcelain, so watch to confirm it flushes completely.
Sealing the tick in a ziplock bag or small container with a tight lid is another option. Without a host and without moisture, the tick will eventually dehydrate and die. This method is especially useful if you want to save the tick for identification or lab testing later.
What Doesn’t Work Well
Plain water is not a reliable way to kill a tick. Because ticks can survive extended submersion, dropping one in a glass of water or rinsing it down a sink drain won’t necessarily kill it.
Freezing is also less effective than most people assume. Winter tick larvae can withstand temperatures as low as negative 24°C (about negative 11°F) for short periods and survive at negative 13°C (around 9°F) for up to three months. Your home freezer likely won’t kill a tick quickly or reliably.
Killing Ticks on Clothing
If you’ve found one tick on your body, there may be others on your clothes. Research on blacklegged ticks found that a household dryer on high heat kills all adult and nymphal ticks in as little as 4 to 6 minutes. The key is putting clothing in the dryer while it’s still dry. If clothes are already wet or you need to wash them first, the water temperature must reach at least 54°C (130°F) to be lethal. Half of all ticks survived hot water washes below that threshold, and every single tick survived cold and warm wash cycles. After a wet wash, it took up to 50 to 55 minutes of high-heat drying to finish the job. So the most efficient approach is to toss your clothes in the dryer on high for at least 6 minutes before you wash them.
Saving the Tick for Testing
Before you kill and discard the tick, consider whether you want it tested for pathogens like the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Multiple laboratories across the country accept tick submissions by mail. Place the tick in a sealed ziplock bag or small container and note the date it was removed, where on your body it was attached, and how long you think it was feeding. Most labs charge a fee, though pricing varies. The University of Maine’s tick identification lab, TickReport, TickCheck at East Stroudsburg University, and IgeneX in California are among the more established services. You can store the tick in rubbing alcohol or simply seal it in a bag in your refrigerator until you’re ready to send it. A dead tick can still be tested, so don’t worry if it’s no longer alive when you submit it.
If you’re not planning to test, the fastest and most foolproof disposal is still a small jar of rubbing alcohol. Drop the tick in, watch it stop moving, and pour it out. Done.