Dawn Soap as an insect repellent?

[buildmybudget]

So a friend of mine told me I should use Dawn dish soap as an insecticide on my lawn. In the past couple of weeks chinch bugs have shown up in my lawn and have utterly destroyed it. So I tried spectracide to try and solve the problem and while I was spraying someone told me I could use Dawn and not only would it be much cheaper, it would be better for the environment. That's a pretty big win-win, but I need to make sure it's at least going to kill these darn bugs. Has anyone tried Dawn? ~Thanks!

[canadamom]

We use ammonia, beer and dish soap. Just a squirt of soap and then equal amounts of the others. It works!

[GREENBACK]

I wash my dogs with dawn when they get fleas and it's very effective so as a pesticide it seems to do well with no harmful effects like permethirin based products.

Not sure about the lawn treatment.

[DayByDay]

I hadn't bought Dawn in years, but I recently bought a bottle of Dawn Advanced Power "fresh scent". The horribly nasty and strong perfume smell made me feel sick. I can imagine the stench alone would kill insects.

[GrimJack]

I think Dawn works because it reduces surface tension - ie most insects do not drown in water because surface tension keeps water from entering their breathing aparati. The surfactant in dish soaps will break down waters surface tension and drown ALL insects.