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Cockroaches are a nuisance at home. Unlike other household pests, roaches hardly disappear despite using insecticides and traps. They’re hardy pests that multiply quite quickly.
Roaches can actually survive for some months without feeding on anything. Thus, they’re quite challenging to contain, unlike other pests. Controlling roaches demands proper elimination to ensure they won’t breed afterward.
Luckily, there are certain prevention techniques combined with swift removal tactics that can eliminate them effectively.
Discard Any Roach Food
Cockroaches are pervasive pests. Controlling and eliminating them requires knowing why they’re in your home. Roaches are usually attracted by food sources.
Sometimes, you might be unaware that you have such food sources in your home, especially if your home is rather untidy.
That’s why you mostly notice roaches in the kitchen more than any other room. Thus, the first thing you should do is cleaning your home and always keep it clean.
Discard any food waste such as food spills, poorly stored food, and garbage waste. Next, move to areas that are hard to reach.
Even if your home is tidy, food spills and crumbs can find their way to areas that are hard to reach such as around and within the toaster, microwave, stove, and the refrigerator.
The spills and crumbs will accumulate over time and attract roaches. Sweep, wipe, or vacuum all those areas to eliminate food debris and scents.
You might also consider changing how you store food. If you store food in paper packaging or cardboard that can be easily infiltrated, consider storing food in sealable glass or plastic containers. Also, keep the pet food in sealed containers.
If your home is already infested with roaches, vacuum or wipe down areas that the roaches have gone before, regardless of it not being an area with food.
Roaches may leave behind their feces, skin, body parts, or scent that can lure other roaches to the same areas.
Eliminate their Water Supply
Cockroaches can do without food for several months. However, they can’t do without water for long. Thus, they may camp in the kitchen and bathroom drains where there’s sufficient water supply.
Although you can’t close off the drains for obvious reasons, there are certain measures you can take to ensure the drains work as they should while keeping roaches away.
First, fix any leaking drain pipes or faucets. Roaches love water puddles that result from leaks. Thus, avoid giving them any standing source of water.
Seal any leaks with a sealant, caulk, or duct tape. Also, check whether there are gaps around the wall area where supply pipes and drain pipes go through, especially beneath the kitchen sink.
Use copper mesh, urethane foam, or steel wire to fill such gaps. If there’s condensation on some pipes, keep them moisture free by wrapping them with insulation foam.
Also, leave the tub and sink surfaces dry before retiring to bed. You can as well cover the faucets and drains with drain stoppers.
Although this is quite impractical in the daytime, it’ll help more at night since cockroaches prefer roaming around at night rather than during the day.
Say Goodbye to Roaches!
Upon making your home uninhabitable for cockroaches, start clearing any existing cockroaches. You may have to apply several approaches to clear them depending on the extent of the invasion.
First, lay sticky pest traps around the infested rooms, especially the kitchen. Sticky traps have a glue on them that traps pests, such as roaches, once they step over them.
The traps can assist in clearing some of the roaches. The traps will also assist you in knowing the areas where roaches love most.
The areas you’ll find a larger number of trapped roaches means that it’s the area they love most. Thus, you’ll set more baits around that area.
The second technique you’ll use to clear roaches is a bait. The best baits are those that contain boric acid. Cockroaches are attracted to boric acid. They feed on the acid and more of it gets attached to their bodies.
They spread the acid to other roaches, thereby getting eliminated in large numbers. Moreover, more roaches feed on the carcasses of dead roaches and subsequently get eliminated in a phenomenon referred to as chain elimination. You’ll simply visit a nearby hardware outlet and get a liquid, tablet, or get bait trap that contains boric acid.
In case you’re not sure about the area where roaches congregate, simply place the roach bait in a confined space where roaches are known to love. These are areas such as below the sink, behind a stove, and within wooden crevices.
You can as well fumigate or spray your home. However, most aerosol sprays don’t eliminate roaches instantly. They work by releasing fumes that work by stopping them from breeding, killing them slowly, or drawing them from their hideouts. Although these sprays are effective, they contain harsh chemicals. Thus, only use them after reading the user instructions carefully.
Be cautious of the roach elimination products you’re using. Baits, traps, and insecticides can be extremely harmful to pets and children. If you opt to use them, adhere to all the instructions and precautions that come with each product.
Also, place the products out of reach of pets and children. In case you feel that a product is extremely toxic or won’t be easy to keep it away from your pets or children, then try other safer products. For instance, boric acid can be safely used without affecting the safety of your kids and pets.
To use boric acid, mix boric acid and sugar in a ratio of 3:1 respectively. Sprinkle the mixture in thin amounts on dark, cockroach-laded areas.
Another family-friendly product for eliminating roaches is using an electronic plug-in repellant. The repellant releases fumes that repel roaches. The fumes are non-toxic. You can also check whether your area has a natural roach exterminator.
As you can see, dealing with cockroaches is not a fun activity. Luckily, you can get rid of them by being committed to cleanliness and observing all the necessary preventive measures.