10 Ways To Get Rid Of Roaches In House And Apartment

Once you have cockroaches in your house or apartment it is usually very difficult to get rid of them. Saying this though, many times, before they start to become hard to manage, there are usually cockroach infestation signs that you can look for and prevent them from taking over your home. Unfortunately, once they are in your house or apartment, the damage they can do is indisputable.

They can get into your food, damage electronic devices, paper goods, and other property. Worst of all, they also spread many different types of germs to people and pets. The good news is that there are several excellent ways to serve these little critters their eviction notice from your domicile. Here are 10 of them.

1.) Cut Off The Water

Just like any other living thing, cockroaches need water to survive. If you have leaks anywhere in your home, chances are good that they will find them. Once the sources of water are gone they will either leave or they will be more inclined to take other baits that you set out for them. If they still stay after you’ve tried all of these steps, you might want to get some pest control experts to come and look at your home.

2.) Keep Your Home Clean

A clean home is a natural deterrent to cockroaches, which need food and other factors to live. Starting in the kitchen, keep food out of the way and clean your dirty dishes promptly. Be sure that you clean up any spills wherever you leave them. Don’t forget the outside of your home too, this is where many of them are likely hiding out. Clogged gutters are favorite spots for bugs to congregate. Using a service like Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning Rocklin can clean them out so that worry is out of your mind for good.

3.) Keep Food Sealed And Out Of The Way

Whatever the foodstuffs are, keep them sealed in plastic bags or sealable containers. This goes for whether you put them in a cabinet or a refrigerator.

4.) Make Mopping A Routine

It’s easy to drop food on the floor and forget about them. This is especially true if something is transparent, such as juices. Instead of allowing them to stay on the floor to attract cockroaches, mop them up promptly. And when you do this, try to keep from sloshing water on the floorboards since some of this will get behind them and become one more water source for cockroaches.

5.) Take The Trash Out Often

Wherever you might happen to keep trash, make sure you routinely take it outside. It might look like trash to you, but it’s a smorgasbord to cockroaches.

6.) Use Cockroach Bait

There are a lot of cockroach baits on the market today. The best, however, are either housed in a plastic container or in a gel that can be applied anywhere that you suspect is housing them. Either way, most cockroach baits work by attracting them, then once they get their fill they go back to where others are hiding then kills more, wherever they are. The best baits contain two active ingredients, Fipronil and Hydramethylon. Cockroaches don’t travel very far from their nests, so wherever you find them will usually not be far from where the rest of them are.

Cockroach baits should be placed wherever you know they are. The best way to determine this is to place them where you have seen them. This includes along baseboards, under sinks, and in cabinets. Anywhere that there is dark and/or dampness, you can be sure that cockroaches will be close.

If you prefer to make your own bait, try a mix of equal parts boric acid (powder, not granular), white flour, and powdered sugar or cocoa. The sugar/cocoa and flour will attract the cockroaches, while the boric acid kills them. You can buy boric acid in your supermarket (called roach killer) or pharmacy.

Two warnings should be included with any discussion of boric acid. First, although it is not toxic to children or animals, it should be kept out of their reach. Try to keep it hidden under cabinets and other surfaces so it will not be disturbed. Second, place it on a piece of foil wrap or plastic to keep it as dry as possible. Once it gets wet or exposed to dampness, the mixture will turn to a cake that is less effective on cockroaches. Ultimately though, a cockroach exterminator will be much more effective than any homemade bait!

7.) Use Soap And Water

A spray mixture of soap and water will kill a cockroach as quickly as practically anything. Virtually any kind of soap will work, just as long as it is thin enough to go through a spray nozzle. If you can get to the cockroach, try as best as you can to hit his head or lower abdomen, although his belly is your best target if you can reach it. Soap kills cockroaches by forming a seal over his breathing pores and suffocates them.

8.) Use A Commercial Insecticide

There are many commercial insecticides on the market today, but the best will be labeled for use on cockroaches. These types normally contain an active ingredient called Cyermetrin. Plainly stated, professional grade insecticides are much more effective than those sold at home stores. An excellent product is called Cy-Kick CS, which is a micro-encapsulated product that is highly effective at killing cockroaches. It can be purchased online, but usually is not available in home centers and other brick and mortar sources. Cy-Kick CS is a very toxic insecticide that will kill all insects that come into contact with it. It will also make children and pets very ill if they come into contact with it. As a result, you should be very careful when you use it.

9.) Use Commercial Traps

Just as is the case with commercial insecticides, commercial traps for use on cockroaches are also available. These work in one of two ways: either they attract then trap the pests, or the attract the pests, and then cover them with the active ingredient which they take back to their nests to kill others. Both can be very effective, but need to be placed close to nests in order to be effective.

10.) Use Water Traps

An excellent option to poison traps are water traps which, in essence, attracts cockroaches, and then drowns them in water. This can be done by putting water in a jar and setting it against a wall to attract its victims. Another method is to cut the top of a liter plastic bottle off, turn the top over in the bottom half, and then add several inches of water to the base. Cockroaches will be attracted to the water, then fall into the trap and be unable to get out before they drown.

Keeping your home free of cockroaches is practically a never ending process. Once you are rid of them, you need to make sure that your home is kept clean and free of all the things that attract them. Doing this you can rest easily that they will probably not come back.