If you are a homeowner, there is a good chance you have had to deal with cockroaches at some point. While they may not be the most pleasant of creatures, getting rid of them can be relatively easy if you know what to do. Keep reading to learn more!
Cockroaches are one of the most common household pests in the world. They come in different species and are attracted to your home for different reasons. Knowing which type of cockroach, you are dealing with is the first step towards cockroach infestation control. For instance, the most common species of cockroaches found indoors is the German cockroach.
The German cockroach infests the house in search of food and water. Reducing access to water and food will help to reduce a roach infestation. Once they infest an area, cockroaches can multiply very quickly, becoming a threat to your health as well as comfort. It is important to treat an infestation immediately after you notice even a single cockroach in your home.
To treat cockroach infestations effectively, you may need to apply more than one method:
1. Clean your house thoroughly
Cockroaches are always on the lookout for new sources of food and water. Starch, sugary foods and meat are the most common foods that cockroaches feed on. Easy sources of food like leftovers in the sink or pet food on the floor are most likely to draw cockroaches to your residence. The following simple practices will help you to get rid of cockroaches:
- Make sure to wash dishes after every meal. Keep them away, out of the reach of cockroaches.
- Clean spills immediately. Be it on the cooker, floor or the dining table, the smell of crumbs and spills is enough to invite cockroaches to your home.
- Seal food in containers. When storing cooked or uncooked food, make sure the containers are sealed off. This way cockroaches cannot come in contact with the food. Sealed food containers ensure that cockroaches do not transmit diseases.
- Make sure to take out the garbage regularly. Don’t leave garbage to accumulate in the trash can. Take it out preferably after every cleanup.
2. Remove cockroaches’ shelter
Have you ever disassembled an electronic in your home just to discover a whole colony of cockroaches inside? You may wonder which other places in your home harbour these pests. The second most common reason why you have cockroaches in your home is that they find comfortable housing. There are many areas in your house where cockroaches lodge, including in cracks and gaps, behind picture frames, sinks, and inside electronics.
Regularly check for signs of infestation in quiet, forgotten areas. To prevent cockroaches from coming into your hose and causing damage, seal off obvious entry points such as small crevices and cracks around the house using caulk. Before you think of any other method of control, use a flashlight to find breeding places. To locate large infestations, the use of roach glue traps is highly recommended. Cockroach traps and monitors will help you to identify high traffic areas and seal them off. Once they have no place to live, they will no longer be a nuisance in your home.
3. Set bait stations
Gel baits can be very effective cockroach killers. They come in form of a long tube that you can place anywhere you have noticed roach activity. Gel baits are insecticides disguised as a source of food. They are very effective and kill cockroaches almost instantly. The smell of the bait attracts cockroaches who then consume the poison. For better results, we can add boric acid dust to the gel baits.
After ingesting the poison, cockroaches return to their nests where they eventually die. When the infected cockroaches die, the others in the colony eat them. This helps because the poison now spreads to other cockroaches in the nest without having to consume the bait poison directly.
While baits can be an effective cockroach control method, they can often result in a large number of dead roaches lying around your home. Additionally, bait stations need to be placed in areas that are out of reach for children and pets, the poison is usually very toxic. It is also important that the bait is used correctly per the instructions on the label.
4. Use glue strips
Glue strips are an effective way of dealing with cockroach infestations at home. They can also be used to locate areas with large infestations so that faster, more effective methods can be used.
The smell of the glue strip lures the cockroach and they come towards it to investigate. Once they step on the glue, the cockroaches get stuck, and they cannot move. They eventually die due to starvation. Glue strips can be purchased in stores near you. They must be monitored for a few days or even weeks so that you can replace them once they are filled with dead cockroaches.
Glue strips are easy to use and effective, as long as they are hidden. They are also home friendly as they do not cause any harm to pets and children.
5. Use of chemicals
There are several liquid concentrates designed to eliminate cockroaches. They contain active chemicals, usually non-toxic to humans and pets but very harmful to cockroaches. These concentrates are used by spraying, especially in cracks and crevices that are suspected to harbour cockroaches.
Some pesticides can be sprayed in highly infested areas around the house. These pesticides kill cockroaches on contact. They are also long-lasting, killing cockroaches up to three months after application. However, pesticides contain very toxic chemicals. They can be dangerous if ingested by children, pets and other animals. Most of them are not environment friendly so proper care must be taken when using chemicals to control cockroaches.
6. DIY approach to controlling cockroaches
Most of the methods discussed above require the use of professional assistance. However, there is a method that does not even require you to follow instructions from a professional. A DIY procedure involving Boric acid is simple and effective in the fight against cockroaches.
Boric acid, found in products such as clothing detergents and toothpaste, is one of the best cockroach killers. To use, mix equal amounts of sugar, flour, and toothpaste or detergent. Set balls of the resulting mixture in areas where you have noticed some roach activity. The Boric acid will kill cockroaches which then become food for other cockroaches, effectively wiping them out in numbers. Boric acid is non-toxic to humans but can cause complications in pets if they consume it.
If you are looking for an effective do-it-yourself control procedure for cockroaches, this is the best and most effective way.
