Cockroaches are notoriously difficult to eliminate, and the name alone makes your skin crawl. Therefore, it is vital to get rid of these nasty pests before they become an infestation. Learn how to kill roaches quickly and effectively with several safe pest control methods.
Did you know that there are at least 4,500 different cockroach species worldwide? If that’s not bad enough, a female cockroach typically lays 90 cockroach eggs in her life, and each egg contains approximately 15 embryos. That’s enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies.
The last thing anyone wants is to see a cockroach scuttling across the wall, floor, or countertop. These ugly and intrusive insects cause hysteria even in the bravest, quickly disappearing as you look for a way to kill them. While this pest is challenging to eliminate, there are ways to prevent a roach problem.
Ways to Kill and Prevent Cockroaches
Learn about common roaches that infest homes and why eliminating them is crucial. Discover the best home remedy for cockroaches with quick results and tips for preventing cockroaches from getting inside your house.
What are Cockroaches?
It’s good to learn about the different types that invade homes and their life cycle to understand what kills roaches. Explore some common house roaches, their habits, and why keeping them out of your living space is necessary.
All cockroaches have long hind legs and antennae, flat, broad bodies, and wings folded on their backs. Some of the most common cockroaches you see indoors are the German cockroach, American cockroach, and Brown-Banded cockroach.
The German roach breeds rapidly, and a single female cockroach in your house produces an infestation of over 30,000 bugs in one year, making the German species the most dreaded in the home. The American roach is the largest and lives up to two years, and the Brown-Banded roach is a flying species that lives in warm, dry areas.
Best Way to Kill Cockroaches with Borax
While many pest control methods exist, the best way to kill cockroaches is with Borax. This common laundry product is readily available at your local grocery store and effectively kills baby and adult roaches.
To make roach traps, mix some Borax and white sugar on paper plates. Check around your home for signs of roaches and place the plates in these areas to eliminate them. The insects eat the sweetened Borax, which dehydrates and kills them.
Natural Ways to Kill Roaches with Diatomaceous Earth
One of the best ways to kill roaches is to use diatomaceous earth. You can make a roach killer that is safe for pets using this naturally occurring powder while killing roaches and other household pests.
Put on a face mask to prevent inhalation of diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle the powder in areas where you suspect cockroaches hang out during the night. These nocturnal insects walk across the DE, penetrating and damaging their exoskeletons, leading to dehydration and death.
How to Kill Roaches with Baking Soda
Look no further than your kitchen cabinets if you’re searching for home remedies for killing cockroaches. Baking soda kills roaches quickly, and it’s non-toxic and inexpensive.
Slice up some onions and sprinkle them with baking soda. Set the coated onions into shallow dishes and place them around your home where you suspect cockroaches. The roaches are drawn to the bait station by the onions, where they ingest the baking soda, causing their stomachs to burst.
Using Boric Acid to Eliminate Cockroaches
Boric acid is safe to use around animals and people but deadly to cockroaches, affecting their nervous and digestive systems. Here is the best way to kill cockroaches with this naturally-occurring compound.
Sprinkle some boric acid onto a paper plate and bait it with peanut butter. Set the plate in an area where you notice roach activity and wait for the insects to take the cockroach bait. As the pests walk across the boric acid, it sticks to their wings and legs, eventually poisoning them.
Using Essential Oils to Get Rid of Roaches
While there are several natural ways to kill roaches with natural remedies. Eliminate roaches in the apartment with essential oils; they‘re perfect for repelling roaches. Examine which oils to use and how to prepare them to make a cockroach deterrent spray.
Add 20 drops of lemongrass, peppermint, or citrus oil to a glass spray bottle of water and shake it well to combine. Spray the liquid anywhere you spot roaches, beneath cabinets and furniture, and in dark areas of your home. Another way to repel these pests is to add a few drops of essential oil to the water when you mop your floors.
Preventing Cockroaches from Infesting Your Home
After exterminating cockroaches and getting your home roach-free, it’s time to take steps to ensure they never return. Follow these roach prevention tips to keep the nasty bugs from entering your living space.
Cockroaches are omnivores and eat just about anything. However, their favorite food source comes from meats, greasy foods, starches, and sweets. It’s vital to keep all your food in airtight containers, take out the trash every night, store your pet food in an enclosed area, and clean dirty dishes regularly.
Not all cockroaches need unsanitary conditions to live. As the outside temperatures drop, the American cockroach heads indoors for a safe place to live and feed. Their favorite areas include the basement, attic, and beneath large appliances. Use caulk to seal cracks and small openings around your home, and install weatherstripping around windows and doors.
In addition to food, these insects seek water sources, so fix leaky pipes and faucets, close the shower when not in use, and remove standing water from outside your home.
Inspect the pipes and vents of your house for holes since these are perfect places for insects to sneak inside. Seal and repair them right away to keep roaches from having easy access.
Sometimes roaches get into your house by catching a ride on furniture and other items. Always check used furniture for adult roaches and cockroach eggs before bringing it inside the house.
Your home is not the only place roaches congregate. Your yard is another appealing location for these bugs, and woodpiles and flowerpots are ideal hiding places.
In addition, birdbaths and gutters provide them with water, while fruit plants and bird feeders offer them food. Check these areas regularly for roach activity and keep the yard tidy to eliminate places for them to seek shelter.
If you discover signs of roaches, set up a Roach Motel, a cockroach trap with roach gel or roach bait with the active ingredient fipronil, or a homemade roach control alternative. Another form of cockroach control is a gel bait containing an insect growth regulator, which breaks the roach’s life cycle.
To capture and kill these insects naturally, consider making a roach trap by applying a layer of petroleum jelly inside a jar, adding coffee grounds and water, and discarding the dead roaches after they fall inside.
One roach quickly turns into many roaches overnight if left unchecked. The best way to stop a cockroach infestation is to use a cockroach killer to eliminate them as soon as you find roach activity. Fortunately, these pests are simple to kill if you use the proper DIY pest control solution.
We hope that knowing how to kill roaches keeps your home safe from a roach infestation, and we’d love it if you’d share our cockroach killing techniques with your family and friends on Pinterest and Facebook.