Roaches don't like the scent of mothballs, making them an effective pest repellent. Mothballs can only keep cockroaches away for a year or two since the pests adjust quickly and easily to new environments. For this reason, mothballs are only partially effective at protecting your home from wandering roaches.
Mothballs contain chemicals like naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, which are primarily designed to repel moths and prevent mildew. While these substances may have some insect-repelling properties, they are not effective or recommended for repelling cockroaches.
While peppermint essential oil is an effective cockroach repellent, there are a few other oils that are proven to be effective too. These include citronella, cinnamon, cedarwood, and tea tree. All of these essential oils are derived from plants, so they won't cause a fire.
Cypress or Peppermint Oil
To utilize peppermint oil as a repellent, a common recommendation is to mix two parts water with one part white vinegar and add 10 drops of peppermint or cypress essential oil. Shake this mix up in a spray bottle then apply the mixture to areas frequented by cockroaches.
Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay. Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds. If you want to try a natural way to kill them, combine powdered sugar and boric acid.
Insects and Arachnids
Strangely enough, one of the most prevalent kind of predator that cockroaches face are fellow insects! The emerald cockroach wasp, Ampulex compressa, for example, has an unusual way of preying upon cockroaches. The wasp stings the cockroach's brain, which paralyzes the cockroach.
Baking soda is a fast and effective way to kill roaches. When a roach ingests baking soda, the baking soda expands inside them, causing the roach to explode. Simply sprinkle baking soda on food, such as an onion, and leave it near where you've seen roaches overnight.
Boric acid: Used correctly, boric acid is one of the most effective roach killers. It's odorless, has low toxicity to pets, and since it isn't repellent to roaches, they will not seek to avoid it, crawling through it repeatedly until it kills them.
Leaving the light on doesn't deter cockroaches effectively because they can navigate in low-light conditions. While they're mostly active at night, they may still come out in search of food or water. During the day, cockroaches hide in dark areas not directly exposed to light.
Rosemary is considered one of the best roach repellents because it's actually highly toxic to the insects. Even better, this plant can be found at your local nursery, hardware store, or plant shop and requires little water. Just make sure you place it in direct sunlight.
Cockroaches are blessed with an amazing sense of smell. This is what they use when seeking food and mate but at the same time, this is also their weakness. A cockroach's sense of smell can be used to get rid of them.
Mint. It has been said that cockroaches dislike the strong smell of mint, so using this scent in your home can be effective in keeping these pests away.
DIY spray: Spray the solution in areas prone to cockroach infestation, such as kitchen cabinets, under sinks and around appliances. Apply every few days for the best results.
The fumes from mothballs kill clothes moths, their eggs and larvae that eat natural fibers in indoor storage areas, such as closets, attics and basements. Mothballs are not intended to be used outdoors.
Roaches hate the smell of certain essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, lavender, and citronella.
Ethanol Directly Kills Cockroaches
While white vinegar won't kill those pesky insects, ethanol—also known as common alcohol—will kill cockroaches. Cockroaches are particularly sensitive to ethanol and a direct hit from it will take them down.
Ways To Repel Cockroaches From Your Home
Due to their strong sense of smell, cockroaches dislike several pungent herbs and spices, including cinnamon, citrus, thyme basil, citronella, basil, mint, garlic, coffee grounds, peppermint, and bay leaves.
Out of the different varieties of vinegar, it is the white vinegar that is found extremely effective in repelling bugs like cockroaches. Vinegar on its own is not powerful enough to kill cockroaches, but if used in an undiluted form, its smell and taste may disinfect the place and keep insects away.
Syngenta Advion Cockroach Gel Bait
When searching for roach killer solutions, Advion Gel Bait is widely praised, and for good reason.
American cockroach
Their egg capsules are roughly ⅓” long and are dark reddish or blackish brown in color. Each ootheca holds about 16 eggs.
For homemade cockroach control, you can make a simple bait using boric acid, sugar, and water. Mix equal parts of boric acid and sugar, then add a bit of water to form a paste. Place this mixture in small containers or on pieces of cardboard and put them in areas where you have seen roaches.
What causes roaches in houses and apartments? What attracts roaches to a clean house primarily consists of their basic needs: food, water, and shelter, although they are usually brought into houses and apartments on other items, such as luggage or clothing.