Roaches are attracted to moisture. Even if you have a clean home, if you have excess moisture from leaky faucets or pipes, you may attract roaches.
It's been said by some that a clean house is a roach-resistant house. There's some truth to that. By keeping a clean dwelling, you'll give roaches less of a reason to intrude upon your happy home. There is more to keeping roaches at bay than just having spotless floors, however.
Roaches need moisture to survive and this search for water will bring them into even the cleanest of homes. Leaky pipes and faucets are one of the most common attractants for cockroaches and is one of the main reasons you often see them in bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms.
Boric acid Some people find this to be the best option to kill roaches. Boric acid can work too, the only downside is that sometimes roaches will go away as soon as they smell boric acid.
Roach Repellents
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.
Cockroaches are believed to be in 63 percent of homes in the United States.
If you think you have cockroaches, do not panic. Finding roaches is not a sign that your house is dirty.
Boric acid can quickly kick a roach infestation to the curb. It's extremely toxic and can kill multiple generations of roaches. Mix a combination of equal parts of boric acid, sugar and water to make a dough. Roll that dough into balls or cylinders and place them where roaches will find them.
Windex is toxic to most pests, especially spiders. Spraying window cleaner directly onto small insects like ants or mosquitoes will kill them within a few moments. For cockroaches, window cleaner can make them temporarily unconscious so that you can squash them.
They usually find their way out in the complete absence of food, but such a situation would be highly unlikely because they can still survive on starchy substances around your home's periphery. Besides, other survival techniques, including cannibalism, make them less prone to hunger and starvation.
The biggest boosts to your cleaning routine are the simple ones: always clean your dishes, wipe counters, put away leftovers and keep the floors crumb-free. Vacuuming and wiping your counters and tables are quick ways to remove roaches' main food sources.
Sprinkle boric acid in areas the roaches frequent; when they walk through it, it sticks to them. They later ingest the boric acid, which then kills them. When using boric acid, be sure to limit your exposure; don't place it anywhere that children or pets might find it, as it's toxic when ingested.
Once a roach has found and consumed bait, it typically dies within 1-3 days. A substantial reduction in the infestation overall should be apparent within a few weeks. With cockroach baits, it usually is not necessary to empty kitchen cabinets or cover food preparation surfaces before treatment.
Cockroaches in the home environment are a health hazard not only because of the risks posed by cockroach antigens to asthma sufferers, but also because they can carry disease-causing germs and because some of the methods traditionally used to eliminate them cause additional health hazards.
Seal the Entrances
They enter homes through cracks and crevices in doors, windows, and foundations. The best tip for how to keep roaches away is to avoid an infestation by preventing the bugs from coming inside in the first place. Close gaps around windows and doors with weatherstripping and seal up cracks with caulk.
Since cockroaches love dark tight areas inside structures, homes with lots of clutter provide the ideal hiding spots for cockroaches and tend to attract them to a space. Therefore, while not all homes with cockroaches are dirty, clean homes typically have fewer things that attract cockroaches in the first place.
You might be seeing two to ten cockroaches in a day. But if it exceeds ten, you should start worrying.
Cockroaches are attracted to food and water sources. Dirty dishes, crumbs, food spills, leftovers, garbage, and pet food will all draw cockroaches in.
It's a fact that cockroaches are afraid of humans and other mammals or animals that are bigger than them. They see us as predators and that fear triggers their instinct to scatter away. However, they dislike strong and distinctive scents such as citrus, peppermint, lavender and vinegar.
Taking a deep drink of household bleach would kill anything, roaches included. But the same strong odor that keeps people from taking a swig of bleach repels roaches as well. So though it could work, in reality, it will not. It is very difficult to kill an entire roach infestation yourself.
Sugar. Sugar is by far the most attractive substance to a cockroach. They love sugar and can smell it from anywhere. This means you'll want to keep your sugar containers, fruits, and other sweeteners sealed in air-tight containers that are up off the floor.
Cockroach predators include mammals, avians, amphibians and other reptiles. For example, hedgehogs will eat roaches. Joining the roach à la mode dinner party are geckos, skinks and other species of lizards, frogs, turtles, some types of birds and even rats and mice.