Cockroaches have an incredible sense of smell that they use to find food. You can take advantage of this fact by using scents they dislike such as thyme, citrus, basil, mint, and citronella to repel them from your home.
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.
The most common places for a roach nest in the house are in kitchens or bathrooms, particularly behind refrigerators, in cracks and crevices, and under furniture. Roaches prefer a warm, humid environment, so these places should be considered first, especially if they are close to a food source and water supply.
Household bleach is commonly used as a cleaning agent and gives off a strong smell that cockroaches hate. Filth and cleanliness don't mix at all, which makes the physical act of killing cockroaches with bleach very hard.
Bleach has a strong smell that roaches find offensive. As a disinfectant, it can be used to remove bacteria left behind from an infestation. If roaches come into contact with bleach, the chemical reaction may kill them with time.
Distilled vinegar does not kill or repel roaches, making it completely ineffective. Distilled vinegar will help keep your kitchen clean, giving cockroaches less to snack on. However, roaches can live for months at a time without any food at all, and they will eat almost anything to survive.
Boric acid is one of the best home remedies to get rid of roaches naturally. Mix equal amounts of boric acid, flour, and sugar to make a dough. Set balls of dough around the home where cockroaches can feed on it. The flour and sugar will attract the roaches while the boric acid will kill them.
Set out a shallow dish or bowl containing equal parts sugar and baking soda. Roaches are attracted to the sugar, but the mixture is deadly to them. Sprinkle baking soda on greasy spots and let sit for about an hour. Scrub gently with a damp sponge or brush, then vacuum to remove any leftover grime.
Since their exoskeleton will be unable to expand, this can kill them. Roaches dislike the flavor and smell of baking soda, so add sugar to attract them. Baking soda and vinegar are ineffective, despite what internet rumors suggest. The vinegar will activate the baking soda too soon, and the smell will deter roaches.
Pine-Sol and Fabuloso are strong, all-purpose household cleaners. Similar to bleach, these products kill roaches on contact. Some homeowners suggest spraying Pine-Sol around the outside of your house to keep cockroaches away.
Because cockroaches cannot survive temperatures above 115° F to 120° F, it is possible to use heat to eradicate cockroaches from restaurants and food service establishments.
Mix 1/4 cup of tea tree oil and 1/4 cup of vinegar with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture in and around infested locations in your home.
Roaches are repelled by ground coffee. In fact, putting some ground coffee down in the corners or windowsills of your kitchen can actually help keep them insects away.
Lavender. Cockroaches hate the smell of lavender, and that is good news for you. If you love to grow lavender in your yard and garden, you are more than halfway to a roach-free home.
This citric fruit might do wonders for your health, but it certainly isn't a friend of the cockroach clan. The smell of lemons repels cockroaches to a great extent, keeping them away from areas that reek of the fruit. Hence, it is advisable to mop floors with water that has a few lemon drops in it.
You See a Roach.
Unfortunately, cockroaches are not loners. If you see one, there are likely many more that you can't see. Cockroaches are nocturnal creatures, so you'll most likely spot them late at night, especially if you walk into your kitchen and turn on the light.
Will roaches leave a cold house? Roaches, in general, do not like cold temperatures, so subjecting them to cold enough environments might force them to leave in search of warmer surroundings. That said, some species can tolerate lower temperatures as long as they have access to food and water.
Cockroaches are ectotherms (unable to create their own body heat), so they draw heat from their environments. If they're in a cold climate, they'll seek out heat sources to compensate. If the cockroaches in your fridge cannot find one, they'll still survive by entering a phase called diapause.
As a repellent, apple cider vinegar can keep cockroaches away from certain areas, because it is a good disinfectant and cleanser that serves to get rid of the odors and waste that attract these animals.
Add some food like a small piece of meat or some sweet stuff like chocolate on the roach bait in the bowl. Keep the bowl near one of the hiding places of roaches. To cover all the hiding places, you'll need multiple bowls with sticky roach trap and food. The smell of the food will draw the roaches out.
Roaches come into your home in search of three things: food, shelter, and water. They have also developed the ability to use even the smallest of openings as an entryway into your house. They can come in through cracks in the exterior walls, dryer vents, or even the gaps between walls and floors.