The best way to keep cockroaches away permanently is to make the home less inviting. Make sure to keep the home clean, clean up food messes, take out trash at the end of the day, seal any cracks or gaps around windows, doors and the foundation, and fix any issue that might lead to high moisture content within the home.
It can take a few days to a few weeks to eliminate a cockroach infestation. The larger the infestation, the longer it will take to completely kick these pests out of your home. Preventative measures and consistent treatment are key to making these creepy crawlies feel unwelcome in your home.
Dusts – A few insecticides used for cockroach control are applied as dusts or powders. Most familiar to householders are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. For controlling cockroaches, boric acid tends to be more effective. Roaches succumb to boric acid after crawling over treated surfaces.
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.
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.
Sprinkle the diatomaceous earth around areas where roaches travel and frequent. The sharp particles of diatomaceous earth damage the waxy, protective exoskeleton of the roach, causing it to dehydrate and die, typically within 48 hours of contact.
One popular DIY method is to mix boric acid with equal parts powdered sugar as a lure. Apply as a fine layer under appliances, behind cabinets and along crevices. Roaches ingest the mixture and die within a few hours.
Food & Grime
Crumbs, spills, and food that has been left out are a great way to end up with a roach infestation quickly. The key to keeping roaches out is to keep your home, but most importantly your kitchen, as spotless as possible. After cooking or preparing a snack, wipe up crumbs and spills immediately.
There are some factors that make cockroaches hard to control. With the highest quality pest control treatments, you'll likely see a reduction in roach activity within days, while total control and complete elimination of your infestation may take months.
A typical roach infestation requires one to three treatments, including a combination of insecticidal spray, glue traps and gel bait. The most severe infestations could require fumigation.
Boric acid tops even baking soda when it comes to killing cockroaches. With little more than a sprinkle on the floor, boric acid acts as an all-natural poison to take down dirty roaches in just days. Or, spread a dusting on a paper plate and bait it right in the middle with a piece of orange peel.
Smells that roaches hate: a quickfire summary
Oregano, rosemary, mint, eucalyptus, lemongrass and catnip are great herby options. Citrus oils work brilliantly too.
During the daytime, cockroaches typically stay hidden in dark, moist areas around your home. If spotted crawling around, you likely have dozens and dozens hidden elsewhere. The most common areas where roaches rest in your home during the day are as follows: Underneath or behind appliances like stoves and refrigerators.
Lemon and lemongrass essential oils specifically will drive any cockroach away due to their strong scent of limonene, which smells like nothing else on earth! Add a couple of drops of citrus or peppermint essential oil to a few cotton balls, and lay them around where the roaches in your home congregate.
Bleach's Effect on Roaches
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.
Focus heavy cleaning efforts near where traps catch nymphs. Vacuum thoroughly where monitors caught cockroaches. Work as a team: flush cockroaches out of voids and from behind appliances with hot air from a hair dryer and suck them up as they run out. If possible, use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
Cockroach gel baits, at Walmart are a popular solution that can get rid of roaches within a couple of weeks – simply apply dots of the gel over cracks, seams and corners, along baseboards, around appliances and so on.
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.
Pine Sol, like many household cleaners, such as bleach, is capable of killing a cockroach on contact. In the pest control world, we call these contact insecticides.
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.
Your best bet is to combine baking soda with another granulated attractant, like sugar. Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar in a small dish and apply it to kitchen cabinets, baseboards, crevices, water sources, and other places roaches like to hide.
Diatomaceous earth is a great choice when it comes to killing cockroach eggs. We recommend trying this method when you are sure there is already an ongoing infestation in your house. It's made of marine phytoplankton, which is toxic to roaches and can dehydrate the ootheca. Make sure to buy the food-grade version.