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.
You can spray a mixture of oregano oil and water on countertops and any nooks and crannies. Oregano has a strong, pungent odor that cockroaches can't stand. Since it's a safe oil to use around the kitchen, you can spray a mixture of oregano oil and water on countertops and any nooks and crannies they like to hide.
The best way to get rid of roaches fast is to sanitize your home, eliminate hiding spots and stagnant water, store food in airtight containers, and use glue strips, bait, boric acid, or liquid concentrates.
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.
Tea Tree Oil. Many homeowners report that roaches don't like tea tree oil. You can combine 1 part vinegar and 4 parts water with a few drops of tea tree oil and apply the mixture with a spray bottle to deter cockroaches from specific areas.
Home remedies like diatomaceous earth, baking soda, boric acid, citrus, essential oils, and borax can be effective ways to get rid of roaches. If you want to take a more aggressive approach to eliminate roaches, glue traps, bait stations, and liquid roach deterrent concentrates are all excellent options.
Citrus. You may love the smell of fresh citrus, but cockroaches hate the scent. That means you can use citrus scented cleaners in your kitchen and bathroom to chase any lingering roaches away. You can also keep a few citrus peels around your home in strategic places.
Dryer Sheets: Mostly False
Linalool is an alcohol derived from plants, and it gives dryer sheets their distinctive scent. In sufficient concentrations, linalool can indeed be used as a pest repellant, but your average dryer sheet doesn't contain enough of it to actually work on roaches.
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.
The best roach killer, based on our research, is the advion 383920 Cockroach Gel Bait; a commercial-grade roach killer set that is easy to use and lasts months after application. It can kill all sorts of cockroaches, including the American and German variety, and it's even safe to use if you have pets or kids.
Boric acid: Used correctly, boric acid is one of the most effective roach killers.
So what smell do roaches hate? Oregano, rosemary, mint, eucalyptus, lemongrass and catnip are great herby options. Citrus oils work brilliantly too.
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.
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.
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.
You will have to reapply pretty frequently so the fragrance doesn't wear off. Since cockroaches are nocturnal, your best bet is to reapply each night before you go to bed. That way, when the roaches are most active, your peppermint oil repellent is at its strongest.
So yes, Dawn soap will kill a roach when used correctly and accurately. However, it won't repel or be passed on from roach to roach the way current pesticides will.
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.
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.
To help keep these trouble areas roach free, spray them weekly for basic prevention and every 3-4 days if you're currently experiencing a heavy roach problem. If after two weeks, you're not seeing the results you want, simply adjust to a more frequent spraying schedule.
Certain essential oils, such as peppermint oil, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus oil, have strong insecticidal properties and can repel or kill cockroaches. Mix a few drops of these oils with water in a spray bottle and apply it directly to the pests or in their hiding spots.
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.