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.
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.
Insecticide Spray
Getting rid of roaches overnight can be accomplished by either taking on the challenge yourself or calling in a professional pest exterminator. Either way, insecticidal sprays are a great way to both kill roaches and repel them. If you hire a pest exterminator, they will likely use sprays for both.
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.
Bleach: Bleach kills everything! Spraying cockroaches with bleach or an ammonia mixture will poison them, but be cautious with this powerful chemical.
Aerosol sprays: Aerosol sprays are a type of insecticide that comes in a pressurized can. They are designed to kill cockroaches on contact and can be sprayed directly onto the insect. Aerosol sprays can be purchased at most hardware or grocery stores and are an effective way to kill cockroaches instantly.
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.
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.
Cockroaches are most likely to be active about four hours after dark and enter a period of immobility just afterwards. This immobility period is similar to what humans would call “sleeping.”
So what smell do roaches hate? Oregano, rosemary, mint, eucalyptus, lemongrass and catnip are great herby options. Citrus oils work brilliantly too.
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.
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.
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.
Roaches are attracted to similar things as any other pest: shelter, food, and water. Anything that makes these things more available and easy to access is going to contribute to a roach infestation.
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.
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.
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.
Gel baits: According to Black, gel baits are the best roach killer option. These are available as either plastic bait stations or gel formulations that come in plastic syringes. The baits contain insecticide-laced foods that cockroaches eat.
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.
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. This works on initial contact, but Windex will not continue to kill bugs after it has dried.
Cockroaches will eat soap, so it is not toxic to them. However, if you cover them sufficiently with a soapy solution, it will disrupt their ability to breathe through their spiracles and they will suffocate. So yes, Dawn soap will kill a roach when used correctly and accurately.
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.
That being said, if you only have the occasional cockroach, then Lysol might be enough to take care of your small infestation. Because Lysol has weaking killing power, but Lysol's smell can repel roaches, it might be enough!