Pest Control: Taking Out Cockroaches

By Jennifer Lachney

A lot of homes, especially in the South due to the humidity in the air, have problems with cockroaches. No matter what kind of cockroach it is they can cause a decent amount of trouble. One of the problems with cockroaches is that they can transmit bacterial diseases, along with typhoid fever and dysentery.

First things first - you'll have to make sure that food and drinks are always put away. Try storing most of your food in plastic and metal containers if you don’t store it in the refrigerator already. Also, be sure to keep water out of reach of cockroaches, as well as plugging any drains in your home. Cockroaches love water. They can survive for a while without food, but they need water and warmth to really be able to survive for a long time. One of the key things to remember is to always take out the trash. Cockroaches, along with other ants, tend to run for the trash once the lights go out and everything is quiet at night. Below are some tips on how to get rid of cockroaches.

• Spray cockroaches with Windex (glass cleaner). Normally it will kill them within a few minutes.
• Place Boric Acid under sinks, around the refrigerator, and any other place that you think cockroaches could be coming from. However, if you have pets, then please do not place Boric Acid anywhere that you think they may be able to get to. Boric Acid can be very toxic to your pets.
• Keep your home as clean as possible. This will make it harder for cockroaches to find tiny food crumbs that you could have dropped some where. It will also make it easier to keep the amount of cockroaches down to a minimum due to any eggs that they may lay.
• Break leaves from off of a catnip herb planet. Rub the leaves between your fingers then place the leaves where ever you find cockroaches coming from. It has been found that cockroaches do not like catnip.
• Pour scalding hot water over top of any roaches that you may find. This helps sometimes, killing them quickly.
• If you leave clean dishes out at night, make sure you dry them completely.
• Fix leaky faucets and drains.
• Caulk any cracks and crevices inside and outside of your home. Do not strain yourself, though. Only caulk cracks and crevices that you can caulk.
• Vacuum any small corners of your home to be sure food crumbs have been removed.
• Be sure that you do not have any plants or objects touching any vents within your home, because cockroaches can climb in this way.
• Use sticky traps instead of spraying insectides for cockroaches
• Place bay leaves where ever you see cockroaches coming from.
• Many people place mulch in their gardens. Try using cypress mulch, because cockroaches tend to hate cypress.
• Do not leave any cardboard boxes, including food boxes, in the open. Cockroaches have been known to lay eggs within them.
• Mix equal amounts of dry plaster of paris and sugar together. Place the mixture inside of bottle caps, and then place the bottle caps inside of all of your cabinets.

Apart from trying to kill the cockroaches yourself, you can always call an exterminator. However, keep in mind that exterminators can be fairly pricey. Most people have found that when they took care of their cockroach infestation problem themselves it worked out a lot better. Best wishes and good luck!

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