No matter how much you love animals, pretty much anyone can agree that cockroaches are awful. They’re ugly, they’re germy and they eat trash. What more can you say? There’s a good reason you’d want to get rid of cockroaches in your home, as they’re one of the most common household pests. Here are 6 ways you can try to get rid of the roaches, once and for all.
1) Keep the place clean
Cockroaches, like all pests, are attracted to mess. So, one of the best ways to get rid of cockroaches is to keep your house clean. Kitchens are particularly vulnerable to visits from cockroaches because of their likelihood to contain grease, crumbs and uncovered food. A few ways to keep the kitchen clean include:
- Cleaning stovetop spills
- Not leaving dirty dishes in the sink
- Wiping crumbs off the bench-tops and out of the toaster
- Covering and storing all food away
- Closing the lid of the garbage bin and not letting it get too full
2) Poison them
An easy-to-make cockroach poison is also an effective method of getting rid of cockroaches. To make it, take 3-parts boric acid powder, which acts as the poison, and 1-part caster sugar, which lures them in, to ensure that the only thing their bellies are full of is pain. OK, that sounds a bit grim… but it’s a cost-effective and simple way to get rid of roaches. If you have pets and small children, boric acid is a safety concern, so bi-carb soda might be the better choice.
3) Seal cracks and gaps
You can clean your kitchen and poison the cockroaches as much as you like, but this alone won’t guarantee that you will keep them out. If there are obvious gaps in the floor, walls and ceiling that you think the cockroaches may be infiltrating, then you can use caulk to seal them up.
4) Address water leaks
Water leaks are a common source of roach infestations and fixing them is a great way to get rid of roaches. If you feel that a water leak may have something to do with your cockroach problem, then take a look at all taps and pipes in your house to see if anything is leaking. Another way to prevent cockroaches from quenching their thirst in your house is to wipe down the shower and bathtub after use, wring out dishcloths and dry out your kitchen sink regularly.
5) Deodorise
Cockroaches hate the smell of essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus. Adding a few drops to some water in a spray bottle and spraying it in your roach-affected areas will add another layer of protection to your home. And your house will smell really pretty!
6) Professional pest control
Maybe your roach problem is persistent, or maybe you just want to be 100% sure that cockroaches won’t be coming back; either way, calling professional pest controllers is the most effective way to get rid of cockroaches. An expert team like Adam’s Pest Control deal with cockroaches on a regular basis and know where to find cockroach entry points. The team at Adam’s Pest Control will take care of your nasty cockroach problem so that you don’t have to, and so that you can guarantee that they won’t rear their ugly little heads ever again.