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How to kill a cockroach fast


13 Best Ways to Kill Cockroaches in the Home and Yard

There are many ways to kill cockroaches — sprays, traps, gels, even natural remedies. Here are a dozen of the best options.

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How to Kill Cockroaches

A home invader that brings along several health risks, homeowners should get rid of cockroaches at the first indication of an infestation. Traps, gels, pesticides, and natural remedies can be used to capture and kill cockroaches taking over your home. Here are some of the best ways to get rid of this invasive pest and a few solutions that might not work as well as perceived.

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Cockroach Trap: Combat

Combining food with the insecticide hydramethylnon, the Combat Cockroach Trap can help catch and kill cockroaches in and around the house. Just place these traps around where cockroaches are suspected and wait for the pests to find their way in.

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Cockroach Trap: Roach Motel

Adhesive traps are one way to capture cockroaches without poisons or toxins. The Roach Motel cockroach trap lures pests into the small container and keeps them there with a sticky glue. Cockroaches get stuck in the trap and eventually die. This method is a clean and harm-free way to clear out those pesky roaches.

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Cockroach Trap: Hot Shot Ultra Roach Bait

Using a food and water combination, the Hot Shot Ultra Roach Bait traps and kills cockroaches when they ingest the bait. You can set up these bait stations in and around the house where cockroaches have been seen, checking once a month to see the progress. The trap effectively kills roaches in hours and helps eliminate any of the cockroaches carrying eggs.

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Cockroach Gel: Advion Gel Bait

The Advion Gel Bait is an effective bait for those cracks and crevices where cockroaches get in the home. The gel works on various species including the American, German and Brown-Banded cockroaches, luring them with a high-performing bait matrix and poisoning them with Indoxacarb. Use this bait around the foundation of your home or this lavender water TikTok hack to get rid of cockroaches.

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Cockroach Gel: Combat Max Roach Killing Gel

Particularly effective against German cockroaches, the Combat Max Roach Killing Gel attracts and kills roaches trying to enter the home. Used in those hard-to-reach places where cockroaches might be roaming, the gel can help eliminate the pests quickly and easily.

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Cockroach Powder: Boric Acid

A formula of boric acid will lure and kill cockroaches in the home or a business. Apply the powder in likely cockroach hiding spots — under appliances, behind cabinets, and crevices where they crawl. Here’s why boric acid is particularly effective: If a cockroach eats another cockroach killed by the poison, it too will be killed. As with any pesticide, apply carefully and follow instructions for safe use.

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Cockroach Powder:

Diatomaceous Earth

An all-natural mineral, Diatomaceous Earth is an effective powder that eliminates cockroaches upon contact. Apply a light dusting of this powder with a scoop or duster in places where cockroaches have been seen. They step in it, and it essentially dehydrates the pests to their death. While generally safe around people and pets, follow instructions closely for a safe application and maximum performance.

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Cockroach Spray: Raid Roach Killer Spray

Fragrance free, the Raid Roach Killer is an effective spray that kills cockroaches on contact and continues to kill on surfaces for up to four weeks. It also helps eliminate nests. The spray is not only effective against cockroaches but other insects as well.

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Cockroach Spray: Ortho Home Defense

A can that sprays at multiple angle, the Ortho Home Defense Max Aerosol kills cockroaches at the point of contact and fares well at preventing pests in the future. The spray is good for indoor use and provides no extra fumes. It’s effective on all types of insects, not just roaches.

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Natural Remedy: Baking Soda and Sugar

This natural DIY method features a bowl of baking soda mixed with a pinch of sugar, placed near locations where cockroach activity has taken place. The sweetness of the sugar will attract the cockroaches; ingesting the baking soda effectively kills them. It is a simple and safe way to eliminate pests in and around the home. If using this method, make sure to safely dispose of any dead cockroaches.

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Natural Remedy: Fabric Softener

A spray bottle mixed with three parts fabric softener and two parts water can be an effective way of eliminating cockroaches. The chemicals within the fabric softener suffocate the roaches. This method only works if the cockroaches come into direct contact with the mixture.

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Natural Remedy: Soap and Water

Similar to the fabric softener approach, a natural remedy for killing cockroaches is a mixture of water and soap, dispensed from a spray bottle. If you see cockroaches in the open, the spray can kill the pests on sight.

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Roach Killing Myth: Cucumbers

This may come as a bit of a shock, but people have tested using cucumbers as a way to repel roaches away from their home. According to some sources, cucumber peels are supposed to ward off cockroaches because they find the smell repulsive. However, this myth has been busted and is not recommended by usual cockroach control.

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Roach Killing Myth: Citrus Liquids or Herbs

Another Internet false claim to avoid. Some people have written that citrus water, herbs, or even essential oils can stave off cockroaches from your home. This is just another myth that has been busted by pest control experts.

Originally Published: April 16, 2020

Cockroach Infestation - Signs, Prevention, and Control of Roaches

Infestations that take over a home or business can cause health and property damage.

Learn what to do when a cockroaches take over.

The cockroach is one of the world’s oldest and most widespread invasive pests, invading homes and businesses everywhere in search of a permanent home. To combat them, learn how they operate and what to look for.

On This Page

Signs of a cockroach infestation

Cockroaches are a nocturnal insect, preferring dark and moist locations to hide, eat and breed. In the home they’re commonly found behind or under large appliances such as stoves and refrigerators, or near sinks and drains. Because cockroaches can make themselves skinny, they can fit into tight spots. If you see one in your home during the day, there is a good chance you will find more.

Here are some signs that your home or business has an infestation problem:

Cockroach Droppings

Besides seeing a cockroach outright, the most conclusive evidence of cockroach presence is their feces. Cockroaches constantly feed on a variety of foods and defecate often. The droppings will be small and black, often resembling coffee grounds or ground pepper. The more visual evidence of their droppings, the better the indicator of how many cockroaches are present.

Cockroach Smell

Cockroaches can produce a strong and disturbing odor. The larger the infestation and the longer they are present, the greater the smell. Similar to their favorite environments, the smell of cockroaches is musty, oily or mildewy. While just one roach can produce this smell, a group of cockroaches will make it that much more noticeable and raise signs an infestation is present.

Cockroach Eggs

Female cockroaches lay their eggs in a casing called an oothecae. Since cockroaches lay dozens of eggs, finding this casing is a strong indication of an infestation. Locations such as bookcases, major appliances and other hidden and wet spots in the house are common places to find these casings.

Cockroach Nests

Seeing a cockroach in the home is a solid indicator of an infestation. A combination of droppings, eggs and large numbers of cockroaches mean a nest is near and infestation occurring. Look for these signs under refrigerators and sinks, in old book cases and cabinets, and near pipes or electrical wiring.

Where to check for infestations

Cockroaches prefer a warm, dark and moist environment. A good shelter with a constant food source often brings cockroaches together. When an infestation occurs, cockroaches can reproduce quickly and add to their numbers, making for an unpleasant guest. If you notice signs that cockroaches are present, inspect these locations:

What to do with an infestation

When cockroaches have invaded your home or business, it’s time to take action. Act quickly and take the proper steps to get rid of cockroaches forever. Here’s how to deal with an infestation:

  1. Identify the infestation location:  Follow the signs left by the cockroaches, check the common locations where cockroaches are found, and determine their resting place.
  2. Prevent infestation from growing: Cockroaches enter the house through cracks and holes in the foundation, garbage from the garage, and pipes into the home. Caulk and seal any foundational issues and make sure there aren’t any broken or leaky pipes.
  3. Baits, Traps and Pesticides: Gels, traps and toxic pesticides such as boric acid are all potential solutions to begin eliminating the cockroach population in your home or business.
  4. Exterminators: For a more conclusive and strategic approach to dealing with cockroaches, hire an exterminator who can professionally evaluate the infestation and provide solutions.
Cockroach Resources

For more information about cockroaches and what it means when you find this pest in your home or business, check out these pest control articles.

Sources

How to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment forever

December 22, 2021 Likbez Do it yourself

At night you went into the kitchen for a bite to eat, but instead of a cake, you found only crumbs and mustachioed swallows rushing in all directions? Congratulations, it's cockroaches! But you should not be afraid, but read: how to make traps, what to buy at the pharmacy so that the insects leave, and how to wash the floors so that they never return.

How to understand that there are cockroaches in the apartment

  1. Black dots. If small dark balls appeared on dishes, kitchen shelves, wallpaper, alas, they were left by cockroaches. This is what their products look like.
  2. Specific smell.
  3. Clutches with eggs in corners and crevices. If you find them, you can, of course, be glad that your apartment has officially received the status of "cockroach-friendly", but this also means that the insects will have to be removed twice. First, the main number of pests will be destroyed, then the hatched offspring.
  4. Personal meeting. Cockroaches are curious and sociable creatures, therefore, if you do not pay attention to the alarm bells described above, sooner or later they themselves will make contact. Most often, black (up to 3 cm in length, kitchen) or red (up to 1.3 cm in length, Prussians) cockroaches start up in houses.

Why did they come to you

  1. You have a lot of delicious food. Cockroaches also like to eat. Only if you are eating sandwiches in front of the computer, they are content with little: leftover crumbs. And they also have enough open garbage bags or buckwheat scattered in the kitchen drawer.
  2. You have plenty of water available. A good dinner should be washed down. Therefore, puddles at the sink and a leaky shower cabin will come in handy.
  3. Your neighbors have plenty of food and water. No matter how hard you try to exterminate pests, all efforts can be broken by the stubbornness of your dirty neighbors. If you can’t agree with them, it’s enough to seal your own home: eliminate cracks and cracks.
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Effective remedies for cockroaches

Folk methods

Boric acid is the strongest poison for cockroaches. Getting into the digestive tract of an insect, it affects its nervous system. The cockroach is paralyzed and dies of suffocation. It is best to use boric acid in powder, you can buy it at any pharmacy.

Ammonia has a strong smell that cockroaches don't like. Therefore, they tend to leave the premises treated with this substance as soon as possible. To get rid of cockroaches, add ammonia to your water to clean floors, shelves, walls, and ceilings.

Freezing. Cockroaches are cold-blooded creatures. They cease to multiply and weaken at temperatures below +7 °C. However, this method can only be applied in winter, preferably in hard frost. It is enough just to leave the windows wide open for a day (or better for two). It is necessary that all rooms freeze to -10-15 °C.

Trap will help if there are not so many cockroaches. It can be made at home. A jar with a wide neck, a deep enameled or glass bowl, grease the inside with oil, fat or petroleum jelly, and crumble the bait on the bottom: cookies, bread, sugar. Insects will be drawn to the smell of delicious, and then they will not be able to get out. You can also use a plastic bottle as a dangerous container: cut off the neck and, turning it over, insert it back like a funnel.

Leave the trap overnight in the kitchen or bathroom and in the morning be sure to kill the pests. They can be poured with boiling water or sprayed with insecticide.

Chemicals

The market is rich in various specialized products: from sprays and crayons to nanotechnology lamps and traps. The main thing when working with such things is to carefully follow the instructions and do not forget about gloves and a protective mask.

How to get rid of cockroaches forever

If you live in a private house, it will be enough to thoroughly poison insects once, and then regularly take preventive measures so that in the future insects do not come to visit.

But if you are a happy homeowner in an apartment building, you can't do without actions coordinated with your neighbors. Agree with all residents and carry out pest control at the same time. Otherwise, it may happen that a cockroach landing from another floor will again and again enter your neutralized apartment.

Preventive measures

  1. Keep your home in order. One single cleaning is not enough to destroy pests, it is necessary to clean it regularly. Store food in airtight containers, remove crumbs from the table, and keep an eye on areas where pets eat. It would be a good idea to audit kitchen drawers for spilled cereals. It is advisable to wash the dishes immediately after eating, and not store them in the sink with the remnants of the meal inside.
  2. Take out the trash. Do not keep trash in a cabinet under the sink or store overflowing bags at the front door. Get in the habit of regularly walking to the trash cans (or the garbage chute), and put a container with an airtight lid in the kitchen.
  3. Repair leaks promptly. Whereas cockroaches can survive for weeks without food, they cannot live even a day without water. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check potentially dangerous places (toilet bowl, sinks, pipe joints) for leaks. In addition, do not forget to dry the surfaces in the bathroom after active bathing. Well, it’s better not to abuse the sailor’s way of washing floors (this is when a bucket of water is poured onto the deck at once).
  4. Repair cracks. If your neighbors are not clean, take care of the inaccessibility of your apartment. Examine the walls, ceiling, corners of the room: there may be cracks. They deserve to be patched up. And close the ventilation holes with a special fine mesh through which insects cannot crawl.

Are you worried about whiskered pests? How do you protect your apartment from cockroaches? Share your tips in the comments.

step-by-step instructions with expert advice

Most pest control experts will tell you that if you see a cockroach in your apartment, there's a good chance it's not alone. This brethren breeds very quickly, but hides cleverly. It is enough for a female cockroach to lay a special capsule - an ootheca, in which there are 30 - 40 eggs, and in a couple of weeks you will have a ready-made colony.

In our country, there are mainly two varieties of cockroaches: red cockroaches - among the Prussians, and black ones. Redheads are most often found in houses, they are smaller, more thermophilic and, fortunately, live many times less than their black counterparts - about six months. The second can live 2-3 years.

Causes of cockroaches in the apartment

Cockroaches can get into the apartment in two main ways: either they are brought in, or they come by themselves. You can bring in cockroaches with old furniture or things that you took from an apartment where there were mustachios. You can bring them from the store, so purchases should be washed thoroughly. Cockroaches can "come" to pets. But most often the insects come by themselves, especially if you have the right conditions for them.

They usually enter apartments from neighbors who lead a marginal lifestyle, as well as from basements or entrances equipped with a garbage chute. Tenants of high-rise buildings suffer from the invasion of these insects more often. In many ways, the reason is precisely in the garbage chute, and if waste is also taken out intermittently, then this is just a paradise for cockroaches.

When it starts to get cold, cockroaches move to where it is warmer - to apartments. They especially like kitchens, because it is also humid there, you can find food waste - their main delicacy. If you have a pet - a dog or a cat - cockroaches will register even more willingly, because where a pet is, there is its food, which is easy for a cockroach to find.

Effective ways to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment

There are several ways to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment once and for all, but it is important to understand that the choice of method depends on the size of the problem. In other words, if there are still only a few insects, you can try to deal with them on your own by buying a poisonous gel or a trap. If there is already a whole colony of them, it is better to call specialists, otherwise there is a high risk that you will only temper uninvited guests with purchased insecticides.

Caulk all the cracks and carry out a general cleaning

Efficiency: average

The Prussians love unsanitary conditions and garbage, so the first step towards getting rid of cockroaches in the apartment once and for all is a general cleaning. This should not be a one-time action, you will have to clean up all the time, you need to be especially careful about food waste. At a minimum, remove food from the tables so that cockroaches cannot feast on it.

But it is not enough to create uncomfortable conditions for them, and cockroaches can live for quite a long time without food. If they make their way to you from the outside, you need to cut off these paths: caulk cracks, hang a ventilation grill, make sure that there are no openings in the bathroom and toilet through which they can come.

However, not all passages can be covered. If you have an alcoholic neighbor who carries all sorts of junk home, it will not be difficult for cockroaches to come from him through the door or loggia. So, probably, we will have to look for joint ways to solve the problem. Similarly, if cockroaches crawl from the basement or garbage chute. In this case, getting rid of them in the apartment will not work without the help of the management company. According to part 1.1 of Art. 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation of the Criminal Code are required to maintain the common property of the owners of the house in accordance with sanitary and epidemiological standards, which means they must starve out insects in the basement and entrance.

Boric acid

Efficiency: medium

Boric acid is really poison for cockroaches. This tool can be easily bought at a pharmacy, and it costs less than fifty. Boric acid works well if you get cockroaches to eat it. To do this, you can mix the powder, for example, with bread and leave overnight in open places. The cockroach will feast on it, and then bring poison to its relatives.

Funds from the store

Efficiency: medium

You can find a variety of insect control products in stores, such as traps. The principle of their action is as follows - inside the trap is an appetizing bait for a cockroach. It is poisonous, therefore, by eating it or simply hitting it with its body, the cockroach receives a dose of poison and becomes its source itself. It is assumed that the poisonous Prussian returns to the colony, where it infects everyone and dies itself. This is a good option if there are still few cockroaches.

- If you see a cockroach at home or in an apartment, the best thing you can do is buy special traps / houses for cockroaches on the same day or the next and place them throughout the apartment. Traps are sold in packs of 5, which is enough for a small one-room apartment. If you have a house or a large apartment, take 2-3 packs. Most of the traps are installed in the kitchen, preferably behind the kitchen unit, behind the refrigerator, in the toilet and bathroom next to the riser. In the rest of the rooms - in the corners, behind the furniture (where you see fit), - advises exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

These traps do not have a chemical smell, so they do not cause discomfort. But if there are a lot of cockroaches in the apartment and their ranks are replenished from the outside, it will be difficult to overcome them with traps alone. The same goes for gels.

Exterminators

Efficiency: high

- If you see small individuals along with ordinary cockroaches, then this means that your apartment is already a breeding ground for insects, and the best thing to do is still use the services of professionals - explains exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

One of the most effective methods of getting rid of cockroaches in an apartment in the arsenal of exterminators is a cold fog generator. With its help, toxic substances are sprayed around the room, penetrating into the most inaccessible nooks and crannies. Not a single individual can escape from such a fog.

But this approach also has disadvantages. For processing with cold fog, the owners will have to leave their apartment for a while. Specialists will make it look like a gas chamber for cockroaches. After such treatment, you will have to carry out a number of manipulations - wash surfaces, dishes, wash clothes - everything on which the poisonous fog has settled.

Aerosol spraying also helps to get rid of cockroaches in the apartment. It acts in a targeted way: they spray baseboards, crevices, hard-to-reach spaces in the bathroom and in the kitchen - only those places where cockroaches can live. This is less effective than fog, but it will also cause less trouble for the owners.

- In any case, the problem of cockroaches must be discussed with neighbors from above, below, on the floor. Because it is the inconsistency among the residents that contributes to the fact that insects, after they have been poisoned, can return to the treated apartment. The residual effect of any drug, no matter how expensive it is, is two months, notes exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

Popular Questions and Answers

How can you tell if there are cockroaches in your apartment?

The surest way is to face one of them. If you see a cockroach in the kitchen, do not panic, try to find out if there are other relatives in the apartment.

To do this, check all the nooks and crannies: look behind the baseboards, in the gaps between furniture and walls, in the bathroom. It’s not a fact that you will be able to find something, because cockroaches are great at hiding and prefer to go out only at night.

— In addition to a live cockroach, wings or parts of their chitinous cover, for example, on a table in the kitchen, as well as empty or full ootheca or their waste — small black grains, can be a cause for concern, — Irina, director of the cleaning company Chisto, explains Komarova .

What harm do cockroaches cause?

Cockroaches can spoil life in several ways. Firstly, they like to arrange housing for themselves in electrical appliances, where it is warmer, so it is not difficult for them to spoil the equipment.

- These insects on their paws carry any infection - mold, pathogenic bacteria, and so on. All this can migrate to your table, dishes, food. There is direct harm to health. In addition, cockroaches provoke allergies and even asthma. Many have probably heard that they can crawl into their ears, which is also very unpleasant, Irina Komarova clarifies.

What deters cockroaches?

- Among the folk remedies that are believed to repel cockroaches, we can mention dry herbs (tansy, wormwood), ammonia, vinegar. However, it is important to understand that scaring away is not the same as getting rid of. If the cockroaches in the apartment have already divorced, you cannot expel them with one wormwood, you need to act comprehensively: call exterminators, close all the cracks from where insects can enter the apartment, and start cleaning regularly,” says Irina Komarova.

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