Cockroaches can be the most unpleasant creatures if they share the home with us. They can transmit diseases and spread bacteria throughout the house.
So, how to eliminate cockroaches definitely? You can look for an exterminator to eliminate them, although the chemicals they use are not good for the family or pets. So, why not use some home remedy to eliminate cockroaches permanently, naturally and at a low cost compared to the cost of the pest control companies?
To fight cockroaches at home, prevention is the key
Often, the presence of cockroaches is associated with imperfections in the drainage system of buildings. That’s where cockroaches live and proliferate. The presence of an old sewer system or obsolete fittings and pipes can also become a way of passage between the sewers and the home.
Find the presence of cockroaches. Look in the bathroom, the shower, and near areas. Try to discover the habitat chosen by the insect that can also nest anywhere else in the house.
How to fight cockroaches in the kitchen
Generally, the places chosen by cockroaches are usually warm and welcoming, where there is food and water. Therefore, the kitchen is one of the best places where they can access, although they can also nest in cracks in the pavement, wall coverings, cracks in the wood, drainage boxes, false ceilings …
To combat cockroaches in the kitchen, check the food and make sure there are no traces of what they can eat. Remove cardboard boxes because they can be a source of heat and become a “healthy” environment for the insect. In the kitchen, the presence of ovens or appliances that generate heat and the remains of food can attract the unwanted guest.
Clean the grease from the kitchen and look for cracks there and in the rest of the house. Bread crumbs and leftovers can attract insects. Store food carefully in the cupboards and keep it clean. Avoid condensation and water leaks so that insects do not appear.
Prevention is better than cure. Therefore, seek professional help when the infestation problem is there, and it is serious. The experts will disinfect your house and give you useful tips to keep the place free of cockroaches.
Home remedies to eliminate cockroaches
There are some natural ingredients that act as repellents and keep the English cockroaches (the most common ones) away from the houses. Also, there are some tricks to catch them if you do not want to kill them (cockroach traps). We will see all these home remedies for cockroaches which serve to eliminate them completely.
How to eliminate cockroaches naturally
From my personal experience, I admit that certain chemicals are more effective in eliminating and combating cockroaches (for example, the gel), although some can be harmful to health and the environment. Here’s how to eliminate cockroaches naturally:
Ground coffee to eliminate cockroaches
The coffee caffeine can be placed as bait at a point in the house to kill cockroaches. The theory says that ground coffee is one of the most effective remedies to eliminate them.
Cockroaches that feed on anything organic, are especially attracted to the coffee grounds that remain on the counter. It attracts and eliminates them.
How to use ground coffee to kill cockroaches
What we need:
- Large glass jars
- Ground dry coffee
- Water
- Small cups
Do this:
- Fill half of the jars with water
- Take the cups and place moist ground coffee inside each one.
- Place a cup inside each jar
- Support these jars on walls, baseboards or anywhere else cockroaches are nesting.
- Cockroaches will be attracted by the aroma of ground coffee and will enter the jar. Once they are inside, they cannot escape from there.
- Monitor the jars daily. When you see a good number of cockroaches inside the jars, turn them in the water of the toilet, removing the cups from the inside first. Do it until you see cockroaches in the jars.
Borax and sugar to eliminate cockroaches
As mentioned above, anything organic and anything sweet like sugar attracts cockroaches. Mix it with borax. Yes, borax can be as effective as the sprays used by a commercial exterminator. When cockroaches consume it, it dehydrates its skeleton and damages its digestive system. It is enough to kill them.
How to make a borax and sugar bait for cockroaches
What we need:
Equal parts of:
- Borax
- Sugar
Do this:
Mix equal amounts of borax and sugar.
Apply this mixture along the baseboards, cracks, rooms, sink or any other place where you have seen them (it will kill them in a short time).
Caution: Borax is classified as poison and, therefore, should be used with great caution especially if there are children or pets in the house. Always sprinkle borax and powdered sugar in high places where children and pets cannot reach. Always label the bottle or container where you store it to avoid accidents.
Softener to eliminate cockroaches
The fabric softener is another effective way to kill them. Cockroaches breathe through their skin, so a thick solution of softener and water on them chokes them by preventing them from breathing.
How to use softener to kill cockroaches
What we need:
- Softener, 1 part
- Water, 2 parts
- Spray bottle
Do this:
Mix the softener with water
Fill the spray bottle with this solution
Spray it over any cockroach you see. You can even spray it for the places where you have seen them.
Baking soda and sugar to eliminate cockroaches
Earlier we talked about borax and sugar as poisonous bait for cockroaches. Now, if you do not want to use borax because of the presence of children and pets, try mixing baking soda with sugar to make bait almost equally effective. The theory of sugar is the same because it attracts cockroaches, while sodium bicarbonate affects they digestive system.
Use baking soda and sugar as a bait for cockroaches
What we need:
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Sugar
Do the following:
Take equal amounts of both ingredients and mix them
Sprinkle the mixture in those areas infested by cockroaches
Cockroaches will die when they eat the mixture.
Laurel leaf to eliminate cockroaches
Laurel against cockroaches
Does laurel chase cockroaches? Yes, it does. It is a homemade repellent that takes them away from the house instead of killing them. Bay leaves, a spice widely used in Asian cuisine, can be easily found in supermarkets. It is said that cockroaches cannot stand the smell of laurel leaves and move away.
How to use bay leaves against cockroaches
What we need to eliminate cockroaches:
A handful of bay leaves
A mortar, pestle, or any other tool to crush the leaves
Do the following:
Crush the bay leaves to get their powder (the bay leaf is dry, and it will not be difficult to grind it).
Sprinkle this powder near the places where cockroaches nest
The cockroaches will soon go away.
Ammonia and water solution to eliminate cockroaches
Because of its smell, ammonia also works as a repellent for cockroaches. Therefore, clean the hard surfaces with a solution of ammonia and water.
How to use ammonia against cockroaches
What we need:
- Ammonia, 2 cups
- Water, 1 cube.
Do the following:
Add the ammonia to the bucket full of water.
Wash the hard surfaces of your kitchen with this solution, bathroom, and other places you want.
Cockroaches will soon leave your home, but continue to use this solution at least once every two weeks to prevent them from entering again.
Use mint grass to eliminate cockroaches
Mint herb is a natural repellent for cockroaches that you can use safely and that will not harm your children and pets. The active ingredient is nepetalactone (it is not toxic to humans or pets).
Ways to use mint grass to eliminate cockroaches
Place small bags of grass where you see cockroaches. Simmer 1 teaspoon of catnip in 2 cups of water and make a tea. Use it as an aerosol after passing it to a spray bottle. Spray the baseboards, behind the counters or anywhere else where you think the cockroaches are hiding.
Caution: Although the herb is safe for some pets, cats go crazy. Find another resource to eliminate cockroaches if you have a cat at home.
Catnip
Catnip contains a substance that acts as a true repellent against cockroaches. Place a pot on the balcony, near the windows or on the doors to keep them away. You can also place it in areas of the house where the presence of cockroaches is more frequent, you can even use it to prepare an infusion, store it in an aerosol bottle and then use it directly on the areas where they are.
Be careful if you have a cat at home, it is usually dangerous for them, since it releases a molecule that has a narcotic effect on the animal.
Tanacetum
Finally, another natural remedy against cockroaches is the tanacetum. It is a common plant with yellow flowers. It will be enough to distribute some pots near the doors and windows to keep them away.
Boric acid to eliminate cockroaches forever
Do you want to eliminate cockroaches forever? This is what commercial pest control uses: boric acid. It is a way to eliminate cockroaches forever. You can also use it if you get fed up with them.
How to use boric acid to kill cockroaches
What we need:
Boric acid
Do this:
Stretches boric acid on top of the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
Do not place boric acid inside the cabinets because it is toxic.
Place it on the ceiling of the cabinets if possible. Cockroaches rise to high places. Some cockroaches will take it to their nests and kill the others.
Caution: Be very careful to keep boric acid away from children and pets. Wash your hands after using it. Better, if you use gloves to do the job and wash them properly immediately after placing the boric acid where you want.
Cayenne pepper to eliminate cockroaches
In addition to bay leaves and catnip, you can include cayenne pepper when it comes to making a natural repellent for cockroaches. Where there is cayenne pepper, cockroaches do not like to live. It is not known if it is because of any ingredient it contains or because of its smell, but it works.
How to use cayenne pepper for cockroaches
What we need:
- Cayenne (or red) pepper, 1 tablespoon
- A clove of chopped garlic
- A crushed white onion
- Four cups of water.
Do this:
Take a spoonful of red pepper or cayenne pepper
Mix it with a clove of chopped garlic and a white onion
Boil a liter or 4 cups of water and add the previous mixture to the boiling water
Turn off the flame and wait until it cools
Pour this mixture into a spray bottle and spray through the cockroach-infested areas.
The cayenne pepper can be sprinkled behind any object or place where the cockroaches hide.
Garlic, laurel, and rosemary
Garlic has an odor that is particularly unpleasant for cockroaches. Place some teeth in the areas where these unpleasant bugs are most likely to be.
The same for the bay leaves and the sprigs of rosemary.
Soap
Always have a bottle with soap and water on hand when necessary. This product is usually toxic to cockroaches.
Hair spray to eliminate cockroaches
You can use the hair spray to kill cockroaches. As the spray is sticky, the wings of the cockroaches stay stuck together and cannot escape. Also, it seals the breathing holes of cockroaches and kills them.
How to use hair spray to eliminate cockroaches
What we need:
Hair spray
A wet cloth
Do this:
Spray the hair spray solution where you see a cockroach.
When the insect dies, put it in the garbage can. Next, use a damp cloth to clean the area you sprayed with the hair spray.
Warning: hair spray is a highly flammable ingredient. Never use it around a flame. It is better not to use it in the kitchen.
Essential oils remedy to eliminate cockroaches
There are many scents that even humans, cockroaches, flies, and other insects cannot stand. Some of these oils include rosemary oil, cedar, eucalyptus, fir, and lemon. You can pour a few drops of these oils into cotton balls and place them in the house. Some of these oils are used together with sodium bicarbonate and borax to eliminate cockroaches and other insects. They will leave a pleasant smell in your home.
Use cedar, lemon, and spruce in oil to eliminate cockroaches
We need:
- Cedar essential oil, 10 to 12 drops
- Lemon essential oil, 4 drops.
- White spruce essential oil, 4 drops
- Baking soda, 2 cups
- Borax, 4 tablespoons
Do this:
Add the ingredients to a bowl. Mix them well.
Sprinkle this mixture where you think there may be cockroaches. You can even spray carpets and upholstered furniture. Sodium bicarbonate and borax absorb the oils and odors of the soil. This makes your carpets and furniture clean.
Leave it about half an hour.
It sucks well so that all the residues of the sodium bicarbonate are eliminated.
This will not only kill and repel cockroaches. It will also kill mites, ticks, fleas, spiders, bed bugs etc.
How to eliminate cockroaches with vinegar
Can you eliminate cockroaches with vinegar? The answer is NO, you cannot. It can only be useful as a repellent, but it does not serve to kill cockroaches easily. To do this, you will practically have to drown them in it, but you should know that they are good swimmers and tend to float.
Apple cider vinegar for cockroaches: repellent
As a repellent, apple cider vinegar can keep cockroaches away from certain areas, because it is a good disinfectant and cleanser that serves to get rid of the odors and waste that attract these animals.
An important detail is that acetic acid is highly volatile, attractive to some other annoying insects (for example, fruit flies), and also it has an unpleasant odor for most people. It is clear that after a while, you will have to reapply it.
Vinegar against cockroaches
Our main suggestion is, if you want to eliminate cockroaches with vinegar, make use of ethanol, you know, common alcohol. Cockroaches are very sensitive to direct exposure to ethanol. It’s amazing to see how a quick dive can easily eliminate them and kill them. We even suspect that most insecticides kill cockroaches because they contain a simple solvent solution, instead of the so-called active ingredients.
So, you can get an element with a high concentration of ethanol (greater than 95%) and fill a sprayer to spray them directly. Although you have to keep in mind that excessive use of this can irritate your eyes and throat. However, keep in mind that the ethanol vapors will not kill them afterwards, and it will have no effect, you will only let the alcohol evaporate and remain exposed in the infested room.
Eliminate cockroaches with cleaning products for the home
Many of the products we use in our daily lives have more uses than we know. Some of those used for cleaning the house can also be useful when the cockroach pests appear. Considering the characteristics that we have described previously, we can mention the Pinol.
It is a product that has been on the market for many decades and which, in addition to being used for cleaning, also serves to exterminate cockroaches. It is important to know that Pinol is a product with multiple properties.
How to use Pinol to repel cockroaches?
It is not something that I wanted to invent or that has been discovered by chance. It is a product developed by the company Alen. The Pinol has important properties to eliminate cockroaches. Pinol has many uses.
The product we have to use is called Pinol Mugre and Sarro, and it is much more powerful than the normal version.
We must be clear that there is no established way to apply this product in our house if we want to kill cockroaches. However, it is not complicated either. The first thing we have to do is identify those places where cockroach nests can be found.
As the Pinol is a product that is not toxic to humans inside the house, you should spray it through the areas where you see the cockroaches or believe they may be. It can be in the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, the rooms, or underneath the furniture. Preferably, you can apply it in the morning or at night.
If you really want to eliminate cockroaches naturally, we recommend the following post: Home remedies to eliminate cockroaches.
How to eliminate cockroaches at home: video
Here’s a video on how to eliminate cockroaches definitely without dangerous toxins:
How to fight cockroaches at home: other remedies
If you choose an insecticide to kill the cockroaches, make sure it is not harmful to the health of the rest of the residents of the house.
How to use bug bombs to kill roaches?
How do fumigating pumps work to kill cockroaches? These pumps are used for the application of insecticides, which can manually measure the amount of substance needed to kill cockroaches.
They are a form of pest control that releases pesticide vapors in the air. Although these sprayers are often a good method of pest control, they also have some disadvantages.
The chemicals that are present in the spray bombs are relatively effective in killing cockroaches, but often fail to penetrate the cracks and gaps where these animals hide.
By supplying this type of insecticide in the home, it can damage furniture and fabrics if it is not administered correctly, it also presents risks for human health and for our pets, even a high concentration, product of a bad location, can make the emitted vapor flammable.
If the cockroach infestation is out of control, and a fumigant pump is necessary, it is best to contact pest control professionals. They will inform you about the procedure and other safe and effective treatments.
Monitoring and control to fight cockroaches at home
Once the first cycle of disinfection of the cockroaches has been carried out, the situation must be kept under control.
It will be necessary an impeccable hygiene in the house. Also, the control of food products and the cracks of closure and fractionation.
A prevention and surveillance system can be applied through monitoring networks with special adhesives that, placed in the hot and humid zones, will warn us about the presence of cockroaches (it can be done a couple of days after the disinfection with insecticides). In this way we can monitor and avoid the infestation of cockroaches in the house.
The insecticides can be applied in the cracks of the house, the entrance door, the bathroom, and the kitchen. In cracks and crevices, biocides can be applied, compounds extracted from natural pyrethrum, esbiothrin and tetramethrin, which reach the nests of cockroaches.
Conclusions
How to eliminate cockroaches definitely from the house?
Due to the numerous disadvantages posed by this type of insects, eliminating cockroaches from the house is one of the most demanded options by users, and for this there are a variety of methods, as seen before.
How to banish cockroaches definitely?
The most important thing when it comes to driving away and ending with a plague of this type of insects is not to facilitate their proliferation, so we will have to take special care when not leaving food remains on the dishes or sinks, as well as keep the garbage bags tightly closed. The search for food is the main objective of cockroaches in a house, so if we put difficulties in this regard, they will end up leaving the house.
The most complicated time to eradicate a plague of cockroaches is summer. It is an insect that holds heat very well. So, during the hot months, they are more active.
The best alternatives to eliminate cockroaches definitely
What are the best alternatives to eliminate cockroaches definitely? In addition to the home remedies, we have at our disposal a wide variety of chemical products, such as sprays or insecticides, with which we can get rid of the plague in a faster and more effective way. Although we must bear in mind that some of these products can be very toxic, it will be wise to take the relevant safety measures.
As mentioned above, one of the best products to eliminate cockroaches is boric acid.
As we said, the cockroach is a very resistant insect, so it will be convenient to repeat these processes on a regular basis to achieve the goal of eliminating cockroaches.
Another very interesting option in this sense is to use traps. For this, one of the most common ways is to use a sticky cockroach as a bait. In that way, it will release pheromones that will incite the insects towards the trap.
How to eliminate cockroach plague forever from my house
For the elimination of a plague of cockroaches at home it is clear that there are a variety of home resources, however, in many cases these tools are obsolete when it comes to ending a large pest. These animals reproduce very easy and in large quantity, so it is inevitable to require the service of a company specialized in fumigations. They will be in charge of putting an end to the plague through the latest advances within this sector.
Is it really necessary to hire a fumigation company to finally eliminate cockroaches from my home?
Although this option is not contemplated by many people, mainly due to the costs involved, it must be said that living in a space free of these insects is an obligatory option when it comes to avoiding all kinds of discomforts and diseases. All the different types of cockroaches are the direct cause of a host of contagious diseases.