In this article, we describe 5 effective methods to get rid of roaches out of your kitchen and keep them from coming back.
The Habits of Roaches
Cockroaches are scavengers. They primarily feed on dead or decaying organic matter. Even if your house is spotless there can still be roaches in the kitchen or somewhere in the house. The reason that roaches sometimes appear in a clean house is that they are always on the move. Male roaches will make their way into your home and kitchen in search of food and mates. Roaches are also things of the night – they hide during daylight hours to avoid predation. You may have even seen them scurrying away when you flick on the light. Keep reading for easy and natural methods to keep roaches out of your kitchen. (Looking to take more extreme action? Read this for the top Baits, Gels and traps you can buy to get rid of cockroaches for good)
Stop the Invasion
Step one: Prevent even more roaches from entering your home by sealing up entryways into the house. Roaches do fly, but usually only as a defense so look low. They sneak into your home and kitchen by crawling.
To keep roaches out of the kitchen, start with the space around exterior doors. The front door and back door sometimes have gaps under them if the door does not fit properly into its frame. Take a quick look at your doors and if you can see light underneath then that space can be enough for cockroaches to wiggle under the door and gain access to the house. Check out these weatherstripping options to block out the little creepers! (a Bottom Sweep option for the front door or foam weatherstripping to go all the way around – with the added bonus of reducing energy bills)
Look also for holes around piping. When pipes are installed, the contractor will cut a hole in the wall and the pipe is threaded through the hole. If the hole is not sealed up properly, all manner of insects can gain entry, including cockroaches. An easy DIY project is to use spray foam to fill these holes. Use a good quality spray foam to block pests without poisons or harsh chemicals and save on your energy bills.
The last place to check is the seam between the home and its foundation. Sometimes wood warps or the cement has a gap where cockroaches can crawl through.
By sealing up the outside of your home you decrease the probability that cockroaches can get inside. Using a high-quality, paintable, and exterior-rated caulking with built-in stretch is the best method. Here is my recommendation for caulk and the caulk gun.
Getting Roaches out of the Kitchen
Now that you have blocked new roaches from entering your house it’s time to kill the rest that are currently scurrying around your kitchen at night. Let’s take a look at some DIY Baits and Deterrents.
The DIY method of Pesticides
DIY Bait – Boric acid is a very versatile DIY ingredient that you can use on insects, in your laundry and as a drain unclogger! To create your bait, grab some nitrile gloves, cut up a few cubes of stinky cheese or spray cheese and either roll or mix in boric acid. Place the mixture on a dish and put it in a dark place under the sink or wherever you have seen cockroaches. Make sure the bait is out of reach for children and pets. Check the bait often and replace it as needed.
TIP: Borax powder is a form of boric acid, and you can find it in the laundry soap aisle at your grocery store. Honestly, unless you already own Borax Laundry Powder, it may be cheaper to just buy a small bottle of prepared Borax Roach Killer with its easy to use applicator tip.
Deterrents
Two natural ingredients that cockroaches loathe are cinnamon and bay leaves. You may already have these in your kitchen. Put one or both out in small containers where their aroma can work to drive off cockroaches. Another option is fresh pennyroyal if you have it. If not, use pennyroyal oil which also works as a natural insect repellent. Customers report using it successfully against mosquitoes, flies, bees, fleas, ticks, chiggers, ants, and spiders. (I will be personally testing Pennyroyal Oil this summer to see if it works on Alaska Mosquitos and no-see-ums)
Physical Traps
There are DIY traps (discussed at length in the linked article). Try them out if you want but Roach Traps from reputable companies like Black Flag or Combat Max are cheap and effective. Just pick one in your price range and hide it in those dark corners. They are a great option and last a long time.
Gel Baits
Now, I know this article was supposed to be about prevention and more natural ways to get rid of roaches but I couldn’t leave you without recommending the best of the best. This Roach Gel from Advion is simply the best: long shelf life, kills many varieties of roaches, easy to apply and is generally safe to use around pets (make sure you read the label!).
Call a Pest Control Company
If the DIY method of getting roaches out of your kitchen is not working fast enough, you can call a pest control company that has experience in dealing with a cockroach infestation. But iwth the tools we discussed here you should be able to tackle anything short of a full-blown infestation (which, of course, you now know how to prevent!).
