Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I just saw a roaches in the kitchen. Please help me get rid of them. I don't want them increase in number.
By Rehana from UAE
Are you in or near Dubai? Most of the chemists there stock a product called boric acid-tell them you want it to get rid of the roaches and keep them out of your home. They'll know what you want and will probably also give you good advice on using the product successfully.
I don't know if a chemist outside of Dubai will stock boric acid but if you aren't near there you can try at your local chemist or pharmacy.
It works GREAT to kill roaches and to keep them from coming back. Follow the directions on the label if the chemist doesn't give you advice on the best way to use it for pest control.
What are some home remedies to get rid of roaches in my home?
If I was to use a 50/50 solution of water and bleach, would the fumes get rid of cockroaches? I have sprayed them with the same solution and it kills them dead. Of course I don't spray the solution on carpet.
By Laww
Call an exterminator. They will rid your house of them.
A more safe approach it to go to your druggist and ask for boric acid. It will be a rather small bottle. Mix a teaspoon of the boric acid and a teaspoon of sugar and put it in a small jar lid and put it back under your stove or any place that is inaccessible to your beloved pets or small children. Roaches love it and it will eliminate them shortly. You can make as many of these as you need, and have safe places for. I have used this in the many places I have moved into where the roach population was gross and they were eliminated shortly.
I use spray polish like Pledge, only the cheaper off brand bottles to kill roaches on the counter. If there are a lot, go in and watch where they go and then vacuum any of them you find. If you see lots of them, vacuuming is the way to go. Then store the vacuum outside for a while or empty the contents outside then spray them pledge like furniture spray, the orange variety, or kill them with bug spray.
Roach motels are great, you need to keep checking when they are full on one side and then turn it over for the other sticky side. You will go through a lot of these...and throw them away. I spray them before I throw them away. Also, you can wad up bits of duct tape, sticky side out and catch them that way too. Cover up the sink at night, some of them come up from the drain.
I use bug spray cautiously, but when I find a nest of them I can use it away from food, etc. I use non stick spray to kill kitchen ants on contact.
Other simple ideas:
Make roach baits.
Mix together syrup and yeast granules to make a paste. Drop globs onto jar lids and place along counter tops against the wall or under cabinets. Mix equal parts baking powder and confectioner's sugar. Put this mixture out on small lids on counter tops and under cabinets for bait. It takes a while, at least a couple of months if you are not using an exterminator, and if it overwhelms you, then you would probably find it worth it paying for an exterminator.
www.ehow.com/
I don't know if those little boogers would be resistant to that solution or not but you certainly aren't resistant :-( Bleach is horrible for your health, including the fumes your lungs breath in, and horrible for the environment in general. Try the boric acid or roach motels already mentioned and if they don't do the trick then it would be best to call an exterminator.
Alcohol won't kill cockroaches. They have been around for millions of years. They went hundreds of years frozen in ice.
Our home is terribly infested with cockroaches. We had tried many home remedies to get rid of them, but they were of no use. Our neighbour suggested to us the best exterminators NYC to kick them off completely.
But I am in doubt whether to go for them.I have 4 rose of Sharon bushes in my front yard. They were planted 5 years ago, but the last few years I have been getting roaches from them or from somewhere and I don't know what to do.
It has never happened to me before so I'm not sure why it would start now. Thanks for any and all help.We have water bugs, they are a real problem. We cannot move at the moment, so how do you control these monsters?
By Mary
I found a roach in my home. My son has been receiving a lot of game/computer deliveries in cardboard boxes which sit around forever after being opened. Could these deliveries be the source of the cockroach?
By Bev
I have never had a roach problem before. But since it has been getting cold lately, I have been finding roaches outside and now they are in my house. My house is really clean, I am a neat freak. The roaches are coming up from my drains and I don't know what to do with them; I have never had to deal with them. I have animals, so I do not know what to do and I have heard that bombing will not work. I'm totally grossed out, I need some advise please.
By Alycia from OK
Try sprinkling boric acid powder along the perimeter of the house-interior and exterior. I used it for years and always had good results.
Run a line of the powder along the back wall of all cabinets, along the baseboards, and outside run the line at the foundation wall all the way around the house as close to the foundation walls as you can get the powder. Reapply every time it rains, and at least once a month to keep the critters out.
You can find the product at most grocery, drug, and big box stores, but I've found it is always less expensive at a feed and seed store. One brand is Roach-Proof. Read the label carefully and follow the directions to the letter; properly applied it is safe to use around pets and children.
There are other products out there, boric acid is the least expensive and most effective. When I lived in the American South I ended up buying a two gallon sprayer and applying Liquid Sevin monthly-a bit more expensive than boric acid but even safer around pets and children because it dries and is perfectly safe to walk on or put a food container on. You wouldn't want to walk through boric acid powder, or put a food container too close to it.
Whatever chemical you choose, the most important thing is that you read the label very carefully, and follow the directions strictly to the letter. It's the only way to get the desired results while minimising the dangers to your family. Anything you use to eliminate roaches successfully will be a chemical that if applied incorrectly, can harm you and yours.
Don't get the regular Boric Acid powder that is marketed for roach control, roaches often just feed off of this. Go to the drugstore and ask the pharmacist for Boric Acid Eyewash; just a little of this powder sprinkled in spots like under the fridge and behind the stove usually does the trick!
Boric acid is not a very safe product to use. If you decide to use it be very careful as it is not completely safe. You can get more information from the national poison control center.
Boric acid poisoning
Boric acid is a dangerous poison. Poisoning from this chemical can be acute or chronic. Acute boric acid poisoning usually occurs when someone swallows powdered roach-killing products that contain the chemical.
Chronic poisoning occurs in those who are repeatedly exposed to boric acid. For example, in the past, boric acid was used to disinfect and treat wounds. Patients who received such treatment over and over again got sick, and some died.
This is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
My baby sitter has a problem with cockroaches, she has tried everything to get rid of them and nothing works. She hired an exterminator for over a year, she has bombed her house, she has bought hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars on stuff to get rid of them and its doesn't work. She has even tried that boric acid borax or whatever its called. Please help we don't know what to do, they are nasty.
By jkeupper
A mixture of malathion and syrup, painted on the inside, of not, the drawer, but the inside of where the drawer goes in the cabinet. this way none of the children or animals can get to it, you can do this all over the house, just pull the drawers out and using a paint brush, just paint the line where the drawer goes or underneath it, then slip the drawer back in, we did this at my mothers house where it was over run with roaches, haven't seen any in 17 years.
I've had little success with many of the home remedies of roach control. But I found I talked to someone who claimed he knew how to get rid of cockroaches for good, and he told me some of the best results he'd seen were from simply trimming back the foliage surrounding his house.
I read through all the ideas here on Thrifty Fun. I am a single mom, so money is tight. I decided to try baking soda. I bought 5 of the large boxes. I started with the kitchen and then the rest of the house. I am happy to say the roaches are down by 80% and they are dying all over the place. I did not use any type of sugar with it. I also bought a turkey baster to make it easier to apply into hard to reach or tight areas. I've had this problem for long time, and I have tried a few sprays and gels, but this is working better and quicker than anything else. I hope this help someone else with this problem.
Has anyone heard of blowing out your pipes to eleminate roaches from inside your home?
By Stephen
I bought a used couch from someone. The couch is in good shape, leather, and looks new. But I noticed a few very small roaches in it when I was moving it. I cleaned it with Lysol, but I noticed there's still small ones. Is it no good or can I spray it or something?
By Mike
I am seeing roaches all the time. I have been using boric acid under all the appliances and furniture. I have used Ortho spray on all base boards, completely cleaned out all cabinets and sprayed inside as well. I have also washed all walls with bleach water. I have removed the clutter from around the house and I have sprayed Hot Shot bug defense around the outside perimeter of the house. I am wanting to know is the infestation getting worse or do I have them on the run and trying to find new places to hide?
By Abbi
I have been seeing palmetto roaches in our Florida home recently, after about 20 years of none. I do now want to spray pesticides. What natural things can I do? Thank you!
By P. Johnston
Use baking soda. It creates gas in roaches that they can't expel and they die. I've used this for over 25 years and it works!
I open the windows and spread it inside the frames, I put it in flat lids inside my cabinets and under sinks and by doors.
The boric acid that is sold specifically for roaches is not very effective, but if you go to the pharmacy and buy Boric Acid Eye Wash and sprinkle it in areas such as behind the fridge and stove. I have seen this work in situations where professional exterminators have failed. Just reapply every so often.
How can I get rid of cockroaches in my home?
By L from AZ
I have tenants and have found the Diatomaceous Earth (be sure to use food grade) is extremely effective for roaches and bed bugs. It can be purchased at Home Depot or a garden supply store
It's a white powder. Use a paint brush to "paint" all of your baseboards, the inside of cabinets where the floor of the cabinet meets the wall and around plumbing traps and other moist areas.
This is more of a preventive: Several weeks ago when un-bagging bananas out popped several small roaches! Never again will I bring home a "bunch" of bananas, I will break them apart over the banana bin. Nasty-and wash them when I get home.
I have lived in the Sierra foothills for 41 years and never had a problem with cockroaches, until last year started. Can anyone determine their origin? I may have pissed off a pest control company. I have been told that cockroaches are not native.
By Bob
The best stuff to get rid of them is Combat Roach killing gel. A little goes along way just put a little in all the place you see roachs nesting in it will kill them. Also use some combat roach hotels also. With both it won't take long to get rid of them.
You may have brought them in from the grocery or other shop where the bought goods were packaged in cardboard-cereal, convenience foods like dehydrated potatoes or pasta, soda or beer, anything with a paper or cardboard wrapper can be a hiding place for pests.
Nowadays your groceries spend time in warehouses hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles from your store. And unfortunately, sometimes that's an infested warehouse:(
The pests crawl into the smallest areas of the paper and cardboard to have a snack and while they're eating the glue and paper, they're being transported to your store. This can also happen with small appliances like coffee makers, electric kettles, microwaves. (Oh ick, I had that happen to me once which is how I know it can happen to appliances as well as groceries)
Unfortunately with roaches, it only takes one egg to survive the trip to your home-from one egg comes thirty roaches...
I lived in the American Deep South for decades (lol, lovely place except for the blasted roaches and 'skeeters), and learned after an infestation courtesy of the grocery warehouse that there is a reason glass, zip-locks, and good quality plastic storage containers are a must-have. I learned after the microwave infestation that appliance cardboard packaging should be recycled to the curb ASAP!
And I would do my grocery shopping, then come straight home and put everything into a sealable container, again, throwing any paper or cardboard packaging into the recycling bin and getting it to the curb.
To rid your home of the current infestation, try sprinkling boric acid (read the label and follow all directions for application, especially if you have pets and or children in the home) at the baseboards all through your house, under sinks, etc. You are trying to form a perimeter on the whole house just in case the infestation is coming from a recently moved neighbour or disturbed wooded area. They'll crawl through the boric acid and die within hours.
You can also use a product called Liquid Sevin. Again, read the label and follow the directions. There are several pest control products out there, choose one that fits your needs, but I don't recommend any of the 'bombs' because they have caused fatal fires.
How do I get rid of cockroaches? I have tried commercial pest control last year, but this year cockroaches have returned. Please suggest a lasting remedy.
To fully understand how to get rid of roaches, begin with this helpful advice. The second link tells you what you can do to prevent their returning.
www.bugclinic.com/
Along with everything else written here get rid of all stored paper products. Roaches lay millions of eggs. They are attracted to paper, cloth, adhesives on labels on cans etc. You don't say if you live in a crowded neighborhood or not. If you do be certain that they are not coming to your home from your neighbors.
I am looking for a home remedy to get rid of roaches.
By heavensent2stay
I'm fighting a war on roaches, please help me. I need a homemade remedy. Please and thank you.
By luz
I deep cleaned my bedroom today, spent all day on it, and this evening for the first time ever I spotted and killed 2 cockroaches. I have never seen them in my house and now I can't even sleep. I cleaned out my car today, bringing in a giant pile of clothes that had been forming in my trunk. Could they have possibly just come in with the dirty clothes? I keep telling myself that there are no more, just those 2, but now I'm very jumpy and I have no idea what to do. I'm too scared to go looking for them. Help!
By Jamiee
It is hard to tell where they came from, but if you saw two, there will probably be more. If you see more, I would recommend calling an exterminator. A couple years ago I had a few in my apartment, and I tried different remedies on my own, mainly because I didn't really want to tell the manager of my apartment complex. But eventually none of what I tried worked so I did tell my apartment manager and the next day he brought an exterminator over, almost before I was awake, and the guy put some stuff around the kitchen and bathroom, and the roaches were never seen again.
How do I make borax balls to get rid of roaches?
By blake from Flowood, MS
I recommend a mixture of half sugar and half borax with enough water to make a liquid in an shallow container, like a jar lid. It will take several days and you will need to keep this in liquid form for best results.
I was told ammonia mixed with water (half and half) keeps roaches away, that they hate it. Is this true?
By Sasha
This page contains the following solutions.
Adult cockroaches are medium-sized insects, with a broad, flat shape and long antennae. Often confused with beetles, the cockroach's wings are membranous and they lack the thick, hard forewing of beetles.
