Cockroaches are a common pest, infesting both indoor and outdoor areas. Effective control of pest cockroaches involves thorough inspection, reducing sources of food, water and shelter, pesticides or baits, and ongoing maintenance. Several species of cockroach are common in Victoria.
The best way to get rid of roaches fast is to sanitize your home, eliminate hiding spots and stagnant water, store food in airtight containers, and use glue strips, bait, boric acid, or liquid concentrates.
Roach Repellents
Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay. Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds. If you want to try a natural way to kill them, combine powdered sugar and boric acid.
Pine-Sol and Fabuloso are strong, all-purpose household cleaners. Similar to bleach, these products kill roaches on contact. Some homeowners suggest spraying Pine-Sol around the outside of your house to keep cockroaches away.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural way to deal with cockroach. It is available in fine powder form that sticks to roaches body and kill them by dehydration process. Diatomaceous eath is also very effective in killing the roach eggs. It is best method to use in fine areas, as DE fine powder can reach inside the cracks.
Sprinkle the diatomaceous earth around areas where roaches travel and frequent. The sharp particles of diatomaceous earth damage the waxy, protective exoskeleton of the roach, causing it to dehydrate and die, typically within 48 hours of contact.
Distilled vinegar does not kill or repel roaches, making it completely ineffective. Distilled vinegar will help keep your kitchen clean, giving cockroaches less to snack on. However, roaches can live for months at a time without any food at all, and they will eat almost anything to survive.
Physically Seeing a Roach
You may be wondering: "I saw one cockroach, should I be worried?" If you spot even one roach during the daytime, it can mean the infestation has been going on for some time or that it has progressed to the point where drastic action must be taken immediately.
Boric acid is a powerful natural home remedy for getting rid of roaches overnight. Mix equal amounts of boric acid, flour, and sugar until it becomes a dough-like consistency. Place small pieces where the roaches can feed on them.
Scents that are pleasing to humans can actually repel cockroaches. In the kitchen, certain aromas such as cinnamon, bay leaves, garlic, peppermint, and coffee grounds can be used as deterrents. In the bathroom and garage, using strong-smelling disinfectants like vinegar or bleach can help keep these pests at bay.
If you see a cockroach or three, you're likely have hundreds—or thousands—living in a nearby nest. But if you act fast before the population has taken hold, you may be able get rid of cockroaches within a week to ten days. And most of them will be gone in a day or two.
Studies have found a boric acid and sugar combination to be a very effective killer of roaches, but more readily available is Borax mixed with sugar, which also gets the job done. Simply mix three parts Borax to one part sugar for bait, and be sure to keep your pets out of the vicinity.
The World Health Organization also advises against crushing them, for reasons of hygiene. According to the body, which classes cockroaches as “unhygienic scavengers in human settlements”, squashing them can spread bacteria into the environment that can lead to asthma, allergies and illnesses.
Keep Your Home Clean: Cockroaches won't be quick to leave if they can find something to eat. Clean up crumbs and spills. Store food in airtight containers. Keep your trash covered and remove it daily.
Most roaches will be killed by vacuuming, but it's a good idea to change the vac- uum cleaner bag often and dispose of it in a double garbage bag. KEEP THEM OUT. Place screens (insect mesh) in windows. Vacuum (or sweep), then sponge mop kitchen floor every week.
Dusts – A few insecticides used for cockroach control are applied as dusts or powders. Most familiar to householders are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. For controlling cockroaches, boric acid tends to be more effective. Roaches succumb to boric acid after crawling over treated surfaces.
Baking Soda
A concoction of baking soda and sugar is an effective way to control the multiplication of these pests. Sugar acts as bait to attract cockroaches and the baking soda will kill them. You just need to identify their hideouts and sprinkle this mixture in those corners.
Is there a queen roach? Cockroaches are not truly social insects (like honey bees or termites). As such, they do not have a queen. However, they are considered 'gregarious' and tend to congregate during rest times (generally the daytime).
For cockroaches, window cleaner can make them temporarily unconscious so that you can squash them. This works on initial contact, but Windex will not continue to kill bugs after it has dried. Laundry Detergent – Dilute a few drops of laundry detergent or dish soap in water and use the mixture as a spray.
Baking soda can kill roaches, but in order to do so the roaches have to eat the baking soda mixture, and once they consume water the baking soda reacts with the water creating gas in their stomachs, which kills them.
The most common do-it-yourself (DIY) cockroach spray is a mixture of three parts fabric softener and two parts water. While it might come as a surprise, this mixture will kill cockroaches.