Natural home remedies to keep cockroaches away from your home
Cockroaches are simply despicable! They carry diseases and can fly too. It is utterly disgusting to find cockroaches running all around the house. I am sure that you have come across these creepy crawling cockroaches and bugs in your kitchen, just after a few hours of cooking a meal. There’s nothing more irritating than finding these creepy bugs and cockroaches roaming around the kitchen, but have you ever thought, how these bugs find their way to your kitchen despite cleaning the kitchen every day? Well, this might freak you out, but even after cleaning or wiping the kitchen with water every day; these cockroaches can breed under the sink, drains, and corners of cabinets or below the slabs.
Not only are these bugs and crawling insects nasty but they can also be harmful to health and lead to several diseases and cause food poisoning. Taking care of a cockroach infestation is no one’s dream weekend plan. But more often than we’d like to, we come face to face with a cockroach or two in our kitchen or another part of the home. Unfortunately, killing a cockroach is definitely not an easy task, and finding a reliable solution that can eradicate the pest permanently can be just as challenging. Especially, when most commercial roach killers are made of strong and poisonous chemicals in order to deliver the desired result. But is there a non-toxic way to eliminate the stubborn insects without exposing yourself, your family, and your pets to the strong chemicals? well, you are in luck, because we know of several effective homemade cockroach killers and repellents that you can try. Without further ado, here are the best natural remedies that we know of that can put an end to a cockroach infestation without disturbing the clean air in your home. Just keep in mind that it’s possible for them to require more time and repetition to give the expected results.
So what attracts cockroaches to a clean house?
Cockroaches are extremely versatile pests. They have a very wide-ranging diet and will eat just about anything you can imagine. They have highly tuned water-finding senses and are experts at hiding. All of these adaptations allow them to survive in just about any environment. Roaches also pose health concerns to humans. They are known to carry diseases and can trigger allergies and asthma. They are also extremely hard to get rid of once you have cockroaches in the house. But how do cockroaches get in your clean house?
Accessibility
Cockroaches come into your home in search of three things: food, shelter, and water. They have also developed the ability to use even the smallest of openings as an entryway into your house. They can come in through cracks in the exterior walls, dryer vents, or even the gaps between walls and floors. Perform a thorough evaluation of the exterior of your home and seal any entry points you find.
Moisture
cockroaches need moisture to survive and this search for water will bring them into even the cleanest of homes. Leaky pipes and faucets are one of the most common attractants for cockroaches and are one of the main reasons you often see them in bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. They will also hide out under refrigerators and air conditioning units to indulge in their condensation, and even drink from pets’ water bowls when left out overnight. Roaches love places that are dark and undisturbed so you can often find them in basements, in the dark corners of cabinets, and underneath large appliances, especially those that use water.
Forgotten Areas
While these areas may not be in need of repair or even in plain sight, they can attract roaches and need to be addressed to prevent roach infestations. Roaches have been known to hide out in the spaces between outside doors and floors. They can get into your home through window screens that aren’t flush with the frame or that have rips or tears in them. They can also get in around air conditioning units that don’t fit properly in windows, and into trash cans that aren’t cleaned regularly, even the ones in your bathrooms.
Landscaping
Cockroaches will come into your yard in search of the same things as your home: food, shelter, and water. You can harbor as many roaches in your yard as you do in your home. Any standing water in places like birdbaths, flower pots, and gutters will attract cockroaches. Compost and woodpiles provide food and shelter. Trash and recycling bins provide an excellent food source. Leaf litter, dense vegetation, and mulch or pine straw provide ideal hiding places.
Cockroaches are versatile pests that are extremely hard to get rid of once they get into your home.
Natural Home Remedies for Cockroaches:
- Hot water and vinegar
This is a simple hack, you don’t need to look around for ingredients everywhere as you can simply find these in your kitchen. Just take some hot water, mix 1 portion of white vinegar and stir well, wipe slabs and clean around the cooktops with this solution and pour this solution in the kitchen drains at the night, this will disinfect the pipes and drains and would keep cockroaches from climbing up into the kitchen.
- Diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth is one of the safest and commonly used products for cockroach control. Diatomaceous earth, or DE for short, is an excellent natural insecticide. Composed of pulverized, fossilized algae, DE’s particles are sharp and dehydrating. When roaches come into contact with DE, it damages their exoskeletons and dehydrates them to death.
- Sugar
This is an example of using something sweet to lure cockroaches to their demise. You just have to add a little something extra. Mix one part powdered sugar with three parts boric acid. The sugar brings the bugs in — the boric acid takes them out. Boric acid isn’t toxic to people or pets, but it can irritate the skin. When putting this mixture down, avoid counters and stick to the hidden spots roaches can use for hiding places. Good spots are behind appliances, under the sink, and in any cracks along the edges of cabinets.
- Hot water lemon and baking soda
Another easy kitchen hack that you can use to keep the disgusting crawlers at bay is by mixing 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons baking soda in 1litre hot water, stir it well and pour in the drain outlets or wash the area below the sink or slabs with this solution to stop the breeding of cockroaches in the kitchen.
- Baking soda
Baking soda is one of the most multifunctional products ever created, so it’s no surprise that it has the ability to kill cockroaches, as well. The best method is if you mix the soda with some sugar, first. The smell of sugar will bring out the roaches, tempting them to eat from the mixture, without noticing the baking soda. After that, when they go to drink some water, a reaction with the soda will cause their stomach to burst. Cockroaches often feed on their dead comrades, so a chain reaction of death will follow.
- Soapy water
If you spot a cockroach and want to kill it without having to get close enough to step on it, keep a spray bottle of soapy water handy. Use diluted dish soap so that whatever surface it gets on also gets clean (an added bonus).
- Boric acid
It is a naturally occurring compound. And while it’s harmless to people and pets, it’s deadly for roaches. When cockroaches come into contact with boric acid, it sticks to their legs and wings. When they ingest the powder, it acts on the roach’s nervous and digestive systems – killing it rapidly. To use boric acid to get rid of cockroaches, sprinkle a light dusting onto a paper plate. Put an orange peel or spoonful of peanut butter in the middle of the plate and place the whole thing anywhere you’ve noticed roach activity.
- Essential oils
If you used these oils for skincare or other healing purposes, then you would be amazed to know that essential oils like peppermint oils and lavender oil can help in keeping bugs at bay. Just spray some essential oils around the kitchen and cabinets, and let their aroma do the magic.
Trust us. You cannot go wrong with these. So what are you waiting for? Try these and stay in a cockroach-free and clean home.
