3 Step Action Plan For Getting Rid Of Your Small Cockroach Population

Articles

Despite your efforts to prevent cockroaches from invading your home, you have seen a few of the unwanted visitors in your home. To keep from having an infestation, you may wonder what homemade measures you can take to kill the existing bugs. If so, follow the three-step action plan for killing existing roaches and keeping new ones from entering your house.

Step 1:  Clean Up and Remove Food Sources

The first step in getting rid of your roaches is to thoroughly clean your home, removing any potential food sources in the hopes that the roaches will vacate your home in pursuit of sustenance elsewhere.

While cleaning your cabinets and drawers, make sure you remove even the smallest of crumbs in the corners and crevices. A vacuum cleaner with a crevice tool can work for this. After vacuuming, wipe the area down with a damp cloth to remove any remaining food particles.

As part of the food removal step, you also want to seal up all food in your cabinets. Any opened box or container can be accessed by roaches because they can squeeze into even tiny spaces. Use plastic bowls and containers to seal up the food or place opened bags and boxes in plastic bags that zip up tightly.

Step 2:  Seal Up Openings With Caulk

Once you have cleaned up your home and removed all food sources, turn your attention towards the entryways where roaches can enter your home. Small cracks and holes give the insects access to your house and need to be sealed using caulk.

When selecting the type of caulk, get a high-quality silicone-based preparation. Once dried, this type of caulk does not crack and crumble quickly. The silicone also does not shrink, leaving gaps around the outside that roaches can enter through.

Step 3:  Set Homemade Roach Traps

Now that you have cleaned your home of errant food crumbs and sealed up the entryways, it is time to trap and kill your unwanted guests. You can do this by building and setting up homemade roach traps filled with a poison you make yourself.

For each trap, you will need a two-liter bottle that has been washed out and air dried. You will also need a sharp utility knife and a funnel.

For the homemade poison, you will need a cup of borax and a half cup of powdered sugar. The powdered sugar acts as the bait, with its sweet smell and taste drawing the roaches into the trap. Once they eat the sugar mixed with borax, the latter dries them up from the inside out. 

To make the trap, open the bottle and funnel in the poison's ingredients. Replace the cap and shake vigorously to mix the sugar and borax thoroughly.

Turn the bottle on its side and use the utility knife to cut a quarter of an inch slivers along the side, about two inches apart. Repeat for each trap you wish to make.

Place the traps at different locations in your cabinets and drawers. Check them every day to see if the traps contain dead roach carcasses. If so, empty the contents into a bag, tightly seal it and throw it away. Then, refill the traps with the poison and repeat until you no longer find dead roaches in them.

The above action plan is meant for small cockroach populations. However, if you find you have a full-blown infestation of the disgusting bugs, you may want to contact a pest control company like Fowler Pest Control. They can send someone to your home to evaluate the extent of your roach problem and offer any solutions available to you.

Share

24 September 2015