Nothing can spoil your day like finding out your home is experiencing a few uninvited guests. Still, some solutions don’t involve you spraying your house down with various chemicals, and that solution would be roach motels. Still, what is a roach motel?
Roach motels are essentially cockroach traps, like glue traps or bait stations. Still, you need more information than just those two descriptions, so we highly encourage you to continue reading for more.
What Is a Roach Motel?
A roach motel is a roach trap that kills any roach that happens to walk inside it either by poisoning it or getting it stuck in one of the sticky traps it contains. The device is a box deploying either of the means listed above.
Contrary to popular belief, roach motels have been around a minimum of a hundred years. Still, the idea never really caught any traction until a clever ad campaign was run by Black Flag, a company that set the standard for how these traps were marketed.
Out of all the different roach traps, the roach motel is by far the most fire-and-forget, as you can utilize it much like traditional sticky traps but without needing to look directly at piles of dead roaches when disposing of the box itself.
How Effective Are Roach Motels?
Roach motels are a highly effective way to kill roaches without an exterminator. The efficiency remains relatively high when deciding between the glue trap version or the variant that features poisoned bait inside. Both will hamper any ongoing roach infestation scenarios you have playing out in your home or business.
If you decide to go with a roach motel that uses a sticky trap, you can inspect the box to see how efficient it is at catching these pests and gauge whether or not you are using it in the correct location.
As with any stationary roach trap, you want to place them in places both out of reach from children and pets. However, strategically place the traps close to high-traffic areas or places you know roaches frequent in search of food.
How Does a Roach Motel Work?
A roach motel works by allowing the cockroaches to come into the space but does not allow them to leave.
Roach traps that use a glue trap have a powerful adhesive applied to the center portions of the web. In turn, it causes any roach walking inside to become stuck and unable to leave. Hence the slogan, “roaches check in, but they don’t check out.”
As said above, there are two primary kinds of a roach motel, and each one has its claim to fame, allowing it to function slightly differently from the other, the two kinds being the bait trap and the sticky trap.
The other kind of trap will assault your roach problem with a more vicious approach, employing bait traps, and bait stations that will attract cockroaches with the promise of free food. However, it poisons them and sends them back home to further spread the deadly snack to their comrades, killing even more roaches.
How to Use Roach Motels
You use roach motels by applying roach bait if using a bait motel or placing the trap in a high-traffic area, and you are off to the races.
The cockroach bait for a glue trap is included with the motel. It then attracts roaches from all corners of your home to partake in a lovely trip to the afterlife.
Both roach traps are easy to install, with sticky traps needing to be assembled, taking just a few minutes. Alternatively, bait traps usually only need to be unwrapped before you can use them to lethal efficiency.
Where you decide to employ the trap is of much higher importance than which trap you ultimately go with. This is because while either trap can attract cockroaches, you will only get a little use of them if there are ample amounts of them to trap.
Diligently look through your home for areas with vast amounts of roach poop, small roaches, or awkward hiding spots you’ve seen large clusters of them gathering in, or if you’ve already noted a roach nest, utilize it there.
Where Can You Purchase Roach Motels?
You can purchase roach motels in many places, like your local grocery store or online. However, if you want to get your hands on a black flag roach motel or any other roach motel trap, you need to look no further than your local Home Depot or Walmart. For those less inclined to leave the house, you can buy the traps online on Amazon or another high-end traffic pest control website.
Finding and purchasing a roach motel trap from any of the sources below is easy. It offers many choices regarding what brand you want to go with and which may be better at handling larger cockroach infestations.
Different Types of Roach Motels
Diving a bit deeper into the two primary kinds of roach motel traps you can purchase, we have glue traps and poison traps, with different pros and cons between them.
1. Glue Traps
Glue traps take a few minutes to set up but don’t require anything extra after being assembled and will allow you to get rid of swaths of these bugs at a time. While you may think any sticky surface can get the job done, the glue motel brings a bit of change to the table.
Unlike traps made out of duct tape, glue traps included in roach motels have specialized baits that will actively attract roaches into them.
2. Poison Traps
Poison traps, on the other hand, function just as you might imagine. These cockroach traps have false food sources inside that will entice a roach inside and force them to eat the bait.
It kills that roach when it leaves and scurries back to the nest. Afterward, its vomit and droppings will be consumed by other roaches, causing them to die.
The special lure is that even if roaches don’t go near these motels, the mistake made when one roach decides to eat from this questionable source will cause agony to all brethren. Doing so makes it highly effective against a cockroach nest or a massive infestation.
How Many Roach Motels Do You Need?
How many roach motels you need will depend on how large your infestation is. Depending on how big your cockroach infestation may be, you may need quite a lot or a little.
However, assuming you want to take out the entire nest and ensure that you don’t run out, you will want to purchase multiple product packages. This is bearing in mind most cockroach motel products come in packets of two to four to begin with.
The idea is to purchase more than you need and then run short, scaling up the amount you buy depending on if you have a huge infestation or not.
If you have more cockroaches than average, you can expect to need more than a few cockroach motel options for these pests to visit.
Being cautious of placement, you will want enough roach motel traps to cover high-population areas that will grant the utmost pest management for a minor investment. That way, you can have an end to your cockroach problem and not an extended stay.
Will Roach Traps Bring More Roaches?
No, roach traps will not bring more roaches to your home. This is, of course, assuming you are disposing of the traps themselves when they are packed and making sure the insects aren’t developing resistance to the bait you are using.
The best way to prevent this is by actively monitoring problem areas like your kitchen sinks, bathrooms, and any other areas where you may encounter individual cockroaches or many roaches. Still, rotating your traps out will ensure your other methods remain effective.
Read More: Getting Rid Of Cockroaches In The Kitchen
How to Make a DIY Roach Motel
Making a DIY pesticide-free roach motel is relatively simple, going for both sticky and bait variants. They are great at getting rid of pests, and you can make a sticky surface out of many different materials.
If you want to capture roaches using a sticky method, get a few strips of duct tape and place them under your bathroom or kitchen sink or in high-traffic areas with a bit of borax and peanut butter set in the center of the roach motel itself.
Alternatively, mix that same borax and peanut butter solution out and set it in the same location without using duct tape, and you’ll have a nice bait motel. Poisoning the bait in both motels is essential to getting the most out of them.
Use Roach Motels to Eliminate Cockroaches
Whether using roach motels or bait stations, you will kill roaches one way or another. Still, you would be wise to keep a close eye on your trap rotations as other roaches may escape to different areas, making traps ineffective over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does It Take for Roach Motels to Work?
It takes roughly 3 to 4 days for roach motels to work. It may not be as fast affecting as boric acid against cockroaches, but it is effective. Make sure to place these motels in the corners of the room, under the sink, behind large appliances, and in other areas.
How Often Should You Change Roach Motels?
You should change roach motel traps every 3 to 4 months to protect your household from cockroaches. Still, if you have a cockroach infestation, you will want to replace them more often.
How Long Does It Take To Get Rid of a Roach Infestation?
It can take several weeks to a few months to eliminate a roach infestation. Still, make sure to be adamant about cleaning, placing traps down, and using other natural deterrents to ensure these pests leave your household quickly.
Read More: How To Get Rid Of A Roach Infestation Problem
How Many Roaches Is an Infestation?
If you have five or more cockroaches, it is considered a light infestation. If you see between 10 to 25, it is considered a moderate infestation.
However, if you have 25 or more cockroaches, you have a cockroach infestation. Cockroaches reproduce rather quickly, so immediately take care of the issue for any first signs of roach activity.
