Home Remedies for Roaches: What to Use to Eliminate Them

What Brings Roaches into Your Home?

Many things bring roaches into your home, but the main three factors are food, shelter, and water.

For example, if you have an open garbage can, it will provide an all-day buffet for these insects.

Another example is a messy home due to potential clutter for hiding areas or multiple crumbs on the floor.

A cockroach infestation also begins by having a few too many entrances into your home. Some examples are open windows allowing roaches overnight visits to holes in your walls that will enable them to creep in undetected. Overall, vigilance is critical.

You can deter roaches by removing all excess water from your home. Cockroaches require moisture to make a permanent residency in your humble abode, and a leaking tap could also invite them in.

Read More: Cockroaches Stay For Weeks Without Having Food

Home Remedies to Eliminate Cockroaches

Mothballs

Mothballs serve as a method to get rid of roaches from certain areas and occasionally kill them. However, this method would be better viewed as a means to corral them into a specific location.

By default, roaches cannot stand the strong scent of the naphthalene within the mothballs.

It drives them out of those hard-to-reach places, allowing you to bait them into traps or kill them by other means.

It is worth noting that while mothballs largely repel roaches, they also serve as deterrents against most other insects since they cannot withstand the strong scent either.

You must be mindful of your placement, though. The smell is not particularly enticing to humans, either. As such, mothballs should never be used around cooking spaces or areas you intend to keep food long-term.

Boric Acid

Boric acid, more commonly used as boric acid powder, can be one of the most lethal and effective ways to handle a cockroach infestation. This is due in part to how boric acid works.

Boric acid affects roaches who come directly into contact with the powder itself.

However, the best effects come when you make a bait utilizing it, forcing the insects to ingest it, and increasing the lethality of the product.

Boric acid attacks a roach’s nervous system, killing roaches from within. Afterward, their corpse will remain contaminated with the acid, creating a continual hazard for other cockroaches that might ingest their comrade.

Boric acid treatment is especially effective because roaches naturally display cannibalistic behaviors. Due to this, one roach eating the bait can affect many others down the line. 

Use a 1:1 peanut butter and boric acid ratio to create an effective lure for this approach.

Essential Oils

Almost all essential oils can deter roaches to some degree, but only the strongest can kill roaches upon direct exposure or keep them from going anywhere near that area to begin with.

One of the most potent essential oils you can use in your fight against a cockroach infestation is peppermint oil extract.

The intense scents from this oil can overwhelm the roach’s senses, making it incredibly hard for the bug to breathe and suffocating it.

One of the most effective ways to utilize an essential oil technique would be mixing a few drops of undiluted peppermint oil into a spray bottle. You will then spritz the edges of your windows and doors and clumps of roaches for maximum effect.

An essential oil treatment will not get rid of roaches overnight but will allow you to keep them from returning to your home once they are dead and provide an attractive scent for your home simultaneously!

Read More: What Smells Do Roaches Hate? Use These Scents to Keep Them Away

Diatomaceous Earth

You can find diatomaceous earth (DE) in most homes with a pool, but the better option is to go for the food-grade tier.

Mix equal parts sugar and diatomaceous earth to create a deadly snack for this home remedy.

Diatomaceous earth works by dehydrating roaches to death, destroying their exoskeleton and preventing them from getting the moisture they so desperately need to survive. 

A typical application for this mixture would require light dusting on any problematic areas and waiting for the roach control to begin.

While DE is especially lethal as a cockroach trap, it is not precisely suitable for humans. As such, we highly recommend that you wear a protective mask while applying the mixture, as it can damage your lungs if inhaled.

Bay Leaves

Getting rid of roaches naturally is an uphill battle. Still, bay leaves used against roaches can aid that endeavor significantly, even if it is only serving as a deterrent more than a solid solution.

Most natural remedies require some additional elbow grease to yield results. Unfortunately, enough bay leaves are no different in this particular scenario.

The strong scent from bay leaves will dissuade roaches from coming near, but it’s only effective in clean areas. This is because other scents can potentially outweigh the bay leaves and prove ineffective given such circumstances.

Still, handling roaches naturally cannot be outdone when the treatment is a few leaves from nature!

Ammonia

Ammonia might be the most effective home remedy because it is undoubtedly the best at killing roaches when sprayed directly onto them. It also serves as a lingering pest control thanks to its powerful scent.

Ammonia kills roaches by breaking down their exoskeletons and then doing the same to their insides. It is similar to diatomaceous earth but in a liquid form instead of a powder.

The best way to use ammonia as a pest control would be to take a bucket of water and mix in two cups of ammonia and clean all hard surfaces thoroughly with it, being sure to hit your bathroom and any other problem areas.

An ammonia mixture can also be poured down drains to treat those infested areas, but be cautious because ammonia has been known to damage stainless steel.

Bleach

Bleach can deter roaches and works the same way as ammonia, but it is not nearly as effective as a spray treatment for obvious reasons.

You can feel free to clean most of your home with a bleach mixture as one usually would and receive the benefits of the scent keeping the pests at bay.

Another thing you can do is pour a quarter of a cup of bleach down a drain and plug it to clean the pipes and your home of would-be invaders. However, using this chemical too much in your drains can ruin them.

It is worth noting that, like all chemical treatments, special care is required to avoid inhaling too much and getting sick or potentially exposing it to children or pets, so plan to stay safe!

Read More: What to Pour Down the Drain to Kill Roaches

Baking Soda & Onions

Good old-fashioned baking soda, with the added treat of onions, creates a potent, natural remedy that almost anyone can develop and implement immediately.

All you need to do is dice an onion, sprinkle some baking soda on top, and you are off to the races.

Baking soda is deadly to roaches because it creates an immense chemical reaction with the roaches’ stomachs that, for lack of a better word, causes them to explode internally.

Nothing attracts roaches quite like a free meal, so you use the onions as the bait for this trap, and upon ingesting the two, the insects are in for quite the volatile surprise. Be sure to clean the dead roaches up afterward.

Duct Tape

While not nearly as appealing as dirty dishes, duct tape is one of the most simplistic cockroach traps, but do not be fooled by the lack of intricate planning.

Duct tape cockroach traps can provide some precious intel and help kill swathes of them in the process.

Lay down a strip of duct tape (or, for larger areas, link several strips together) and place a piece of food (laced food, to be specific, think peanut butter and boric acid, for instance) and let this trap do its job.

The next day you will see the results of your efforts. By checking these traps, you can see which areas of your home need the most attention as more bodies show a larger nesting area.

Some of the most effective places you can kill cockroaches utilizing this trap would be inside cabinets, in basements, underneath large appliances, and finally, alongside problematic cracks and entryways that you know have high traffic.

Read More: How To Remove Roaches From The Kitchen

Cornstarch & Plaster of Paris

A deadly duo that serves both a lethal and practical purpose, roaches will eat almost anything, and cornstarch is no exception.

The plaster of paris hardens upon exposure to moisture. In this case, it would be the inside of the roach after it drinks.

This combo requires you to mix equal parts of cornstarch and plaster of paris. Apply generously to any cracks in the walls or small crevices to form a seal that will kill roaches that believe it to be a free meal.

It is worth noting that plaster of paris is toxic for pets and animals and should be only placed in areas that are hard for either of them to reach.

Assuming you are only filling cracks with the mixture, no one else should be able to have easy access in the first place, but safety comes first.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one of the best home remedies for roaches if you want to keep them out instead of treating an ongoing roach infestation.

Nothing attracts roaches like an unclean home, and cleaning with vinegar will provide an active barrier around familiar places cockroaches eat out, like your countertops, but the application doesn’t end there.

Taking some finely chopped lemon peels and submerging them in white vinegar can let you make a magnificent cleaning solution that only takes about a month to become one of the best roach-repellent cleaners.

The mixture needs a month to become potent enough to sterilize and emit the scents that will keep your home roach free.

Coffee Grounds

You can use coffee grounds to make one insidious trap for roaches of all varieties. Roaches eat any free food and places that produce excess moisture even more; combining the two lays the foundation for this bait and switch.

You will need a rather large glass jar for the roaches to climb into, about two or three spoonfuls of coffee grounds, and the glass to be half full of water. Afterward, you are ready to place your trap wherever it is needed.

The roaches will seek the water and enticing coffee grounds for nourishment and fall to their demise.

You can increase the lethality of this trap by applying petroleum jelly along the inside lip of the jar so roaches cannot climb out of it.

After a night of successful hunting, dump the contents into your toilet, give them a nice farewell flush and repeat the process as needed.

As with most methods, you will find the most success by simultaneously cleaning and utilizing several trap methods on this list.

Ways to Prevent Roaches from Being in Your Home

Aside from directly contacting a professional, here are some ways to prevent roaches from being in your home:

Do the Dirty Dishes

Dirty dishes are essentially unlimited sources of food for roaches. So, make sure to eliminate their primary food source and force them to go away.

Clean Garbage Cans Often

Garbage cans have a bit of duality for roaches, seeing as how it can be potential nesting grounds. However, this depends on how often you clean them. 

Deep Clean Your Home

Cleanliness is paramount when dealing with roaches because any tiny crack in your defenses can allow them to create a roach problem that lasts for months or years.

Immediately Fix Leaks in Your Home

Leaks in your home producing excess moisture are a literal doormat to roaches; left untreated, they will make your efforts to kill cockroaches almost useless.

Draw the Blinds

Your home’s light may attract these cockroaches. Their being near the light source could mean the difference between them finding a way in and not.

Seal Cracks Around the Home

Sealing up cracks and holes is your best place to begin to eliminate cockroaches.

Eliminate Cockroaches with Baits & Traps

Use Sticky Traps

Sticky traps are great for killing roaches but also gauging which areas have the most extreme roach infestations, and allow you to develop a plan of attack or inform a professional where to start.

Place Bait Around High Traffic Areas

The more traffic in a given area, the more likely you are to kill roaches, a straightforward solution to an even more obvious problem. This works great when used in tandem with the sticky trap method.

Call a Professional Exterminator if All Else Fails

If nothing on this list worked against repelling roaches, or the solutions offered are not killing them fast enough, feel free to reach out to a professional exterminator.

A pest management professional will be able to provide a long-term treatment plan, as well as offer some manner of guarantee after a general treatment.