Nowadays, you can find practically anything you need at your fingertips. You can automatically search the Internet for answers when attempting to do any DIY project.
In this case, battling with cockroaches can be extreme work, especially when you have a cockroach infestation.
This is especially true if you are on a budget and have a limited amount of dollars upfront to spend on a professional exterminator.
Still, there are many ways you can get rid of roaches without an exterminator, including:
- Clean your home thoroughly
- Get airtight containers
- Lemon juice
- Diatomaceous earth
- Boric acid
- Sticky traps
- Baking soda & sugar mixture
- Set bait stations
- Seal holes in your home
- Eliminate cardboard boxes
- Get rid of standing water
This article goes over more in detail each of these tactics and what you can do to eliminate cockroaches from your home without worrying about a pest control company coming out.
Continue reading for more DIY solutions.
1. Clean Your Home
Cleaning your home is one of the best things you can do to eliminate roaches. Though it is important to note that roaches may still enter even the cleanest of homes.
Clean the Clutter
Suppose you have clutter within your home. In that case, it might be best to declutter some items and do some light dusting.
Donating things to your local thrift store, churches, or other charities would be acceptable. If you find something infested with roaches, throw it away.
Do the Dishes
Another major issue we see often is dirty dishes. Cockroaches are very resourceful, so if they cannot find food anywhere, they will look in your sink to get that last piece of cake you forgot to wash off.
Vacuum Your Home & Wipe Hard Surfaces
If you see food crumbs, roach eggs, or other dirty substances, make sure to vacuum and wipe hard surfaces down. This ensures you do not give roaches what they want, which is food.
Read More: Guide To The Cockroach Diet
Disinfect Your Home
Cockroaches hate the smell of disinfectant sprays like Lysol and bleach, so as you clean with these items, you deter them from these areas.
Take Out the Garbage Cans
You want to ensure all garbage cans are emptied to ensure roaches do not make their way into these areas.
2. Get Airtight Containers
Getting containers that cockroaches cannot get in are an excellent way to keep roaches away. Starchy, greasy, and sugary food attracts roaches, so this method ensures you take many of their food sources away.
For example, if you just opened a box of Oreos and put them back without sealing them, you might have wasted your money because you found cockroaches inside the bag! Now the cookies are ruined due to the roaches contaminating your food.
Although gross, you can avoid this by placing the cookies, chips, or snacks in a sealed container.
3. Use Lemon Juice or Oil
Mix lemon juice or lemon oil and water together, then place them in a spray bottle. Afterward, spray it everywhere in your home, especially where you see the most roach activity. Mop your floors with this solution as well to ensure you get it spread around your home.
Instead of wiping your counters down afterward, let the lemon scent do its job and repel roaches.
Another benefit to using lemon juice or oil is that it kills bacteria. Although it does not do it 100% of the way, it is still a cleaning agent, making it a duo act!
4. Use Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is made up of fossilized algae. It is used to destroy a roach’s exoskeleton, killing roaches naturally.
Food-grade DE is non-toxic to humans and pets. It is essential to use this kind of diatomaceous earth to ensure it is not hazardous to large animals and people.
You can mix one part cocoa powder with one part diatomaceous earth to use as bait. Once they take the bait, roaches will dehydrate themselves.
Still, although diatomaceous earth is a practical option to kill roaches, it will take up to two weeks to start seeing results. If you do not wish to wait that long, the other alternative is boric acid, which we will talk about right below here.
Sprinkle DE under furniture, behind appliances, outside your home, or inside cupboards. If you start seeing palmetto bugs in cars and trucks, you can also sprinkle the powder there.
5. Boric Acid
Boric acid was registered as a pesticide back in 1948. One hundred eighty-nine pesticides contain boric acid, according to the EPA.
When a cockroach comes in contact with boric acid, the substance sticks to its legs and wings. However, when the insect ingests the product, it will attack its digestive and nervous systems, eventually killing the roach.
Over the years, many insects have become immune to modern products on the market. However, boric acid is not one of them.
Boric acid is a dangerous poison to humans, whether small or large. It is acutely toxic if applied to the skin, and it can cause severe toxicity when inhaled.
It is wise to use gloves and a mask while handling this product to ensure nothing gets into your lungs.
6. Sticky Traps
Once a cockroach steps on a sticky trap, it will eventually die due to its inability to move.
Using these traps is extremely helpful if you have holes in the walls of your home or under your front door. In that case, place some glue strips near those areas and let it do its job.
The only downside to this method is you need to continuously replace them once they get full while discarding the others in the trash can.
7. Baking Soda & Sugar
In this method, you want to mix baking soda with sugar. Make sure to do a 1:1 ratio to ensure the solution will still attract roaches to the solution.
The best part about baking soda is that it is highly effective and acts rather quickly to kill roaches.
On the other hand, baking soda reacts badly with the cockroach’s stomach, causing it to burst. Although it might seem like an excellent method, it may mean cleaning up cockroach guts, which you might want to avoid.
However, baking soda is nontoxic and will not harm anyone in your household, so it may be the solution you are looking for!
8. Bait Stations
Bait stations are excellent to kill cockroaches because you do not have to search for their nest, but they will come searching for the bait.
The cockroaches will then take the bait and share it with the rest of their little family. After a while, you will notice a dramatic decrease in roach activity.
Gel bait takes roughly 24 hours to take effect, so make sure you place them in places where roaches are found the most. These places may be but are not limited to the following:
- Laundry rooms
- Kitchens
- Under appliances
- Bathrooms
9. Seal Holes
Roaches enter your home through small holes in the walls, doors, windows, etc. Make sure you seal all these gaps to prevent cockroaches from entering your home. We recommend using a silicone sealant.
However, if you have multiple holes in your walls, use caulk or nail hole patches to ensure no roach gets through the sides of your walls.
Lastly, make sure to check the exterior of your home. If you have any holes or gaps outside, cockroaches may be entering through those areas too.
We recommend checking every few months, or at the very least, once a year to ensure nothing too serious happened without your knowledge.
Doing these things ensures these nasty critters cannot get in or around your home unless you are careless and keep the door open or have a window open without a screen.
10. Eliminate Cardboard Boxes
Aside from your everyday food, roaches consume organic matter, including cardboard boxes. These insects also live in the boxes if you give them a chance.
However, if your home contains wet cardboard, cockroaches have hit the jackpot since it provides them with food, water, and shelter.
If you have a storage area with multiple boxes, consider purchasing plastic bins instead. For clothes and delicate items, get vacuum-sealed storage bags. Overall, you ensure these cockroaches cannot go in and out of your belongings.
11. Get Rid of Standing Water or Leaky Pipes
If you have standing water or leaky pipes, make sure you eliminate these immediately. Roaches love living in places with a substantial amount of water or moisture, so ensuring these issues are taken care of helps with this problem.
Consider using a dehumidifier in areas where excess moisture occurs, like in the basement, bathroom, or laundry.
Read More: Bathroom Solutions For Cockroaches
12. Purchase Insect Growth Regulators
Suppose you come across German cockroaches, American cockroaches, or other roaches that refuse to leave your home. In that case, you will want to invest in insect growth regulators.
This remedy stops them from entering the next molting stage and lowers the cockroach reproduction rate, causing them to die off.
13. Use Roach Traps
Roach traps are rather similar to glue traps, but they have active ingredients that kill cockroaches slowly but surely. The poison is spread throughout the colony, making it extremely effective.
You can place these baits out of the way such as follows:
- Behind the stove
- Behind the fridge
- Inside cabinets
- Near baseboards
- In the pantry
- On the counter
- Under the kitchen and bathroom sink
You Can Get Through This
To put everything to an end, just remember that you can do anything you set your mind to. You do not have to live with these horrible pests for long, so be diligent and remain hopeful that this roach infestation will not last very long.
Start by trying these DIY methods. However, if you are tired of messing with these creatures after quite some time, call the professionals. We wish you great luck in finding what works for you!
