Roaches are highly resistant to pest control, which makes it difficult to choose the most effective cockroach control method. These insects are invasive, and multiply very fast, making it challenging to eliminate them.
The best pest control technique for roaches is seasonal pest control. This involves periodically treating your property with safe modern pesticides to create a protective border that roaches cannot cross.
Rather than wait for a cockroach infestation, seasonal pest control is the best way to eliminate cockroaches. Long-lasting pesticides used for seasonal pest control will keep your property pest-free in the meantime.
With seasonal pest control, you’ll need the service of professional pest control companies to treat your property periodically using safe, modern pesticides. To ensure effectiveness, visits will be made quarterly depending on risk factors. The long-lasting pesticides will keep the property pest-free for a long time.
Other pest control methods to exterminate roaches include roach baits, glue trap, roach sprays, roach dust, fumigation, natural remedies, and so on. Some of these pest control methods work against a particular species of roaches while others are useful for all cockroach types.
Best pest control technique for roaches
If you’re not lucky to apply seasonal pest control to totally avoid roaches, there will come a time when you can no longer stand the sight of cockroaches lurking around every crack and crevice in your home.
Then it’s time to opt for effective pest control measures. Cockroach traps, gels, pesticides, and natural remedies can be used to capture and kill cockroaches taking over your home. The most effective methods of eliminating roaches are explained below.
1. Good housekeeping
I know it’s a little boring to start with this point, but it really is a big one. It is a known fact that roaches flourish where food, moisture, and shelter are readily available. So, cleanliness is essential in preventing and correcting problems with a roach infestation.
Ensure spills and food waste are always cleaned up, and unwashed dishes, utensils, and pet food are not allowed to sit overnight. Loose food should be stored in tight-fitting containers.
2. Gel baits
Gel bait is one of the most effective methods of eliminating cockroaches. This explains why it’s often used by most pest control companies.
The roach gel is comprised of an insecticide and it is deployed using a syringe to get in cracks and crevices. Those are the places roaches love to lurk and wait for the lights to go off so they can roam. The roaches eat the gel and ingest the poison.
The good thing about gel bait is that when it is used with the right insecticide it can kill roaches on a generational level. That is, for every single cockroach that dies from the gel bait, a lot of other roaches will die from eating the dead roaches.
3. House tenting
Tenting is otherwise referred to as fumigation. It is often used as a last resort against severe roach infestations. The chemicals used in fumigation are effective against cockroaches and their eggs because the chemicals are so potent and will reach everywhere, even hard-to-reach places.
The downside of fumigation is that it can be hazardous to humans and pets, so it should only be used as a method against severe cockroach infestations when all other options are exhausted.
After fumigation, you should allow a minimum of 24 hours — or even 7 days— before moving back to the home.
4. Heat treatment
Heat treatment is also known as Thermal remediation. It is an incredibly effective way of eliminating a wide variety of pest invaders, including German roaches. Heat treatments are cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and work in just one day.
Heat treatment is performed by a qualified pest control technician. It is carried out by heating your home to 140°F and maintaining that temperature for up to four hours, allowing the necessary time for the high-temperature treatments to reach even the hard-to-reach areas of your home.
During this timeframe, all the cockroaches in any developmental stage — from eggs to adults— are eliminated. The heat also sanitizes and denatures the proteins in the urine and fecal matter left behind by cockroaches.
The high temperatures then penetrate walls, baseboards, outlets, furniture, books, appliances, and electronics, and is incredibly effective at eradicating roaches in residential and commercial properties. Additionally, heat can kill bacteria and viruses throughout the treatment area.
Insecticidal treatments for roaches
There are many types of roach killers available for controlling cockroaches. Most exist in the form of liquid or aerosol sprays, while some are formulated as edible baits or dust.
It is important to always read and follow product instructions to help you to achieve optimal results while using the product safely. Many insecticides require the removal of food and utensils from treated areas. Removing such items often makes areas more accessible for treatment and prevents possible contamination by the insecticide.
Sprays
If you’re using sprays, you should target the areas where cockroaches prefer to hide. Their hiding place usually varies depending on the species. Be sure to spray any aggregations or areas with fecal spotting. Avoid spraying walls, floors, baseboards, and countertops since cockroaches spend very little time in these areas.
Roach dust
Only a few insecticides used for cockroach control are applied as dust or powders. The most common ones are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. For controlling cockroaches, boric acid tends to be more effective. Roaches are easily eliminated by boric acid when they crawl over treated surfaces.
The tiny particles of powder stick to their body and are ingested as the cockroach preens them from its legs and antennae. Boric acid can be made to work continuously since its potency persists almost indefinitely as long as the dust deposit remains dry.
For best results, the roach killer dust should be applied as a fine deposit barely visible to the naked eye. Cockroaches tend to avoid heavy accumulations of the powder. The best application procedure is by using ‘bulb’ or ‘bellows’ hand dusters sold in hardware stores or online.
Key areas to apply boric acid for German cockroaches are places like crevices along the edges and corners of cabinets; the wall/floor junction behind refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers; and puffed into openings of the plumbing from pipes, sinks, and so on.
Roach baits
Insecticides formulated as baits will help most households achieve better results against cockroaches. The correct use of insecticides in the form of baits will achieve great results close to professional extermination.
Roach bait contains a slow-acting insecticide combined with a food attractant. Roaches find and ingest the bait and crawl away to die. Non-exposed roaches may also die by indirectly ingesting trace amounts of toxicant expelled in the sputum and feces of exposed ones.
Several excellent cockroach baits are sold in stores and online. Some come in ready-to-use plastic stations while others come in large plastic syringes.
Popular consumer brands include Combat, Raid, Ortho, and Hotshot. Professional versions of the products sold online include Maxforce, Advion, Advance, Avert, and Alpine. Some of the active ingredients in chemical baits are fipronil, indoxacarb, dinotefuran, abamectin, and hydramethylnon.
The most important thing while using roach baits is proper placement. Treatment sites for the German cockroach include:
- Under/around sinks and toilets
- Behind refrigerators, dishwashers, and stoves
- Near trash containers
- Inside cabinets and storage areas
If you’re using plastic-style bait stations, it is important to place them in strategic locations such as the corners and edges of cabinets, and countertops because these are the paths commonly traveled by cockroaches.
You can also try to use a broom handle to slide stations back into hard-to-reach areas, such as the wall-floor juncture behind stoves and refrigerators.
Best Pest control chemicals for Cockroaches
Boric acid
As mentioned above, Boric acid is one of the most common roach control chemicals. It is often applied as dust that scatters over surfaces around the home to get rid of roaches.
It can also be puffed into cracks and crevices where cockroaches hide. When roaches crawl over these surfaces and become coated in the powder, they will ingest the boric dust when preening their legs and antennae. It remains effective almost indefinitely as long as it stays dry and this makes it a great solution for long-term roach control.
Indoxacarb
Indoxacarb is a wide-spectrum insecticide that is considered an organophosphate replacement. It is very effective at cockroach eradication. It is often a component of gel baits and your pest control expert may also employ indoxacarb to exterminate your roaches.
As explained under gel baits above, when live roaches come in contact with the feces and dead bodies of poisoned insects, they become poisoned by indoxacarb as well. This insecticide is, therefore, highly effective and can kill up to three generations of cockroaches.
Hydramethylnon
Hydramethylnon is an organofluorine compound. It belongs to a chemical class called trifluoromethyl aminohydrazone, which is a metabolic inhibitor. It is a pesticide designed to control insects that are harmful to humans.
It is used primarily as an insecticide in the form of baits for cockroaches. Hydramethylnon is a slow-acting poison with delayed toxicity that needs to be eaten to be effective.
Brands of insecticides that have hydramethylnon as the active ingredients are Amdro, Blatex, Combat, Cyaforce, Cyclon, Faslane, Grant’s, Impact, Matox, Maxforce, Pyramdron, Siege, Scuttle, and Wipeout.` Hydramethylnon is characterized by low toxicity in mammals.
Home remedies to eliminate roaches
1. Baking soda
Baking soda is one of the commonest DIY recommendations to get rid of roaches. Luckily enough, it is always a common item in almost all homes.
If you want to go with this method, you’ll need to use it together with either a pinch of sugar or dome diced onions. Mix either of them with your baking soda and place it around the territories invaded by cockroaches.
2. Fabric softener
The chemicals in the fabric softener can suffocate the roaches and help you get rid of the infestation if they come into direct contact with the mixture. If you want to use this method, prepare a mixture with three parts fabric softener and two parts water.
3. Diatomaceous earth (DE)
This is an effective substance to get rid of roaches but is often overlooked. Mix equal parts DE and powdered sugar and spread a very light coating on all at-risk surfaces to kill any cockroaches.
How to find a professional pest control service near you
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