Having roaches in your home is not a pleasant experience. These nasty insects cause allergies, trigger asthma attacks, spread various kinds of bacteria, and, to be honest, they simply look gross. The first thing you probably want to do when you see a cockroach walking around your bathroom or kitchen is to grab a bottle of insecticide and spray every room from the ceiling to the floor. Unfortunately, these chemicals might not kill all of the cockroaches because these little buggers are becoming harder to eliminate, but they might affect your health and the health of your family members and pets.
Therefore, consider opting for natural methods. Getting rid of cockroach infestation this way might last longer, but once they are out of your home, chances are they will never return. So, how do you keep your home roach-free?
Scrub your house!
Roaches simply love food residue, especially grease, so if your sink is full of dirty dishes all the time or your kitchen floor is covered with crumbs, it is no wonder that these insects have decided to make themselves at home in your house or apartment. If you are not willing to adopt them, give them names and feed them for the rest of your life, you need to clean your house from top to bottom and ensure that you wipe down the counters and sweep the floors every single night before you go to sleep. This may seem like a lot of work, but when you keep your home clean all the time, you will only need 15 minutes to eliminate most residues at the end of the day.
Seal up cracks
Roaches, as well as ants and other annoying insects, can enter your home through the smallest of spaces, so you need to grab your caulking gun and seal every crack and hole in your pantry, between the countertop and the wall, and in the mopboards. This might take a while, but it will pay off, especially if you live in a building and your neighbors are not the cleanest people in the world.
Fix your broken pipes or faucets
Roaches cannot live long without water so if they cannot find a source of moisture in your house they will probably move away and bother someone else. Therefore, repair broken pipes in your home, make sure there aren’t any leaks, don’t let water stand in your sink, and carefully water your plants.
Catch them if you can
If you wish, you can make natural bait for cockroaches and try to catch these pesky insects on your own. Mix powdered sugar (that lures the roaches) with boric acid (that kills them) and you will have yourself a simple, yet effective trap. Although this type of acid is not harmful to people or pets, it can be irritating so keep it someplace your kids or your furry friends cannot reach it. If you sprinkle it under the sink or behind the fridge, you should be able to catch these unwanted guests.
Be cool
Disgusting fact – when roaches warm up, they become more active and even spread their wings and fly! Of course, you cannot turn off the sun and control the weather, but you can keep your place nice and cool during the summer. This may not kill roaches, but it will at least keep them grounded.
Soap them up
Another thing you can do if you want to have a roach-free home is to spray these bugs with a mixture of soap and water. These insects breathe through their skin, so the soap will eventually suffocate them. Or you can just grab your slipper and play a game of whack-a-mole with roaches.
If you regularly keep your home dirt-free and seal up all the cracks, you most likely won’t have a problem with these nasty insects, so grab a sponge and start cleaning!
