Did you know that cockroaches are amongst the most common pests in homes and buildings?
Dealing with a cockroach infestation can be a real nightmare, as these pesky creatures bring filthy habits, bad smells, and will raid pretty much your entire home in search for food.
Once cockroaches infest your home, it can be difficult to get rid of them, which is why focusing on cockroach prevention is so important.
So, how do you keep cockroaches out of your home?
Check out this guide to learn how to keep roaches out.
1. Eliminate Food Sources Near and Inside of Your Home
As we mentioned, cockroaches will do pretty much anything to get at food, which is why the first preventative measure you should take involves eliminating food sources.
While this does involve a great deal of work, it'll be worth the effort. Here's what you need to do:
Clean Kitchen Appliances
Roaches can easily live off of grease and food spills on, under, and beneath your appliances, which is why it's so important that you keep them in pristine condition.
The biggest problem areas are usually around your microwave, stove, toaster, and refrigerator, so make sure you're extra vigilant when cleaning these areas.
Roaches also feast on crumbs and food sources in kitchen cabinets, so make sure to clean these out as well.
Nix Cardboard Boxes and Newspapers
Leaving cardboard boxes and newspapers around your home is a bad idea, as roaches love to breed in these items.
Instead of leaving them lying around your home, make sure you're taking them to your nearest recycling center ASAP.
Vacuum Frequently
Roaches come out at night to feed, which is why it's a good idea to vacuum your kitchen floors each night before you go to bad, as this is the area where usually the most food spills happen.
In addition to vacuuming your kitchen, you should also vacuum every nook and cranny of your home twice per week. If there are any spaces in your floor with deep cracks, squirt borax laundry detergent down them to keep cockroaches at bay.
Limit Food Consumption to One Room
If you're eating meals in your kitchen, living room, and bedroom, you're pretty much inviting cockroaches to take an entire tour of your home.
Allowing food to be consumed in every room of your home just leads to more food spills and crumbs, which make tasty temptations for cockroaches. And, if crumbs are spread throughout the house, cockroaches are more likely to infest multiple rooms instead of just one contained area, which makes them all that more difficult to get rid of.
So, do yourself a favor and keep eating to just one room in the home.
Be Mindful of Your Trash
Cockroaches aren't above crawling into your trash can to get at food, so make sure that your trash can has a tight-fitting lid.
You should also take your trash out each night, and keep your trash cans clean and away from your home.
Some other cleaning tips to follow to keep cockroaches at bay include:
- Wiping down your countertops with a disinfectant spray each night
- Emptying pet food containers each night
- Keeping all of your food stored in airtight containers
- Washing your clothes frequently (roaches also love dirty laundry)
- Squirting borax powder into the back of your cabinets
2. Eliminate Water Sources
In addition to eliminating food sources for roaches, you also need to make sure you eliminate water sources.
While eliminating all sources of water is nearly impossible, even just eliminating some can make a huge difference when it comes to preventing roaches.
Here's how you can eliminate water sources:
- Fix leaky pipes and faucets
- Fix sweating pipes
- Before going to bed, stop up sinks in the bathroom and kitchen, and dry them completely using a paper towel
- Dry out the shower and bathtub completely before going to bed, and stop up the drain
- Keep wet sponges and dishrags in sealed containers overnight, or place them directly into the washing machine
- Place your pets' water dishes outside each night
- Dry your wet toothbrushes as best as you can and keep them in sealed plastic bags
Also, make sure you clean up water spills around your home immediately and that you wipe your sink dry before going to bed.
3. Eliminate Hiding Places and Entrances
If roaches can enter your home and they can't hide in your home, then you won't have to worry about a roast infestation.
Here's how to eliminate hiding places and entrances:
- Use a caulking gun to seal off cracks and crevices
- Seal off holes around pipes, lights, and wall fixtures with copper mesh
- Make sure your doors and windows fit tightly in their frames to prevent roaches from entering through the outdoors
- If your household appliances or items have holes in them, place tape over the holes until you can get the item replaced or fixed
- Keep a "dry zone" around your home by keeping mulch raked and turned at least 6 inches away from your home
- Keep stacked firewood away from the structure of your home
- Eliminate as much yard debris as you can
- Keep plants, shrubs, bushes, and trees trimmed so they're not touching your home
- Spray your home's exterior with a residual insecticide
- Caulk small crevices around window frames and doors
- Make sure weather stripping, door sweeps, and window screens are fully intact so that roaches can't squeeze in
While this may sound like a lot, it can make a world of a difference when it comes to preventing roach infestation. However, if you think your preventative measures may be too late and you've noticed signs of a roach infestation, it may be time to call an exterminator.
How to Keep Roaches Out: Time to Put These Tips to Action
Now that you know how to keep roaches out of your home, it's time to put these tips into action.
Also, if you liked this post, be sure to check back in with our blog for more pest control tips and tricks.
