If you said that you liked this creature, most people would look at you like you were crazy, and rightfully so! We are talking about cockroaches, the creepy crawlies that evoke feelings of panic, disgust, fear, and the urge to wipe them out. To the dismay of most people, cockroaches are a common pest that most people come across in their homes. You can find them scurrying across the floors of any room, behind furniture, or inside of things. Their appearances are never a welcome sight and warrant instant elimination.

It is important to prevent cockroaches from festering in your home, as they carry unwanted diseases and bacteria. Most homes have aerosol sprays at the ready, but sometimes this is not enough. There are other ways to maximize your cockroach-killing methods, and we are here to tell you how.

5 Ways to Get Rid of Cockroaches

You’ve Activated My Glue Trap!

This is a neat trick that you can easily make use of to step up your anti-cockroach game. Glue traps are a great way to get rid of cockroaches when you have trouble finding them or while you are sleeping. These traps normally last for a day or two and have sugar mixed into the glue to attract cockroaches. The premise is simple: lay the glue traps in cockroach hotspots and wait for the little buggers to walk over them. Once a cockroach walks on the trap, they will not be able to escape. Eventually, the cockroach will die of starvation and can be disposed of with the used trap.

Use Boric Acid

Boric acid is the kryptonite of cockroaches. Though harmless to humans, it is deadly to cockroaches, as it kills their nervous and digestive systems fairly quickly when ingested. The boric acid in use must be in powder form. Mix the powder with biscuits or sugar on a piece of paper, and let cockroaches come to it like moths to a flame. The cockroaches will ingest the acid and kill themselves. Another advantage of boric acid is that it can stick to the body parts of cockroaches. So if a cockroach were to travel back to its nest, it may spread the poison to others of its kind. This is done passively or through other cockroaches consuming the poisoned cockroach. You can find natural boric acid or buy ready-made powder bait that comes in sachets. Do keep in mind that the powder should be kept away from children and pets.

Natural Aid Exists

Sometimes, the solution exists in natural forms. In fact, there are several of nature’s bounty that can be used for repelling cockroaches. The first option is to use neem, which can be used in both oil and powder form. The oil should be sprayed in places where you commonly see cockroaches, while the powder must be sprinkled in infested areas at night and day. The next option, peppermint oil, uses the same format as neem oil and must be sprayed daily. Thirdly, you can use bay leaves as pseudo-naphthalene balls’ by crushing them and scattering them in furniture or infested areas. The last trick, while not using the fruit explicitly, involves the smell of the fruit. Apparently, cockroaches hate the citrus smell of lemons, and they avoid it like the plague. Incorporate the smell of lemons in your home and keep your floors mopped with lemon-scented floor cleaners or water mixed with lemon oil. It never hurts to try out all these options, so use them in combination for maximum protection!

Dehydrate the Little Despicable

This method is similar to that of using salt against slugs in terms of dehydrating the pest. You can do this by procuring diatomaceous earth, or DE, and sprinkling said substance onto surfaces that cockroaches frequent. DE is a naturally formed rocky substance that comes from fossilized algae. It can be crushed into powder and is a strong natural insecticide because of its chemical composition. Upon contact, DE damages the exoskeleton, or outer body, of cockroaches, slowly dehydrating them until they shrivel and die. You can purchase food-grade DE for the purpose of cockroach elimination, as it does not harm kids or pets.

Seek Professional Help

What do you do if you’ve kept your home clean and exhausted your cockroach-killing options? Find someone who can do it extremely well! Sometimes, simple solutions might not suffice when your house is plagued with a full-blown cockroach infestation. The best thing you can do is bite the bullet and fork over some money to keep your home cockroach-free. Exterminators are trained to handle any pest problem, including a cockroach infestation. From eliminating them to clearing up the remains, pest control services have your best interest at heart, as they understand how annoying cockroaches can get. Contact your nearest pest control service if things are getting out of hand, and let them take the wheel.

We Hate Them Too

Greencare is always ready to help the populace of Singapore combat pest issues. Can’t stand seeing cockroaches every day? Give us a call, and we will handle the issue with care and precision. Remember, it is always better to be safe against disease carriers for the sake of your health and well-being.