Key Takeaways
- Clean Up: Vacuum, sweep, and mop often to eliminate crumbs and egg cases, using a HEPA filter for the best dust removal.
- Store Food Properly: Use airtight containers for food storage and dispose of rubbish regularly to minimise attractive-to-cockroach scents.
- Fix Leaks: Fix leaks and keep the environment dry to reduce moisture, which attracts cockroaches.
- Block Entry and Hiding Spots: Use screens on windows and doors, and seal cracks to stop cockroach entry and hiding.
- Traps and Baits: Use bait stations and adhesive traps to monitor and catch cockroaches.
- Roach Extermination: Consider natural extermination methods such as diatomaceous earth and boric acid with sugar or baking soda to safely eliminate cockroaches while minimising risks to pets and children.
Cockroaches are an annoying problem. They’re not just unpleasant to have roaming around your home, but they’re also unsanitary, spreading disease and exacerbating allergic conditions and asthma. So, how do you get rid of these sneaky pests without harming your pets or family? Let’s take a look at some of our top tips for cockroach pest control in your home, which are straightforward to carry out..
Clean up
Whether you’re trying to prevent roaches or are actively trying to get rid of them, one of the best forms of cockroach pest control is prevention. Vacuum, sweep, and mop the floors of your Northern Beaches home to remove food crumbs, roach egg cases, and roaches themselves, and do this on a regular basis to prevent roaches from setting up in your North Shore home. Using a HEPA filter when you vacuum will help you trap all the dust that cockroaches would normally feast on. You can also wash hard surfaces with a cleanser or ammonia-and-water solution to eradicate all traces of egg cases completely and tantalising food crumbs.
Store food properly
The only reason cockroaches are interested in coming into your Sydney home is because they smell the delicious food, crumbs, and scraps after your meals. Therefore, be sure to store your food correctly. Always keep your food in airtight containers that cockroaches can’t gain access to, and take out your rubbish regularly. Taking these steps will help reduce the food aromas that cockroaches love.
Fix leaks
Water sources are also a way cockroaches get attracted to your Northern Beaches property. Cockroaches are attracted to moisture, which makes even the smallest leaks a significant factor in their infesting your property. Another central act of cockroach pest control is to repair leaks in your North Shore home and maintain a dry environment. You can achieve this by regularly performing maintenance and inspections on your plumbing and drainage systems.
Block cockroach entry and hiding spots
Now that you’ve turfed the cockroaches out of your Sydney home, what other cockroach pest control can you do to prevent them from coming back and getting in in the first place?
One easy act of cockroach pest control you can do is to use screens on your windows and external doors – a surefire way to prevent cockroaches from entering your Northern Beaches property. But alongside this, you should also seal other cracks and crevices. Simply use caulk sealant to close up any cracks or openings you spot in skirting boards, walls, or around pipes, to prevent those roaches from finding hiding spaces in your North Shore home.
Traps and baits
So, you’ve blocked all the entry points and got rid of scents that attract cockroaches. And now it’s at least two weeks later, but you’re still finding evidence of cockroaches around your Sydney home. What now?
Another method of cockroach pest control you can try is using bait stations. Bait stations will attract all the cockroaches in the vicinity of the station. So, try using a bait station in a central hiding spot where you’ve seen cockroaches, such as behind appliances or under your sink.
Adhesive traps are another great way to catch cockroaches in specific areas and monitor their populations.
Alternatively, you can also make a cockroach trap at home by coating the inside of a jar with petroleum jelly or another greasy ingredient and placing some attractive, aromatic food at the base.
Roach extermination
Diatomaceous earth is one way to eradicate cockroaches. It’s a natural method, with low risk to you. You can simply sprinkle some food-grade diatomaceous earth into crevices and cracks to dehydrate and kill the cockroaches. You just need to avoid inhaling the dust.
Another way to exterminate roaches is to mix equal parts boric acid and sugar as a trap. The sugar attracts the roaches, while the boric acid kills them. You can place some of this mixture in a small cap or lid where you’ve noticed cockroaches.
One other effective and non-toxic bait for cockroaches is to mix baking soda with sugar. The baking soda causes a cockroach’s digestive system to bloat. This mixture is harmless to any animals or humans that come into contact with it.
You can also use pesticide sprays on contact with a cockroach, or in the cracks where they hide in your Northern Beaches home. That said, these pesticide sprays can be unnatural, with ingredients that could harm your children or pets. So, be careful if you choose to use them, or opt for more natural cockroach pest control treatments instead.
The sooner you get rid of these disease-spreading, allergy-aggravating creepy crawlies, the better. So, contact us to find out more about the natural, safe pest control options we offer, to keep your home healthy for you, your family, and your pets.