How to Make a Homemade Roach Killer: Get Rid of Roaches Naturally

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Cockroaches are insects that are considered by many to be much more problematic than other bug species like ants and other pests. Roaches are highly prolific and are known to breed at ultra-rapid rates, with female roaches hatching up to forty eggs at any given time making roach control extremely tough.

After the mating cycle, these female roaches deposit their eggs into a capsule known as an ootheca. Within the ootheca, eggs wait to be hatched, with the mother roach then taking the ootheca to a nearby food source to sustain her babies immediately after hatching by providing them with essentials like food and water.

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Though roach killers like borax and other cockroach baits are quite effective for pest control roaches are incredibly hard to get rid of. Infamous for their ability to survive all manners of harsh environments, conditions, and extermination efforts, roaches continue to breed in mass amounts until effectively destroyed by the kind of comprehensive efforts that come with time and patience.

Highly effective DIY cockroach killers and other insecticides can prove difficult to make. People who have experienced past roach infestations are well aware that it is seemingly impossible to kill roaches completely and rid your property of roach populations.

Roach extermination efforts often result in obtaining the services of costly professional companies who use formulations laden with a litany of harsh chemicals and often have to return to your property to perform repeat treatments.

There cheaper, far more cost-effective ways to remove the ubiquitous presence of roaches from your environment. With measures producing high levels of efficacy, you are to prevent yourself and your family the arduous process of effectively ridding your home of roaches without having to consult with a costly extermination company, read on below to get a comprehensive summary of our favorite tips and tactics to make the lives of you and yours a roach-free life to love and enjoy!

Preliminary steps to take to control and reduce roach populations prior to employing roach baits​

Wash and put away dirty dishes

Get rid of stacks of old, dusty books

Get rid of stacks of store paper bags

Cardboard boxes (unused)

Stacks of newspapers and magazines

Remove clutter from the floor

Wash and rinse pet bowls

Get rid of all forms of clutter (visible or in cabinets)

Remove clutter from within drawers and closets

It is critically important to note that roaches are extremely attracted to the scent of paper, which includes, but is not limited to, the following: Boxes, books, newspapers, magazines, and bags. When roach populations have located a paper source, they send out signals to other members of the roach colony that they have located a feast. As such, one of your very first efforts in roach population control will be immediately cleaning up clutter and removing any paper from your home, prior to setting up different baits and traps.

Your cleaning and de-cluttering endeavors must extend far past paper, though. After collecting and disposal of unnecessary paper products, you will have made a dent in the degree of food sources that roaches’ find palatable. The next step for you is to subsequently starve roach populations who are on the hunt for other food sources than their preferred meal of paper. At this point you will want to clean, declutter, and streamline the following:

Roach Starvation Tactics​

Storage of dry-good food should be in tightly sealed jars and containers

Food, including fruit displays, should not be left sitting on counters

Rinse recycling materials like cans, plastic, and bottles before disposing them into recycling boxes

Empty garbage cans on a daily basis

Seal wooden shelves by painting or varnishing them

Clean the rooms within your home properly

Vacuum and mop behind refrigerator, washer, and dryer

Ovens should be spill-free

Clean the interior of your refrigerator

Do not leave dishes unattended in the sink

Countertops must be clean, wiped, and free of food debris

Wipe down counters, especially after engaging in food preparation

Clean under sinks, in and around appliances and in and around the water heater

Sweep and mop floors after meals

Keep animal litter stations clean and sanitized

Vacuum rooms once per week

Mop floors, flooring, surfaces that receive foot traffic thoroughly

Keep drains clean and free of all grease

Sort and out streamline laundry, so it does not become cluttered

Once you’ve gone through the process of decluttering, streamlining, and cleaning your home of all food sources for roaches to eat and create breeding areas, it is time to take the important step of repelling and killing roaches. Roach extermination often requires costly professional expertise, but with these crafty and highly effective DIY tips, you can dramatically reduce roach populations in your home.

DIY Homemade Roach Killers​

  • Boric Acid Paste for Roach Removal
  • Baking Soda Roach Removal Paste
  • Soap and Water Paste for Roach Removal

Boric Acid

Roach removal efforts through Boric Acid are incredibly effective and affordable. Using only three tablespoons of boric acid, three tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of water are mixed well into a paste and applied as your designated roach killer to locales where roaches have been confirmed to be living.

Upon ingesting the paste, roaches become severely dehydrated to the point of eventual death. Before the point of death, dehydrated roaches’ typically transport the roach killing paste back to their nests where younger roaches eat the paste and die as well.

This easy-to-make, easy-to-use concoction is safe, non-toxic, environmentally-friendly and effective as a means of roach-killing.​

Baking Soda

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  • Baking Soda Paste is a ubiquitous household ingredient that can be found in most homes’ cabinets or pantries. Similar to the Boric Acid paste style, this roach killing paste is made by mixing together three tablespoons of baking soda, three tablespoons of water, and three tablespoons of sugar.

The baking soda paste should be applied anywhere that there is confirmation of roach activity, as well as under sinks and cabinets and around the stove and dishwashing areas. As is the case with Boric Acid, baking soda will dehydrate roaches and will be transported back to their nests where trace baking soda will be eaten by young roaches that will also die post-ingestion. This method of roach killing is as affordable as they come, with baking soda being readily available for purchase at every corner shop and market

  • Mixture of soap and water: While seemingly harmless, a soap and water mixture can prove to be deadly for roaches. While not having the ability to eradicate entire roach nests, a mixture of soap and water will easily and effectively kill any and all roaches that it manages to reach. This method of roach killing features an easy process of pouring a single cup of water and one teaspoon of spray into a spray bottle that is sprayed at visible roaches

Benefits of using household products like Boric Acid, Baking Soda, and Soap and Water for Roach Killing

  • Toxin-free
  • Highly affordable
  • Environmentally-friendly
  • No hazardous fumes or chemicals
  • Quick-acting
  • Highly-effective

Roaches are a situation that many people tend to look at with a degree of worry, stress, and anxiety. The immediate conclusion of those who have roaches within their homes is that the costly services of roach extermination must be called to properly eradicate the property of the bugs. However, little-known do-it-yourself tactics at the elimination of roach infestations have proven to be vastly effective for homeowners and apartment dwellers everywhere.

With a modicum of patience and a willingness to have an open mind, simple mixtures can be concocted and transformed into new roach killing pastes with extremely high-level of power and efficacy. The do-it-yourself methods are not powerful and affordable but are all also safe around humans, animals, and children, while helping to ensure our dwellings stay clean and insect-free.​

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