Step by step guide – How to get rid of roaches from your kitchen for good
Do you live in an apartment and having an issue with roaches? You clean everyday and still see a lots of roaches in your kitchen? I’ve been living in an old apartment, and used to have a serious roach issue. My skin got goose bumps every night when I turned on the light to see a lot of roaches crawling all over the kitchen wall. It’s absolutely disgusting and I was furious when I saw them, because I was cleaning everyday and I never left any food or dirty dish in the sink. I was distressed since I did not know how to get rid of them. I knew that’s more building issue, but still it was frustrating enough the fact I had many roaches in my own kitchen. But there are some easy tricks you can follow to get rid of the roaches in a week. This is my own experience and it’s actually worked for me! All methods I show here can be done less than $20. These are very simple steps which everyone can try without exterminator.
STEP 1: Seal all food in a container
This is the very first step you need to work on. Keep all food in a glass or plastic container with tight lid. Simple enough, right? Make sure you keep ALL food. I meant liter telly every single food including unopened bag of food, like pasta or ramen noodle. A mason jar is a good tool to keep powdery products, such as sugar, salt, coffee beans, or flours. I am using a tall glass container to keep all of my pasta. Also, I am using a big plastic box, which is usually used to keep office supplies for keeping any other bulky bag of food and put them on top of the kitchen cabinet.
All food means including
unopened bag of pasta, cookies, or ramen noodles. That was a mistake I made in the past. I thought it’s OK to keep unopened bag of pasta in the kitchen shelf. NO! Roaches are very sneaky. Somehow, they know what’s in the unopened plastic bag, and they will come and hang out around those food. Make sure literally every food are sealed safely.
STEP 2: Place poisonous roach baits
Poisonous baits are must have item. It’s very simple but effective. Place bait stations around the kitchen and make sure update periodically. The roaches can adjust with the poison and getting stronger. I uses more than one brand of baits and switch them regularly.
Also, make sure to use gel bait along with bait stations. This is also must to have item. You cannot believe how effective gel bait is. Within just a couple of days, you will see the carcass of roaches on the floor. One drawback of gel bait is it’s easy to dry out. You need to scratch off the dried bait and apply new bait on regular basis, but it’s definitely worth to use. Apply gel bait only on the solid and smooth surface. If you apply gel on the soft surface, it’s extremely hard to scratch them off.
I
would not recommend to use fumigator, as it will not get rid of the root cause. It will temporally push the roaches away from your apartment but eventually they will be back.
STEP 3: Close all openings
So where are heck those roaches come from? Most likely they come from your filthy neighbor’s apartment or the nest somewhere in your apartment. That’s why it’s essential to close all the openings where the roaches can enter to your apartment. Check all kitchen cabinet and close any openings where roaches might come in.
STEP : Put out garbage everyday
Instead of keep your garbage in the large trash can for a week, use a small plastic bag and threw them away everyday. If you cannot throw away the garbage until next morning, make sure to keep the plastic bag out of the kitchen during the night. The idea is not to leave the garbage, which attracts roaches in the kitchen. I got rid of the garbage can, and replaced it with a plastic bag. During the night, I keep the plastic bag at the door knob. This small change will make a big difference.
STEP 4: Keep your kitchen dry
is another factor I overlooked in the past but this is very important. Our enemy loves moisture, so we need to create the environment they do not like. Not only cleaning your dirty dishes right away, make sure to dry them after you wash. Empty out the water from dish rack tray every time you use and keep it dry. Wipe out any water around the sink. If you have a leaky faucet or pipe, they need to be repaired.
STEP 5: Clean, clean, and clean
Roaches eat almost everything. They are attracted to sweets, grease, cheese, and starches. Oh and decaying foods are their favorites. Yuck! That means they will love your dirty dishes in the sink, garbage bin with full of garbage, greasy oven, and food crams dropped on the floor.
If you know your enemy, it’s easier to fight. We have to make sure any food/ water source is not accessible to roaches. Wipe the kitchen counter and oven every day, clean your dirty dishes right away. And do not forget to clean the sink and sweep all the food cramps on the floor. When you clean the sink, make sure there is no food left on the sink strainer neither. Clorox disinfecting wipes are very useful to clean kitchen counter and oven.
Unfortunately, most of the home remedies for roach repels are myth. Peppermint oils, cucumbers, lemon, and coffee grounds do not repel roaches.
This site gives you more detailed information about home remedies.
I spend about 15-20 min to clean my kitchen everyday. It sounds too much? Well, for me, I’d rather keep cleaning every day and not to see roaches. Additionally I feel great to have a super clean kitchen.
Sadly, the battle between you and roaches will never end. Roaches can live for a month without food, and one week without water. They can live a week even without a head. That’s absolutely insane. That’s why you need to constantly keep fighting. If you stop fighting, they will come back very quickly. Make all little things above into your habit. It’s not that difficult. And you can get a piece of your mind, like I got in the past. Hope this tips will help you to get rid of the roaches. Good luck!
