How To Get Rid Of Cockroaches

Cockroaches are one of my least favourite household pests. When I was a student, one crawled out of a loaf of bread as I was about to cut it!

Urrgh!!! Horrid!!

But luckily it is possible to get rid of cockroaches quickly and easily without using highly toxic pest control products and to prevent cockroaches coming back.

In this post I will take you through :

What Attracts Cockroaches
How To Keep Cockroaches Out
Best Cockroach Repellents
Homemade Cockroach Killers
Clearing A Roach Infestation

I hope these simple pest control tips help you keep your home cockroach free. Do let me know how you get on.

What Attracts Cockroaches

Cockroaches are attracted into our homes by a range of strong human smells both fragrant and foul!

All these smells attract roaches :

Fresh sweet food e.g. fruit
Yeasty food e.g. bread, beer
Trash cans & bins
Kitchen compost pails
Stinky laundry baskets
Piles of boxes or paper
General mustiness & mold.

So 2 obvious ways to keep roaches out of are homes are simply to :

Store fruit and bread away (this will also keep flies and ants out)
And keep on top of the cleaning.

BUT let’s be real, we will never be on top of this 100% of the time and so we need some extra pest control hacks to keep cockroaches out.

Keeping Cockroaches Out

Cockroaches can like mice sneak into our homes through tiny entrances so it is a waste of time trying to block all entrance points.

But we can make those entrances as un-tempting as possible :

Wipe over known entrances with dish soap to destroy scent trails that attract other roaches.
Create natural barriers in any areas cockroaches seem to be coming in with diatomaceous earth.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is a very useful natural pest control product for controlling household pests. It’s my go-to for keeping ants out.

It’s a natural fossil powder that kills roaches by damaging their protective outer skeleton. If you put an inch wide line of diatomaceous earth down at obvious entrance points, cockroaches won’t cross it.

But roaches are sneaky so we need to back up the diatomaceous earth up with natural cockroach repellent fragrances that they really hate.

Best Cockroach Repellents

The best natural cockroach repellents to keep roaches out are :

Mint
Lavender
Bay Leaves
Catnip
Rosemary
Tea Tree Oil

Lavender & Mint

Lavender and mint are very useful home fragrances as they repel lots of pests including moths, mice and mosquitoes but smell great!

Unfortunately, commercial fragrances can have health risks so try the age old hacks of hanging dried lavender in your home and drinking digestion easing mint tea (avoid if you have acid reflux).

Tea Tree Oil Roach Spray

Tea tree oil isn’t the nicest smell but it does repel roaches and shifts mold, head lice, dandruff and more!!

If cockroaches are coming in:

Combine 20 drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with 2 cups of water
Spray it in any pet-safe places where roaches are entering
E.g. under & behind kitchen units.

NB tea tree oil can be toxic for cats and dogs so only use it in areas they cannot access.

If you don’t have tea tree oil in, you can use tabasco or hot sauce for your roach spray. Again don’t use it where pets could access it.

DIY tea tree oil roach spray and diatomaceous earth work very effectively to keep roaches out but if we have a cockroach infestation we need ways to kill the roaches.

How To Get Rid Of A Cockroach Infestation

The easiest way to get rid of a cockroach infestation is to get them to eat diatomaceous earth.

Now they won’t eat plain diatomaceous earth – we’ve already seen it is a great repellent – but they will eat it combined with icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar in the USA).

So we can use a mix of the two in quick DIY cockroach traps.

DIY Cockroach Traps

Grab some old jar lids and add :

1 spoon of diatomaceous earth
1/2 spoon of icing sugar.

Place around any rooms in which you have seen roaches.

Diatomaceous earth is dog and cat safe but we want the roaches to eat it not them so put the roach traps where pets won’t reach them.

Look For Cockroach Nest

Cockroaches don’t strictly speaking have nests but an infestation will hang out together in dark undisturbed parts of our home. So look for them in these areas close to any room you’ve seen them in :

Under kitchen cupboards
Behind washing machines
Underneath fridges
Under bath tubs
In airing cupboards.

Look for tiny droppings, discarded shells and eggs plus dead roaches.

Vacuum the area thoroughly, wipe down with dish soap to destroy scent trails and spray with one of the natural repellents.

Don’t Forget To Do These

Whilst the cockroach traps are getting to work don’t forget to :

Empty trash cans & compost.
Store fresh & yeasty food securely.
Stay on top of laundry.
Tackle musty smells & mold.
Fragrance your home naturally with e.g. lavender, mint and rosemary.
Put down a diatomaceous earth barrier wherever you’ve seen roaches entering.
Spray DIY tea tree oil repellent spray at any pet-safe entry points.

You really can get rid of a cockroach infestation with nothing more than these simple DIY roach traps and natural roach repellents.

But some homes, especially apartment blocks, are vulnerable to roaches so going forward keep on top of the repellents and keep on the go a a few DIY roach traps or these homemade cockroach killer balls under or on top of kitchen units.

DIY Cockroach Killers

Diatomaceous earth is a brilliant natural pest control for repelling and killing cockroaches but as a powder it can get messy if knocked over and gungy and less effective if wet.

So an alternative is to use it to make these simple homemade cockroach balls. All you have to do is :

Mix together in a bowl :
- 3 cups of diatomaceous earth
- 1.5 cups of flour
- 6 tablespoons of icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar in the USA)
Then add just enough cooking oil – about 2 tablespoons – to bring together in a dough.
Break off ping pong size blobs and roll into small balls.
Place balls underneath, behind and on top of cupboards.

And there you go, everything you need to know to get rid of cockroaches including :