How Do You Get Rid of Roaches?

[RavenousRae]

So I live in a not so nice area, in a not so great apartment, which equals out to a roach motel in my kitchen. Now that the weather is starting to become warmer the damn things are getting braver and moving into the living room, and my roommate is getting paranoid about waking up with roaches on her face!
So Raid doesn't kill bugs dead, spraying by professionals has not helped, vinegar does not do the deed, so it has been suggested to get boric acid - haven't found it in any grocery stores near me yet though. Anyone know if boric acid really does do the trick, and where might I obtain some - other than buying it online?
I did do my research and found out they are german cockroaches, so anyone have any other suggestions for annihilating the fascists - besides moving (because my lease isn't up until September).
Thank you!

 

[Cathleen]

I have heard borax/boric acid (20 Mule Team is one name) does work well. You should be able to get it at the drug store. It is a white powder and you sprinkle it around.....? Not sure there - but a pharmacy should have it. Good luck.

 

[5pintshefound]

hi sweetie.. ok, so we had roaches.. and if your apartment has them, then the apartment beside you has them, as does the one above.. below... yadda yadda... so when you spray, they just vacate to another aparmtnet, and when the pesticide goesaway, the roaches come back. theyre tricky little devils.. {and yes, way to disgusting}ok, supposedly, roaches wont cross catnip, but i have no idea if thats true or not... id try getting some ORTHO home defense.. i use it here, and it gets rid of most everythign... other than that, you gotta make your home in-hospitable to the damn little things... which means, clean your dishes as soon as your done dirtying them and keep all your food in the kitchen.. but remember they will eat anything {nasties in the trash can-- kitchen OR bathroom} so its gonna be a hard fight.. and the best thing would be to get the entire building sprayed at once.. your apartmetn complex *Should* do it.. but who knows.. plus, if you have a really disgusting neighbor, you might not get rid of them just be aware.. ill ask my MIL also.. she used to be an exterminator and shes got some great but weird things that really work {its to late tottonight} good luck, and good ngiht... ~5PHF

 

[5pintshefound]

oh and i dont know if boric acid will work on them or not, but i know thats what we used to clean infected eyes on kittens.... didnt know that borax was made of the same stuff?!?!?! ~5PHF

 

[EJFan]

gettin' rid of roaches is a tough job, no doubt. one apartment my mother had when i was a teenager had 'em and they're probably still there to this day.

whatever you do to get rid of 'em, do it persistently. try a bomb (fogger) every once in a while. if you have neighbors with common walls the whole thing gets even tougher because as long as there's a refuge, there'll be roaches.

get your landlord and neighbors involved if at all possible. and don't forget what richard pryor called the best roach killer of all... 12D (shoes).

 

[zerimar1231]

borax/boric acid is very good to get rid of those nasty bastards but it's very poisonous, try an over the counter plastic mini traps, where they go in, eat the stuff, & then die.

 

[RavenousRae]

Ok, lots of good advice. I'll have to yell at the neighbors at some point I guess. The complex has sprayed apartments around us and us but it never seems to help in the slightest, which is why we feel we have to take matters into our own hands . . . and feet (although my size 6 1/2 will have to suffice - I'm not quite as big as Richard!)

 

[RavenousRae]

borax/boric acid is very good to get rid of those nasty bastards but it's very poisonous, try an over the counter plastic mini traps, where they go in, eat the stuff, & then die.

Have been using those since August - they've done nothing!

 

[nelbuts5256]

Yes boric acid
they get it on their feet then clean themselves and it poisons them

 

[RavenousRae]

Yes boric acid
they get it on their feet then clean themselves and it poisons them

Good! I feel evil reveling in their destruction but it's so icky living with them sometimes.

 

[Dstorage]

While borax works, it is nowhere near as kick ass as the boric acid powder is!

I think it gets mentioned all the time because it is easier to get and marginally cheaper.

The great thing about this stuff is that it is non-toxic to people in reasonable doses here, so no problem if you have little kids putting things in their mouths.

The place to get Boric Acid Powder is at a pharmacy as it is a disinfectant. The bottle I have here is marketed by a brand called "Household Farm" and has the stock # 03950 30394 so someone can look it up and order it for you if they don't have it. What I found works best is mix it with confectioners sugar, anything from 1-1 to 1-5 parts seems to work fine. As has been posted, they get it on them then track it back to their little nests and it gets spread around and kills them all. Great stuff! Just remember that it takes about a week to work, and you won't get the satisfaction of seeing dead roaches anywhere, they just disappear.

The best way to apply it is to get an empty dish soap or other squeeze bottle, wash it and dry it out completely and put it in there. just give little puffs around, don't lay it down heavy anywhere and get all the little cracks and crevices you can find. I also would suggest taking the cover plates off your outlets at floor level and giving each outlet a puff that gets inside the wall. Behind the cabinets, backs of counters, etc. Just remember a faint dusting everywhere in the corners is much better than a heavy line in a couple rooms. Once that is done just be patient for a week, and keep applying it where they get into it, you will know because it will disappear in places. Sadly you will probably have to keep doing this occasionally until you move out of your apartment to somewhere you don't have neighbors, but such is life.

Now if you absolutely cannot find boric acid Borax works, but nowhere near as well. Also, this stuff needs to be fine as powder, so the only way I've found borax to work is by putting it into a coffee grinder and going until it is a powder, then mix with confectioners sugar too. It is not toxic, so just clean your grinder when you are finished.

Good luck!

 

[EarnestImp]

commercial bait

There was an article some time ago in new york times about how commercial poisons/baits have pretty much rendered roach exterminators obsolete. Apparently these poisons are very good, and there is no sign of immunity on the part of roaches, yet.

So I would just buy a whole bunch of bait traps, and put them all about where they tend to scurry. And be religious about wiping up crumbs and keeping counters clear.

But none of this will help if you have filthy neighbors who are a reservoir of roaches.

 

[Weird Harold]

So Raid doesn't kill bugs dead, spraying by professionals has not helped, vinegar does not do the deed, so it has been suggested to get boric acid - haven't found it in any grocery stores near me yet though. Anyone know if boric acid really does do the trick, and where might I obtain some - other than buying it online?

Combat Brand Roach Baits -- The Gold boxes -- solved a roach problem as bad as you describe for me. The trick is to use ONLY the roach baits and DO NOT spray or fog after they're placed. If you've sprayed or fogged with a persistent insecticide, within about a week before placing the baits, it may take a bit longer for them to work, but it's going to take a month or so -- whatever a "Roach Generation" is -- for the baits to to do the job.

Spraying, fogging, or using other poisons at the same time reduces the effectiveness of the bait because they kill roaches befor ethey can carry the bait back to the nest where it can poison the rest of the roaches.

When I first moved to the apartment I'm currently in, they had a contract with Terminix to control insects. The Termiix man placed small beads of a bait similar to the Combat Bait in the corners of all the cabinets and I've never had a roach problem here in seven years -- the beads of bait are still there even though the contract with Terminix went along with the original owners and management group years ago.

If you're in a multi-apartment building, spraying and fogging are going to be useless unless the landlord is willing to have the entire building fumigated at once and repeat the fumigation again within a couple of weeks to kill the new hatchlings before they can lay more eggs. It's process that requires relocating all of the residents for about a month and thus something that is very unlikely for a landlord to agree to without a lot of legal pressure.

 

[shlock]

Here is an organic solution...

Try this, if you can tolerate reptiles(lizards)... release two or three small lizards in your infested areas-- geckos work as will blue bellied fence lizards... within a handful of weeks the surviving insects will leave, never to return. I guarantee it!

 

[YellowStraw80]

This is what you do

First, you go to your local do it yourself pest control store and buy some "dust" to put inside ALL OF YOUR WALLS. Do it through your outlets (take the covers off, of course). Do all under your cabinets, everywhere.

Second, get some spray, and spray the shit out of the baseboards.

You live in an apartment, so it's going to be the whole building that needs to work on this. Does your landlord provide pest control? If he does and it isn't working, get him to do it more.

If he doesn'tprovide pest control, check the local laws and see if the law requires him to provide pest control; it might be "reasonable pest control measures" or something like that. If you still have lots of roaches, the pest control, I would argue, is in no way reasonable. Consider going to your local courthouse and filing a civil suit against him, asking for reasonable (i.e. aggressive, thorough, mandatory, regular) pest control to be performed by a licensed contractor. Spell it out. Roach motels indicate a lack of reasonable pest control measures. Cost to the landlord isn't a factor. It's the cost of doing business. If he's got a problem with it, he needs to find another line of work.

Don't put up with this shit. Landlords are a holdover from feudal times. They are looking to get rich off making your life miserable by not doing anything to make it better and saving money. They epitomize capitalism at its most heartless.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Good luck.

 

[madmanmike]

i dont know any roach recipes but i have an old recipes from my 93 year old great grandma to get rid of mice.


2 bowls. fill one bowl with water. in the other bowl mix 1 part corn starch and 2 parts plaster of paris. the rat will eat his fill of the mix then drink the water. in the morning you will find a brick in the shape of a rat.


dont say it cant happen because i tried it. sucker was dead solid 5 feet from the bowl. wish i could help more.

 

[grungalunga]

get a bunch of old mayonaise jars.

1. put pieces of bread in the jar
2. Put some vasoline on the rim of the jar.
3. Roaches go into the jar to get the bread, but the vasoline will prevent them from getting out
4. when you see some roaches stuck in it, fill the jar with some scalding hot water, which should kill them

 

[shlock]

wooOAH!

i dont know any roach recipes but i have an old recipes from my 93 year old great grandma to get rid of mice.


2 bowls. fill one bowl with water. in the other bowl mix 1 part corn starch and 2 parts plaster of paris. the rat will eat his fill of the mix then drink the water. in the morning you will find a brick in the shape of a rat.


dont say it cant happen because i tried it. sucker was dead solid 5 feet from the bowl. wish i could help more.

Laughing myArse off!!
. . . Now THIS is one technique I gotta try! Thanks for sharing madmanmike!

 

[5pintshefound]

i dont know any roach recipes but i have an old recipes from my 93 year old great grandma to get rid of mice.


2 bowls. fill one bowl with water. in the other bowl mix 1 part corn starch and 2 parts plaster of paris. the rat will eat his fill of the mix then drink the water. in the morning you will find a brick in the shape of a rat.


dont say it cant happen because i tried it. sucker was dead solid 5 feet from the bowl. wish i could help more.

ok, so thats gross.... but at the same time im kinda curious..lol.. yuck!

 

[turboguy]

I did not read everyones post previous to me...so some of this may be a repeat.

The main thing in roaches is to use a "RISIDUAL" poison. What that means in laymans terms......it has an oil base, so it actually stays around instead of just drying up and evaporating. Roaches crawl over this, gets on their feet, ect....and they take it back to the nest with them.....eventually eliminating that paticular colony.

The boric acid everyone is mentioning, works in the same way. If you can find boric acid with crystal bubbles...those are the best.....but usually only available to licensed pest control techs. ( I use to be one for several years)

The one and MAIN thing roaches are looking for is water. Eliminate any moisture under sinks, around toilets, ect ect ect. The rooms you are having problems with, take some time, pull off the light and outlets covers and sprinkle some boric acid in the walls and around outlets switches. Caulk around doors and baseboards, ect. If you have cracks in the floors where pipes ect come thru, fill them with caulking.

Not saying your home is dirty, but clean clean clean. (even spotless homes get roaches ) Pull out the refridgerator, stove, ect. Wash the walls and the cabinets next to them. Every home in america has food between the stove and the cabinets.

Anyways.....Just kinda rambling on giving some input from someone that use to be in pest control for a living.

Any questions......Don't hesitate.

T

 

[YellowStraw80]

I second what Turbo Guy said. Use Caulking on anyplace they could possibly get through. Hell, use clear gift wrapping tape if you have to. Just close up those holes.

 

[shlock]

Just one thing I forgot to mention...

Try this, if you can tolerate reptiles(lizards)... release two or three small lizards in your infested areas-- geckos work as will blue bellied fence lizards... within a handful of weeks the surviving insects will leave, never to return. I guarantee it!

. . . after these happy little critters have done their jobs, you musteither cage them and keep them fed, or you have to release them, otherwise they will eat themselves out of a job( starving)... so, good luck!

 

[nelbuts5256]

Ok so here is where you can get what you need.

If you have a chemical supply store (not Home Depot) but maybe a Lesco or a John Deere Landscape store ask them for the Boric Acid Powder spray. It comes in an areasol can and they will give you a spray tip that you can spray in cracks and such. Believe it or not just a second or two spray will do the trick. Spray under every sink, washer/ dryer water areas, behind fridge, stove, cracks on side of stove, all drawer tracks, cracks around built-in microwave. You can if you want bottom of the windows and around doors. Remember just a scond or two at each spot.

If they are German roaches then you will have a little tougher time killing them but this will work. It will also kill ants, silverfish, etc. It will leave a white powder but do not wipe it off. This is the exact same product that pest control companies use but you will pay $15 for it and it will last you for many months. Apply every two months.

Then there is this other product but I forget the name. It is in a squeeze tube and you put it on the tracks of your drawers etc. and it does a great job. Use them both and you are going to be a happy girl.

 

[Dhalgren150]

I am a LPCO....and the best you can get is called Combat Gel...
apply it to the cabinets and the hinges of doors.. and crack crevices in trim .. small placements remember a roach has a very small mouth...

it may take several applications to get the numbers down...

oh and sanitation.. is another key in the process.

may I ask if you see them in the daylight?

or mainly at night?

and do you see small things that look like pepper in cabinets and along ceiling lines?

 

[5pintshefound]

I am a LPCO....

hmm are you stationed somewhere good?? gate guard are ya??

~5PHF