Cockroach Control

Summary: Cockroach control is not difficult. It just takes time and a willingness to change some personal habits. Clutter and carelessness about food spills are at the top of the list of things that need to be corrected if you ever hope to be free of cockroaches.

Quit complaining about living with insects and do something about it. And don’t blame it on your neighbors, either. Sure, they may have cockroaches, but if you have nothing that adds to the cockroach life cycle, there is no reason for the cockroach to establish residence in your home.

If your house has a cockroach problem and you want to get rid of roaches it’s going to require some serious elbow grease and some good roach bait like Maxforce FC Gel or Maxforce FC Bait Stations.  

We all know that cockroaches have lived among us since the dawn of man, but no where is it written that we must accept cockroaches as a fact of life. Truth is, cockroach control is fairly easy, but you just have to understand why the cockroaches are present in the first place.

When people complain about cockroaches they are usually talking about German cockroaches which are, by far, the most common roach we encounter in our homes. Our environments are perfect for these roaches. We like moderate heat. They like moderate heat. We like a variety of foods. They like a variety of foods. We need water. They need water. We like to be surrounded by our favorite things. They like to be surrounded by our favorite things, too.

The German roach likes an environment that provides temperatures in the same range of temperatures that humans require. Not too hot. Not too cold. Typically temperatures found in a working kitchen are just right. They also like and seek all sorts of foods. Here’s where we differ a bit. The roach is perfectly fine with a glob of grease that has dripped off the side of stove and has become stuck between the cabinet and stove. This glob may not be appetizing to us, but it certainly has all the nutrients the roach requires.

The cockroach’s water requirements also vary from ours. Whereas, humans need a certain number of glasses of water each day, the cockroach can fulfill most of its moisture requirements from the food it eats.

Lastly, we like having our favorite books and pictures and pillows and tons of other stuff around us to make us feel comfortable. Same for cockroaches. Our clutter is their home. Still stuffing grocery bags beside your refrigerator? The cockroach is fine and dandy with that because they love the crease on the bottom of paper bags where the glue holds the bag together. Glue is starch-based and starch is one of the required food groups for healthy, growing cockroach populations. Same for cardboard boxes. It’s glue that holds the boxes together and it’s glue that provides the cockroaches with a food source.

Are you starting to get the picture yet? If you remove any of these aforementioned parts such as food, water or shelter, our little friend, the cockroach, cannot survive. However, I am not talking about just fixing on little area in a room. Cockroaches are very capable travelers and they will migrate from one room to another, within a certain range, in order to maintain their happy lives within our homes. So, if you have had it with finding cockroaches in your abode, it’s time to get cracking.

Remove clutter

Pull out the refrigerator and stove and clean all sides including the underside. Scrub everything with a scrubbing detergent to remove all accumulated grease. Don’t forget to clean the rubber door gasket on the refrigerator. Inside and out! Vacuum the dust bunnies off the refrigerator evaporator coil. Pull open stove drawers and clean the inside, too.

How about those cabinets where the kids have been spilling their cereal for years? Pull the shelves out to clean the walls of the cabinets and all sides of the shelves. Look for cockroach droppings and clean those, too. Their fecal material looks like grains of pepper stuck to the inside corners of cabinets and cabinet hinges.

Now, turn off the TV and let’s get busy!