Getting rid of roaches can be a big problem, a challenge that requires perseverance, ingenuity, nerves under control, and a stomach of steel. Cockroaches are extremely resistant insects, often one of the few survivors of deadly events such as natural disasters and nuclear catastrophes, and they are also highly resistant to a wide variety of poisons.
Pesticides are quite toxic and it is preferable to avoid them, that’s why in a HOWTO we teach you how to make homemade cockroach traps.
You can prepare this trap to eliminate cockroaches by sticking strips of packing tape on the outside of a canning container or bottleso that there is a surface they can climb on. You could also spread a napkin from the base where you have put the container to the mouth, or put it next to a wall. To elaborate the cockroach trap with a bottle you must follow these steps:
- Smear the inside of the jar closest to the mouth with a slippery substance such as vegetable oil or petroleum jelly; so the cockroaches that fall into the trap will not be able to escape.
- Place a small piece of bait in the bottom of the jar.
- Fill the jar halfway with liquid, such as sugar water or a soda, and thus being sweet it will attract them more and when they fall into the liquid they will drown.
- Once you have them trapped you can get rid of them more easily.
You can test this trap with a long neck bottle, as long as the design prevents roaches from being able to get out of it. You can cut the upper part of the bottle, so that it is in the shape of a funnel and place it upside down, so that it acts precisely as a funnel, inside the lower part of the bottle. This way they will be able to enter easily but it will be more difficult for them to get out of the container and they will drown sooner in the liquid that you put in the bottom of the bottle.
At night, when the roaches are most active, you can leave pieces of tape that is strong or packaging on the areas where they usually move. You must make sure that the piece of tape has not been used before and that it is still sticky, as well as that the glue or adhesive used in this tape is strong.
To make sure you attract them, set up a roach bait (an edible that smells sweet and / or greasy, such as a banana peel, a breadcrumb, butter or any very ripe fruit) at a point on the tape not too close to the edges. This way they will stick together and you can get rid of them more easily.
To finish teaching you the different ways to prepare homemade cockroach traps, we want to show you some of the most common products in the home or that are easy to get that can serve as home remedies to drive away and eliminate cockroaches at home:
Boric acid for cockroaches
Boric acid is one of the cheapest and easiest roach control products to get, since you can buy it in pharmacies and drugstores. It is a substance that must be used with care, avoid its consumption or that it touches the mucous membranes, and take special care with children, babies and pets.
To use boric acid as homemade cockroach poison, you have to prepare a paste following these instructions:
- Mix three teaspoons of boric acid powder with the same ratio of sugar and water.
- Grease the inside of a deep jar.
- Put the bait made with this paste into the container.
- Place the trap in a place where roaches travel.
When the cockroach falls on the bait made with this boric acid paste, it kills it by intoxication or by suffocation, depending on the dose among other factors. With this home remedy, in a very short time you will have been able to eliminate the cockroaches permanently.
In this other oneHOWTO article we tell you more about How to use borax for cockroaches, a product from which boric acid is extracted.
Baking soda to eliminate cockroaches
Baking soda is a deadly substance for cockroaches. When you mix it with sugar, they are attracted to the pleasant smell of this mixture and come to eat it. Make the mixture with equal parts sugar and baking soda. By ingesting the mixture, the bicarbonate will cause a toxic reaction in your stomach that will kill the insect.
You can achieve a similar result by mixing sugar, flour, and powdered milk with borax. Learn more about how to use this common household product to eliminate these parasites from your home, reading this other article on How to eliminate cockroaches with baking soda.
Cucumber to repel cockroaches
It’s one of the home remedies to eliminate cockroaches from home best known because it drives them away, also serving as a preventive method. All you need is a cucumber and some aluminum foil. The cucumber juices react with this metal and give off a very unpleasant smell that ends up driving away the cockroaches. To prepare it, follow these syndications:
- Cut the cucumber into slices, leaving the skin.
- Place the cucumber pieces on the aluminum foil.
- Put this preparation in areas where you have seen roaches lately.
- We recommend preparing several to cover more space and thus ensure greater success.
- Of course, it should be changed every day so that the cucumber is fresh and gives off more smell.
Finally, as is always said, prevention is better than cure and in this case the same thing happens and it is better to prevent them from appearing than to have to eliminate a plague of these insects. For this reason, at oneHOWTO we give you instructions so that you know how to prevent cockroaches from entering the house.
