Cockroaches are at the top of the pest list of many homeowners. These pests are not just disgusting; they are also dangerous, as they can spread diseases around your home. Where do these pests hide? Here are the most common cockroach hiding places in your home you need to inspect right now!
1. Cabinets
Anyone who has suffered from a cockroach infestation has seen a cockroach in a cabinet at least once. These pests can get into the tightest openings in your containers, whether they are cabinets, closets, cupboards, or drawers. This is especially true for containers in your kitchen. These containers may contain food and water that can provide them sustenance.
These containers are some of the first things you should inspect around your home because they are some of the most prominent cockroach hiding places. They can even lay their eggs in these containers and nest there. The dark and undisturbed environment is simply perfect for them.
To avoid attracting cockroaches to your containers, tightly seal any food or water items inside them. For closets and drawers, make sure to keep them clean and arrange your items inside in a way that cockroaches won’t be able to sneak in and hide, especially on your pile of clothes.
2. Clutter
Do you have a lot of personal clutter in your home? Here’s the bad news – cockroaches like to hide in personal clutter. But here’s the good news – you can treat this as an opportunity to throw away all the items that have no practical use for you.
Cockroaches can hide on cardboard boxes, old CD’s and DVD’s, piles of newspapers, and other old and musky items in your home that you refuse to throw away. They are particularly attracted to paper, so those old books, magazines, and newspapers are fair game.
If you don’t want to throw away your personal clutter, at least store them properly. Don’t just leave them lying on the floor or anywhere else where they can easily be accessible. Put them in a container like a drawer.
3. High places
It still remains a mystery why, but cockroaches seem to like being upside down in high places. Try to remember all the cockroaches you have seen in your life. Chances are, you have seen a big portion of them standing by in a high place, like a ceiling.
Cockroaches seem to like these places because they have a better view of the entire room and they are out of swatting reach. These pests don’t want to be seen or touched after all. If they stay in a high place, they can quickly hide from a safe distance at the sight of a human.
Dealing with ceiling cockroaches can be hard. They can hide and nest on the most unreachable spots. The best thing you can do is inspect your ceiling for cracks and crevices.
4. Low places
Baseboards, door trims, floorboards – these are just some of the low places cockroaches like to hide. These places may have structural damages that can allow cockroaches to snuggle in. These damages often come in the form of cracks and crevices. Most of these are also dark and undisturbed, making them the perfect spots for nesting.
If you see cracks, crevices, and holes in these low places, seal them up as soon as possible.
5. Bathrooms
Cockroaches don’t just stay in kitchens. They can infest all other areas in your home too, including your bedrooms. But cockroaches do have preferences, and they prefer to stay more in kitchens and bathrooms. They like kitchens for obvious reasons. But why are bathrooms included in the most common cockroach hiding places list? There are three reasons why – moisture, plumbing, and residue.
Cockroaches enjoy the moisture in the bathrooms and it can provide them some water to drink as well. They enjoy the plumbing too because it provides moisture and acts as a passageway around your home. They enjoy fallen hair, soap residue, toilet paper, and other items you can commonly find in bathrooms.
Always keep your bathrooms clean and dry to minimize the risk of attracting cockroaches.
6. Appliances
Appliances are great cockroach hiding places because they have motors that keep the pests warm. Kitchen appliances are particularly notorious, as many of them may also contain food crumbs and moisture. Some of the appliances that come to mind are blenders, coffee makers, ovens, refrigerators, and stoves.
To avoid having cockroaches hiding in your appliances, make sure to clean them out after using them. You don’t want food crumbs and moisture staying on these appliances. Shake out the food bits in your blender and coffee maker. Wipe your over, refrigerator, and stove. And don’t forget to wipe all surfaces in your kitchen too, including countertops and tables.
Pests are attracted to your home for three main reasons – food, water, and warmth. If you are able to eliminate these main reasons, you are minimizing your risk of getting pest infestations.
7. Furniture
Your home furniture is not just comfortable and warm for you, but also for pests. Cockroaches are particularly attracted to your furniture because of their long and thin bodies. They can easily snuggle inside the gaps in your couch, the holes in your mattress, and the cracks in your soft-cushioned chairs.
They like these areas so much that it’s not surprising that they leave their eggs there as well. And the last thing you want to see are tiny cockroaches coming out of your furniture as you sit down and put pressure on it.
You can minimize the risk of getting cockroaches in your furniture by avoiding leaving food crumbs and water around it. Remember the three main reasons why you are attracting cockroaches at home. Your furniture is already providing them warmth. Don’t provide them with food and water because that will just put your home at greater risk.
Be careful about buying secondhand furniture too. You may end up bringing cockroaches home with you.
8. Cracks and crevices
A cockroach hiding places list will not be complete without cracks and crevices. Cockroaches thrive in these places because they are dark, undisturbed, and unreachable. In other words, these places are safe and warm for them.
Your home is full of these cracks and crevices. They can be in low places such as the corners of your walls. They can be in high places such as roof insulations. And they can be on your furniture and personal items.
The key is to seal these cracks and crevices and throw away old items that may have nooks and crannies where cockroaches can thrive.