You keep your home super clean to avoid cockroach infestations. But all of a sudden, you see a cockroach in your kitchen and another one in your bathroom. Why is there a sudden appearance of cockroaches in your home and what can you do about it?
1. Store your food properly
Clean homes can still have cockroaches. It’s not the filth that attracts cockroaches. It’s actually the prospect of food and shelter. If the food in your home is easily accessible, you are sure to attract various pests like cockroaches.
Avoid attracting these disease-carrying insects by storing your food properly. Put everything in cabinets, containers, and refrigerators. This may sound simple enough, but it has a level of complication to it as well.
Cockroaches like organic materials, including cardboard and other paper-like items. If you are using containers, make sure they are not made of these organic materials. You can try glass or metal containers instead.
2. Clean thoroughly after eating
Even if you store your food properly, there can still be a sudden appearance of cockroaches if you leave crumbs, spills, and leftovers all over your dining area and kitchen. These small food items are inevitable. Every time you eat, you are very likely to leave small pieces behind. But what you can do is to clean them up immediately, so they don’t attract cockroaches.
Pick up food crumbs, wipe spills and stains, and throw away or store leftovers. Wash the dishes immediately as well. They may have residue that can attract the pests.
3. Empty your garbage cans regularly
There are more food sources in your home than you realize. Some of the most overlooked food sources are garbage cans. They are actually food havens for cockroaches. Garbage cans have crumbs, leftovers, residues, and other resources they can consume.
There may be a sudden appearance of cockroaches in your home if your garbage cans are always full. Make sure to empty them regularly, especially those with food on them like the ones in your kitchen.
You should also make sure that they are not overflowing. You want to keep their lids down. Lids are useful because they help make garbage inaccessible to scavengers like cockroaches.
4. Close doors and windows
Cockroaches are scavengers who look for resources around them. You are making your home too accessible to scavenging cockroaches if you have your doors and windows open. Keep them closed, especially at night. Cockroaches are nocturnal animals, so they are more likely to scavenge and get inside your home during nighttime.
And remember that cockroaches can squeeze through the smallest gaps as well. It’s best to put weather strips on the small gaps between your doors and windows to prevent cockroaches from squeezing through.
5. Cover drains and holes
Cockroaches can come up the drains. They live in sewers, so you can say that your pipes are the bridges and the drains are the doors leading to your home. Cover drains properly with drain covers, stoppers, or screens. You can also pour bleach into the drains to kill cockroaches, but you should do this sparingly because bleach can have a negative effect on your plumbing system. Generally, it’s not wise to constantly pour chemicals into the drains.
Cockroaches also go through cracks, gaps, and holes all over your home, such as those that can be found in your walls. Make sure to seal them too to prevent them from becoming passageways for these pests.
6. Fix plumbing issues
Remember that animals don’t just live off of food. They also need water. This is the reason why many animals like to stay in moist places like bathrooms, and that includes cockroaches. You may often see cockroaches in your bathroom at night simply because these pests are nocturnal animals that need water.
But your bathroom is not the only source of water in your home. Your entire plumbing system is going to attract various pests, especially if it has an issue. Leaks and holes in your pipes are particularly problematic issues because they make water too accessible for pests.
7. Inspect common cockroach hiding spots
You should be concerned even if you see only one cockroach. These pests live together in nests, so it’s possible that there are more in hiding. It doesn’t help that they nest in spots where you won’t easily find them. To confirm that you have a full-blown cockroach infestation in your hands, look at the following common cockroach hiding spots:
- Appliances, particularly those in your kitchen
- Cabinets, closets, cupboards, and drawers
- Clutter like cardboard boxes and piles of old magazines
- Furniture, especially in gaps and holes
- General areas full of resources, like bathrooms and kitchens
- Inaccessible high places like ceiling cracks
- Inaccessible low places like floodboard crevices
- Structural damages like cracks and crevices on walls
8. Get rid of the cockroaches
Once you confirm that you have a cockroach infestation, the next step is to actually get rid of them. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to get rid of cockroaches yourself, such as the following:
- Use commercial cockroach control products. Pesticides are the most common pest control products out there. Make sure to read their instructions to maximize their effectiveness and ensure their safety.
- Try natural solutions. Home remedies like baking soda and boric acid are great because they are toxic to cockroaches. Diatomaceous earth is another option because it can dry out the exoskeletons of cockroaches. Take a look at our article about cockroach home remedies.
- Kill cockroaches with cleanliness. You are better off using bleach to clean your home than to pour it down the drain. A clean home has less accessible resources and shelter opportunities for cockroaches. Declutter your home too by throwing away old items you no longer need.
9. Call pest control professionals
Sure, you can get rid of cockroaches yourself. But if you think the sudden appearance of cockroaches in your home is too much for you to handle, you can always call pest control professionals.
The best thing about hiring pest control professionals is that you are sure you are getting rid of your cockroach problem. DIY solutions, on the other hand, may not be as effective in getting rid of infestations.