Take action now to deter cockroaches from making themselves at home in YOUR home before their peak breeding season this summer!
Did you know that cockroaches:
• spread diseases including salmonella and gastroenteritis
• can be large or small, black or brown—there are 3500 cockroach species
• produce up to 300 000 offspring in a single year
• can be controlled by a combination of good hygiene and pesticides.
1. Clean up your backyard to deter cockroaches from coming onto your property
Stop cockroaches before they even get into your house by clearing rubbish around your property. If there’s nothing to eat or drink and nowhere for the roaches to live, they’ll think twice before moving in.
Wood piles, hard rubbish waiting for the next collection, broken compost bins—they’re all favourite hiding places of cockroaches. Worse still, the roaches love to breed in them!
Move sources of water away from your house, such as animal water bowls, half-filled buckets and watering cans.
2. Plug gaps in your house to deter cockroaches from getting inside your home
Some cockroaches may seem enormous, but they can get into your house through the smallest of cracks.
Now is the time to walk around the outside of your house and plug any cracks in the walls, roof and pipes.
Inside the house, make sure you check for gaps in the walls as well as:
• inside kitchen cupboards
• around any pipes where they enter the wall, such as behind toilets or under the sink
• in window frames, including cracked window seals
• underneath doors—consider installing flexible extensions that plug the gap.
3. Set up natural defences to deter cockroaches from moving into your kitchen and bathroom
Cockroaches love kitchens and bathrooms. Why? Because they provide the best sources of food and water.
Keep the rooms tidy and free from moisture
The best natural way to deter cockroaches is to keep your kitchen and bathroom clean and dry.
In the kitchen:
• tidy up clutter
• wipe benches regularly to keep them free of sticky food residue
• keep all food in airtight containers—including in the fridge (yes, they can get in there too!)
• clean the floors and cupboards regularly
• fix any leaky taps or pipes under the sink
• keep bins firmly sealed.
In the bathroom:
• try to keep the room as moisture-free as possible—use exhaust fans and keep windows open to avoid a build-up
• fix leaky taps and sinks, shower bases and baths that don’t drain properly.
Use ammonia as a cleaning fluid
Cockroaches hate the smell of ammonia—don’t we all? Mix two cups of ammonia into a bucketful of water every 1 – 2 weeks and clean all the hard surfaces in your house. Make sure you open the doors and windows while you do to get rid of the worst of the smell!
Do other natural deterrents actually work?
You’ll see a lot of advice around about other natural ways to deter cockroaches from coming in, including:
• spraying citrus liquids
• bay leaves
• cayenne pepper
• cucumber peels
• coffee grounds.
Some of these might make your house smell nice, but they’re unlikely to keep determined hungry and thirsty cockroaches from settling in!
The best way to deter cockroaches from coming into your house in the first place is to plug the gaps to stop them from entering and cutting off their food and water supply so they don’t have a reason to hang around.
4. Get rid of cockroaches quickly to stop them hanging around and breeding!
If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself watching a little black body scurrying along the kitchen floor, or disgusting droppings in your cutlery drawer, make sure you act quickly to deter cockroaches from settling in to breed or bringing their friends.
5. Destroy the nest to deter cockroaches from coming back again
If you find yourself with a full-blown cockroach infestation, the only way to get rid of them for good is to destroy the nest. The nest can be almost impossible to find, but there are ways it can be destroyed without ever seeing it.
Call in the professional PEST CONTROLLERS
Professional pest controllers have access to methods of cockroach elimination that you don’t. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your cockroach infestation, give us a call at Bennetts Pest Control on 1300 661 008.
We’ll serve your unwanted house guests an eviction notice they can’t ignore!
