Cockroaches? Safe and Lasting Method to Rid Your Home of Roaches

Cockroaches carry disease and many folks are allergic to them — especially their feces [brown trail they leave behind]. They feast on the mucous in your nose, your hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. In some undeveloped countries, roaches are so bad that many children don't have any eyebrows!

Cockroaches eat their food by vomiting on it, then sucking up the dissolved solution. One pair of roaches can lay enough eggs that in a few weeks there will be thousands. In a few months there can be millions!

The safest and most effective way to rid your home of roaches is to use boric acid which is a white powder. It looks a lot like corn starch or talcum powder. You can almost always get it at the drug store since it is commonly used as an anti-infection dressing. For about $5 you can get a 12 or 14 ounce container. It is also sold in some hardware stores and discount stores, labeled as Roach Powder and the price is about half as much for a container that is about twice as big.

First, consider it's safe! Boron, the same thing in the powder, is in all plants, especially vegetables you eat. There are no fumes. Roach sprays are made of mostly kerosene and don't actually kill — they attack the nervous system in the bugs [and probably yours, too].

Second, it's effective! The powder, dusted in corners, around baseboards, under sinks and cabinets, get carried on the legs and body of the roaches when they walk through it and they take it back to their nests so other bugs get it, too. It kills by "drawing out the moisture" of the bug and it literally dies of thirst and starvation.

Finally, it's long lasting! The powder stays where you put it and where the bugs carry it. Most liquids or sprays evaporate after a few hours and have to be applied every month.

I've heard that some folks make it more attractive to roaches by adding flavoring. The mixture is three parts boric acid powder, two parts flour, and one part cocoa powder. This might be more effective but may not be good to use around pets or children. While it is fairly safe, it is not a good idea for pets or children eat this stuff!

Boric acid powder, or roach powder, will kill several bugs that are related to cockroaches. There are some bugs that may not be affected, especially if they don't crawl through the dusted areas.

Unlike some chemical sprays, roaches cannot become immune to boric acid powder. Bugs don't run from it, either, because it has no smell. The only drawback is it may take several days, or a week or more before all bugs are killed.

Does it work?

A friend had a country style restaurant that seated 70 people. Each week, their suppliers would bring in roaches with the potatoes and other stuff. The customers used to joke "You better hold on to your coffee cup or the bugs will carry it off." On a holiday weekend, when the restaurant was closed, my friend and I dusted the entire place, covering all the floors, behind all booths, tables, under counters, in cracks, and everywhere else we could think of. We used a big salt shaker and about $20 of the boric acid powder. The last time I saw him, he told me they haven't seen one bug and that it was three years since we dusted the place!

If it works so good, why don't exterminators use it?

If your home can be treated one time every few years and it works, why would they want to? How could they charge you $30 or more each month if you never saw any roaches? I've asked several exterminators about this and usually they get mad and start arguing with me. However, not one ever told me it doesn't work — just they don't like to use it. Wonder why?

Reprinted with permission, HomeDoctor.net