I have a roach problem so bad and nothing is working. I have spent a arm and a leg on stuff with no success at all. Please does anyone know of any old wives tales or products that might work? I am willing to try anything you might advise or suggest.
By starmidnite710 from Mobile, AL
Wipe your counters down at night with undiluted pine oil. If you have a freestanding stove get some boric acid and drop it down behind it. I live in Houston and it is a constant battle to rid houses of these little monsters. Sometimes I think they are going to show up with little teeny eviction notices. (09/05/2010)
By Marty Dick
LOL. Marty, love the tiny eviction notices. :) I live in Houston too so I am with you in the fight.
We are trying to get rid of the critters in our home as well. We have tried the house bombs with no help at all. Now we have moved on to Spectracide Bugstop indoor plus outdoor control. We have seen a major reduction in the number, but they are not totally gone. The biggest place we found them was inside the oven. Hubby pulled the oven out and then took the back off of the oven.
By Amy
One part borax and one part sugar with enough water to dissolve it. Set on floor near cabinet and wall edge. It will take a couple of days or forever depending on how many there are, but it will kill them. Be prepared to sweep every morning for awhile. Good luck. (09/06/2010)
By Sheilah Link
I have had roaches off and on for years, mostly due to apartment living where it is virtually impossible to get rid of them, even if the management sprays the apartments regularly. The best thing I have ever found is boric acid. Spread it out in a thin line and then blow on it (if the roaches see "lumps" of it, they will avoid going over or through it).
You can even sprinkle some on the floor at night in the kitchen, sweep it around and then sweep it up in the morning for more widespread (though temporary) exposure. (If you go out a long time, trip or such, that is a good time to spread it around like crazy). It is worthless wet, so if it gets wet, you will need to add more after the area is dried out.
Also, be scrupulously clean. Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink at night "ever", any open food (carefully bag up things like cereal), any trash in the cans at night especially "wet" trash like food, opened cans (either twist tie the cans shut or take out each night), open soaps (laundry soap, yes, they will attempt to eat it). They will even eat out of litter boxes, so take extra care if you have pets.
Consider not eating in the living room or other places in the house, because of leaving crumbs behind, as one crumb is a feast to a bunch of roaches. Make sure your doors, walls, etc. don't have cracks in them where they are getting in. Examine bags of potatoes, etc. when you bring in from the grocery store, they can sometimes arrive in that manner. Wash and examine anything you obtain from garage sales, other people, etc.
Stay after it, it can be months before they are gone and don't get lax even after they are gone. You can also buy that "sticky" paper box things to catch some in the meantime while you are poisoning the rest. (09/07/2010)
By Vicki
If home remedies are not working perhaps the money you're spending would be better spent by hiring a professional exterminator? (09/07/2010)
By Deeli
Raid Fumigators twice a year works for me. The thing to remember about this product is it is a 'fumigator' "not" a bomb. Bombs don't work. Boric acid works if you want to move the little containers everytime you want to vacuum or mop and are not good at all if you have kids or pets. (09/08/2010)
By Gloria
I am 58 years old and I remember something my dad did when my brother and his wife moved into our house. My parents came from tenements in Chicago and they hated roaches and bedbugs with a passion, hard to be matched. They took all of their stuff, appliances and all, before moving them into the house, took everything out and killed as much as possible by taking old coffee cans, filled with kerosene and paint brushes and there were 5 of us with these things.
They did this with the appliances, took the sides off and opened up everything and did it all again. Then before putting everything in the house, my dad lined (with a small hill line) the whole outside of the house and under the house, along the foundation, with 20 Mule Team borax. You make a little line of it, with no breaks in the line. You also put it along the back of the cabinets, drawers, behind dishes, glasses, and pots and pans. You put it everywhere.
I once lived in an apartment and had new people move into the building, above me. They had roaches and they made me sick. Once I was in the bathroom, early and saw something moving along the wall, next to me. There was about 50 babies running up, to the ceiling. I nearly had a stroke.
So I did this, just like my parents did. It worked. I had no roaches after that. It was a lot of work, but it only has to be done once and of course you kill any you come across as you are doing it. Also, when you paint a line at walls and around pipes, it kills them, too, cause there is a residue from the kerosene.
Very old stuff, but still good. Try the kerosene on any you see crawling and you will see them die and turn belly up, very gratifying! (09/08/2010)
I spoke to two maintenance officials who deal with this issue a lot. They said to take boric acid (a small amount) and water it down a bit until it forms a paste. Then, wipe the paste on a sheet of paper and stick it in areas where you have seen the roaches (i.e. behind the fridge, the stove, in cabinets, etc.). Just be sure not to get it on anything (dishes, clothing, etc.). I was told that the roaches walk in this stuff and take it back to their nest with them, killing the rest of the roaches. Hope you have some success! (09/09/2010)
I forget exactly which page it was on, but another TF'er suggested a product called diatomaceous earth. Apparently it sucks all the moisture out of the little suckers, but is safe around pets and children. I can't convince hubby to go looking for it, but as I recall, you can get it at your local gardening store/nursery, or the garden center at places like Lowe's or Wal-mart. You might Google "diatomaceous earth."
There are two cautions I recall: first, be sure to get the food-grade, not pool-grade. Second, don't inhale the stuff. Hope this helps, only wish I had more facts to share. (09/09/2010)
I suggest getting several house geckos, depending on the problem, to eat all the roaches. No roach is too big, if it can't swallow it, it'll settle for it's head. Also, only get male or female, so they don't mate. Or use boric acid. (10/15/2010)
By danny j
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