This article was written by Kevin Carrillo and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. Kevin Carrillo is a Pest Control Specialist and the Senior Project Manager for MMPC, a pest control service and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) based in the New York City area. MMPC is certified by the industry’s leading codes and practices, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), QualityPro, GreenPro, and The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA). MMPC's work has been featured in CNN, NPR, and ABC News.
There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Did you turn on your kitchen light and catch sight of some roaches skittering away? Even if you manage to squish a few, there may be more you haven’t seen yet. The thought of cockroaches hiding in your home may be unpleasant, but you can easily get control over these pests before they start to spread. Keep reading, and we’ll walk you through how to trap, kill, and prevent those pesky roaches from growing into an infestation.
This article is based on an interview with our MMPC-certified pest control specialist, Kevin Carrillo. Check out the full interview here.
Things You Should Know
- Put adhesive traps in cabinets, under large appliances, and in the corners of a room to stop cockroaches in their tracks.
- Leave out bait traps so roaches bring pesticides back to the nest to kill the entire infestation.
- Spray roaches with insecticide or a concentrated liquid roach killer to kill them on contact and deter them from the area.
- Try dusting diatomaceous earth or boric acid along cracks and crevices to use them as natural pesticide powders.
Steps
Expert Q&A
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QuestionHow do roaches get into your house?Kevin CarrilloKevin Carrillo is a Pest Control Specialist and the Senior Project Manager for MMPC, a pest control service and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) based in the New York City area. MMPC is certified by the industry’s leading codes and practices, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), QualityPro, GreenPro, and The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA). MMPC's work has been featured in CNN, NPR, and ABC News.
Pest Control Specialist -
QuestionWhere do cockroaches hide?Kevin CarrilloKevin Carrillo is a Pest Control Specialist and the Senior Project Manager for MMPC, a pest control service and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) based in the New York City area. MMPC is certified by the industry’s leading codes and practices, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), QualityPro, GreenPro, and The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA). MMPC's work has been featured in CNN, NPR, and ABC News.
Pest Control SpecialistCockroaches like to hide in small openings that are only 1 or 2 millimeters wider than they are. You can find them at the top of cabinets, behind shelfs, in small openings around baseboards, and behind appliances. This is part of why they're a pain to get rid of; it can be hard to find where the cockroach's nest is. -
QuestionDoes cockroach bait actually work?Kevin CarrilloKevin Carrillo is a Pest Control Specialist and the Senior Project Manager for MMPC, a pest control service and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) based in the New York City area. MMPC is certified by the industry’s leading codes and practices, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), QualityPro, GreenPro, and The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA). MMPC's work has been featured in CNN, NPR, and ABC News.
Pest Control Specialist
Warnings
- If you can’t get a handle on a roach infestation on your own, then call a professional exterminator to come get rid of them for you.⧼thumbs_response⧽
References
- ↑ Kevin Carrillo. Pest Control Specialist. Expert Interview. 22 October 2019.
- ↑ https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7467.html
- ↑ https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-23/E-23.html
- ↑ Kevin Carrillo. MMPC, Pest Control Specialist. Expert Interview. 22 October 2019.
- ↑ Kevin Carrillo. Pest Control Specialist. Expert Interview. 22 October 2019.
- ↑ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG082
- ↑ Kevin Carrillo. Pest Control Specialist. Expert Interview. 22 October 2019.
- ↑ https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/control-household-insect-pests
- ↑ Hussam Bin Break. Pest Control Professional. Expert Interview. 28 June 2019.
- ↑ https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ENTO/ento-528/ENTO-528.pdf
- ↑ https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/less-toxic-insecticides/
- ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28334192/
- ↑ https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/cockroach-control/
- ↑ https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/roach/roach10eng.pdf
- ↑ http://npic.orst.edu/faq/roach.html
- ↑ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG082
- ↑ Kevin Carrillo. Pest Control Specialist. Expert Interview. 22 October 2019.
- ↑ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG082
- ↑ https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7467.html
- ↑ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG082
- ↑ https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/cockroachmanagement.shtml
- ↑ https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/cockroachmanagement.shtml
About This Article
To get rid of roaches, keep your kitchen as clean as possible to cut off their food source. Wash dirty dishes right after using them, wipe the floors and countertops regularly to get rid of crumbs, and clean up spilled food in your kitchen cabinets. Keep your trash in a sealed bin so roaches can’t get into it. Additionally, make your own cockroach bait by mixing 3 parts boric acid with 1 part powdered sugar. Sprinkle the bait in your kitchen cabinets, behind appliances, and in your pantry. The sugar will attract roaches, and when they eat it, the boric acid will kill them. Make sure to keep children and pets away from your cockroach bait. If you encounter a roach while you’re cleaning or putting out bait, spray it with soapy water to kill it. Keep in mind that it can take weeks or months to get rid of all the roaches in your home, so you may want to hire an exterminator if you can’t wait that long. To learn more about how to set roach traps and use pesticides, continue reading!