The spring purge: Roach killer
Keeping a clean home is the best way to keep cockroaches at bay. But if the nightmarish critters have somehow found a way in, avoid annihilating them with toxic insecticides.
Image: Uninen - Borax/boric acid and sugar: Applying a mixture of borax (the poison) and sugar (the bait) to roach-infested hotspots is an economical, eco-friendly and effective solution. Chances are, you might already have borax around the house for natural cleaning and laundering purposes. But take heed: Borax isn’t completely nontoxic, and should be used with caution in homes with young children and pets.
- Geckos: Yes, geckos. If you’ve always wanted a pet reptile, set a gecko or two loose in your house and watch your roach nightmare disappear. After they’ve done their job, you’ll need to provide a habitat and food for your new lizard.
- Bay leaves
- Epsom salt
- Baking soda and sugar
- Take preventive measures: Avoid roach infestations by keeping a clean and tidy house. Don’t leave food out, keep your fridge and oven spic 'n' span, vacuum and sweep frequently, take out the trash, fix leaky faucets, seal cracks in walls and baseboards, and don’t leave watery messes since roaches need water to survive. Although it’s geared toward kids, the EPA offers a pretty nifty roach prevention guide.
| Previous Post Home water conservation 101: A refresher course | Next Post An act of eco-affection |
Comments
After a roach sighting in my new apartment, we dealt with the intruder and sprayed the house with Raid. The next day, my roommate (who sprayed the entryway of the home) had swollen hands, my nose would NOT stop running for two days, and my poor 4 lb poodle had to go to the vet because she couldn't stop scratching herself (the chemicals turned her skin red and irritated it like crazy). Don't take your chances. Use something natural and protect yourself, your children, and your pets.
Pyrethrin is one of the least toxic and *natural* insecticides. It breaks down quickly in the environment and it is relatively friendly to all mammals. Boric acid is also really good stuff and the sugar-boric acid mix is also really good at taking care of ants. I for one would love to see bay leaves, baking soda, or epsom salts stop roaches.
Did you know you can actually be allergic to roaches? Check out this article about safe ways to detox your home and integrative pest management: http://www.naturalsolutionsmag.com/articles-display/15613/Is-Your-Home-T...
BTW, house centipedes are totally scary looking!
Once the food source is gone, and they have gone hiding somewhere in your home, and the weather gets cold, you have nice little dead geckos. Only use them in areas where they are normally found. You don't want to add new species to the environment as well, like people did with green iguanas and burmese pythons in South Florida.
This household has been using tokay geckos for years, living near the mississippi river makes it an impossibility to keep those nasty critters out of your home, so, geckos were our answers... 2 of them.
Most pesticides give me splitting headaches, so when I lived in California, I had to learn or invent pesticide-free ways of dealing with a roach population which, when I moved into my apartment, probably outweighed me, and I'm only slightly exaggerating. I put boric acid inside outlet boxes and anywhere else roaches might get to. I caulked EVERY crack -- don't forget that roaches can hide, for instance, between your toilet tank and the wall. I fixed a leaky pipe. I sealed all wall.... More
I've heard that Hedge Apples will repel roaches. Apparently, so will catnip, but spraying catnip tea around your house will drive your cats nuts.
I've got a crazy amount of wolf spiders and assorted other house spiders living in my walls. Never seen a cockroach, but we do get earwhigs. My daughter wants to be an entomologist, so I'm "not allowed" to kill all the bugs.
Your fear-mongering is utterly irresponsible.
Yes, permethrins are neuro-toxins...that's how they kill bugs. But the concentrations from a can of bug spray are very low (remember, you're killing bugs, not cats, dogs or people). But, much more importantly (and something you never mentioned, probably from ignorance of chemistry) is that permethrins break down, very quickly, from the naturally abundant solar radiation all around us (specifically, infrared, if I remember.... More
Try House Centipedes. They don't eat human food, or feed on humans. They live up to five years, and they eat other bugs. Roaches, Bed Bugs, Silverfish, Ants, Spiders, and anything else they can catch. That's their purpose in life, to hunt and kill other bugs. They might look a little scary, and they move really fast, but they're great! Just make sure they're House Centipedes, and not normal ones. :)
For years I've used fine powdered boric acid--the roaches move around and generate static electricity which make the powder stick to their bodies and suffocates them. When the eggs hatch they suffocate, too. I've used it for 30 years; as long as the powder stays dry--no roaches.
