Growing up, I was a bit of a tomboy. Consequently, I can stand the sight of snakes and spiders. But, there is one creature that really makes me squeamish; behold, the cockroach! What makes these little bugs so horrible? Well, aside from the fact that they dwell in sewers, reproduce at a frightening speed and some can fly, they may even give your exterminator a hard time–and cost more to get rid of than you might think! So if the exterminator can’t get rid of them, how can you get rid of roaches?
The type of roach infestation you have can really make an impact on how you tackle the situation. First, you need to make sure that you do in fact have an infestation and aren’t just dealing with one little roach who managed to scramble into the house unbeknownst to you.
When you spot a roach, pay very careful attention to what it looks like. If there is an infestation, over the course of a week or two, you’ll see more than one roach and they may be different sizes or have slightly different coloring. Also keep an eye out for roach droppings and egg sacs. Droppings look a bit like pepper or black sand. Egg sacs are usually a tan color and they are much larger than droppings; they are about 1/4 inch in length.
Once you’ve noticed a roach in your home, and especially if you’ve already found lots of droppings or egg sacs (even one can spell bad news!), it’s time to take action! Before you head to the store to buy roach spray, start cleaning the infested area so you know how far the roaches have spread.
If you want to get rid of roaches, their droppings, and egg sacs as much as possible before you use a spray or fogger, use a Rainbow or other vacuum that empties into a water basin. This way, you don’t have to worry about roach ‘stuff’ flying everywhere when you open the vacuum bag and you can just flush the contents!
Once you’ve determined you have an infestation, start to pull everything out of your cabinets, drawers, closets, etc. and give the infested room a thorough cleaning. Besides, you should completely empty a room before you can spray any insecticide. This is true especially in the kitchen. Make sure you remove all food (except for what’s in the refrigerator), and anything that’s used to prepare or serve food. If the spray comes in contact with anything that may be eaten, it can make someone really sick. So please be careful!
Finally, you’re ready to spray. But, what product works best? Some roach sprays seem like their intention is to get rid of roaches by releasing a floral smell so strong it will persuade the roaches to return to the outdoors where they belong. Yeah, those don’t work and they’ll surely run you out of the room too so you can gasp for fresh air. In my (unfortunately) long experience with roach infestations, including one incredibly stubborn one, there is only one spray that works every time.
It may be the most expensive roach spray your store has (I got it from walmart), but it’s worth every penny. Bengal Roach Spray is the one and the only spray you need to use. The infestations I’ve dealt with in the past were typically German cockroaches. According to a family friend’s exterminator, these are the hardest roaches to kill although they are also the most common roaches found in household infestations. This is partly due to the fact that they reproduce and mature so quickly and partly because they can survive off of anything. Even if you kitchen is immaculate, roaches can survive off of glue, soap, or they may begin to devour each other just to stay alive!
Just follow the directions on the can of Bengal Roach Spray and you’ll soon have your happy roach-free home back. Even better, you can keep the couple-hundred bucks you would’ve had to pay an exterminator to do the work for you!
