How to Get Rid of Roaches

I had the worst roach infestation about five years ago and I thought I’d tried everything to get rid of them. My apartment was always fairly clean so I’m still not convinced the condition of my living had anything to do with it. I tried the roach traps, the bug bombs, good old fashioned roach busting (where I would try to manually kill each and every one of them), and bug spray. Those things seemed to work out pretty well and would kill about half the population. It would get to the point where roaches wouldn’t scamper when we turned on the light in the kitchen and in the bathroom. Sure enough, however, a few months would go by, and it would get to the point where they were everywhere all the time again.

I noticed the source of the roaches was where there was an abundance of water, that being, the kitchen, and the bathroom. I couldn’t even have a glass of water on my nightstand without finding four roaches floating in my beverage the morning after. The light switches were even a hot spot because, apparently, they also enjoy electronics. The entire complex I’d lived was infested with roaches, and even when I moved, they followed (hid in the furniture and boxes). It didn’t take long before they populated my new apartment, and I’d had enough.

I bought a cat; apparently roaches hate animals that are bigger than they are (humans excluded). I vacuumed all the dead roaches first because they were all in the cabinets, under the sinks, under the couch, in the couch, and in the silverware drawer. After I did that, I cleared all the clutter out from underneath the sinks, wiped all the cabinets and the drawers out with vinegar (they don’t like that either). I put boric acid underneath the sinks, in the cracks. I also put boric acid on top of the cabinets. I also poured bleach down the drains. Place boric acid anywhere you have seen roaches but not anywhere that could contaminate food or harm pets and/or children. NEVER leave food out because that will just attract them and keep them away from the boric acid. I remember placing boric acid underneath the stove and the refrigerator also. Every so often I would inspect the area I placed the boric acid and I would get rid of the dead ones. It took about three months after doing this that the roaches were gone. We of course would get the occasional visitor from outside, but our indoor infestation was no more. Exterminators and bug bombs did not work for us, and if you have had an infestation like we did of roaches, it probably wouldn’t work for you either.