Roaches

**bratz54** · 09-01-2008, 12:46 AM

I live in an apartment and there is alwaysbeen roaches and fora few years we managed to get rid of them. Lately we are getting more and more each day. I use like raid to kill them when I see one, but they are everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom. I really hate to use foggers in the apartment cuz of the toxinsthat is left in the air and on the surfaces. Is there any other options that I can use to get rid of those pesty little buggers.

**TheRootedNomad** · 09-01-2008, 07:17 AM

Doesn't the landlord have to do soething?????

**Durgan** · 09-01-2008, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by bratz54

I live in an apartment and there is alwaysbeen roaches and fora few years we managed to get rid of them. Lately we are getting more and more each day. I use like raid to kill them when I see one, but they are everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom. I really hate to use foggers in the apartment cuz of the toxinsthat is left in the air and on the surfaces. Is there any other options that I can use to get rid of those pesty little buggers.

I lived in an Apartment Condo in Toronto, and the building was crawling with cockroaches. My solution. Borac Acid Powder was placed in almost every crevices in the kitchen, piping, behind drawers, etc. and in all places where it did not interfere with normal functions of the household. I used a one inch paint brush so the borac powder was vey thin. This was almost effortless and took little time.

The cockroaches will die over a period of about three months. They get thinner, and thinner and eventually all will be killed. Kill all you see. A good method is to put a tray of water on the kitchen floor and surprise them in the middle of the night, simply squash them.

Your place will be roach free. Be very clean also, with no crumbs laying around the kitchen.

Mass spraying only kills a few, but they will return , and you must be constantly spraying.

The thin layer of borac acid powder in all places not seen will keep the roaches out, which is your aim. There is no need to mix the borac acid powder with anything. This product is cheap from any drug store, and a small can goes a long way.

The landlord can spray, but this is not a solution in the long term. The spray is worse than the cure in most cases. Accept one spray to reduce the present population, but layer all areas with borac acid powder. Renew the layer periodically. It is simple, since there is no reason to clean it off any area since you do not see it. Pets cannot access the areas so painted if it is done right.

**GiddyMoon** · 09-01-2008, 02:16 PM

Diatomaceous Earth is non toxic to pets and humans and actually kills parasites in both as well.

We used to use boric acid and moved to DE due to the many ways it can be safely used in day to day life. We use it cracks and crevices, we sprinkle it in the pet food to keep parasites away, we use it on pet beds, the carpet, etc for fleas, it is used in storage vats of rice, grains, etc to kill bugs, it is very harmless unless you inhale a bunch, like anything. You can make a paste with shortening, sugar and DE or the boric acid to make an edible munchy for roaches that can't be blown away or inhaled. Just make sure you get the organic, and not the processed like in the pool filter type.

If you want to learn more, just type in Diatomaceous Earth roaches, into google.

**madhen** · 09-01-2008, 02:55 PM

The problem with apartment complexes is that roaches can breed in any one apartment and migrate to others. So no matter how much you clean and kill, your downstairs neighbor who leaves food out, or your next-door neighbor who has some nice dank areas for nesting, will contribute to your roach problem. So unless you can get the entire complex roach-free, you will have to keep proactively fighting roaches, even if you don't see them.

I don't know how well it works for roaches, but I learned that ants HATE d/w liquid. When I lived in an apt, if I saw ants coming in from any crack, I'd put a drop of d/w liquid in the crack, and the ants would never use that entrance again.

I have heard pet chameleons like to eat roaches.

**Ms. Clear** · 09-01-2008, 03:25 PM

We used to live upstairs from this girl who was absolutely DIRTY. Nice girl, but never cleaned, left food out etc. So we got roaches. Boric acid does work, but so do the baits. Yes, they are really toxic, but the toxin is contained, rather than spraying it around. Baits worked for us, though we had to replace them EXACTLY when it said, or the disgusting roaches would come back within a couple of days.

So glad I don't live there anymore! Best wishes. Don't blame yourself.

**Hamada** · 09-03-2008, 02:43 PM

One apartment I was in had a roach problem. Didn't help that I was over the laundry room. I place little saucers of borax where the cats could not get into them. This seemed to help. One poor kitty tried to take care of the problem only to be "sprayed" when she bit down on it. Didn't stop her from wanting to take care of the roach problem though.

**justpeachy92** · 09-03-2008, 03:26 PM

Unless someone tackles the roach problem for all the apartments you will always have them. They may disappear for a while, because they are content with the available food at your neighbors, but when said neighbors move they will come back to you looking for food. When and if you move I suggest you rent a storage unit, put all your stuff in their, bomb your stuff then get in there and get your stuff out. The roaches you don't kill will run into the adjecent units to get rid of the poison. I know of several people that have had to do that when moving out of their apartments , good reason why if anyone keeps stuff in a storage unit to bomb it before you bring your stuff home.

**paisleypower30** · 01-23-2009, 09:02 AM

Ick! I've been there!
We moved into a house that I didn't know had roaches until we were all moved in! The landlord did bomb, but we still had to put out roach killer, and traps, I kept spray below the kitchen sink, I tried NOT to use it though. I don't think we ever completely got rid of them. Though I seemed to have made them migrate to the bathroom ( it was the only place I saw them after that). I put ALL dry food in jars or tupperware as soon as I brought it home from the store, cleaned up messes as soon as I could and they were still there. We had a basement and I think they lived down there ( and I couldn't access it)

I was so glad when I moved, I made many precautions not to bring them with me, I looked everything over before I packed it. None of the boxes came inside (I unpacked outside, good thing it was spring!) and I washed everything I could before I brought it into the new house! I also sprayed underneath the furniture! maybe a bit overboard, but it worked.

I hope you can solve it

**dogmatix** · 01-23-2009, 09:33 AM

I make a sugar water solution - about 4 cups - then add a tbsp of Borax. The roaches will drink it and not die right away. They will take it back to their nests and eventually the entire population will be killed off. You need to do this about every 4 months or so, but it really works great and is 100% non toxic. It works even better on ants!

**sabrelvssammy** · 01-23-2009, 05:31 PM

right on with the boric acid but we do mix it with sugar.... i have many rental houses and it seems like everytime we get the problem cleared up someone moves in and reinfests....

roaches love water and heat...so make a mixture of 3 parts boric acid (and make sure it is true boric acid...we can only get ours at rural king)and 1 part sugar...(we use an old coffee can and spoon)

then we go around the house and depending whether there are pets there (this stuff is pure poison...DO NOT USE AROUND ANIMALS OR KIDS)... if neither we use the spoon and 'spoon a line' to make a perimeter completely around the interior of the house.... (okay you're thinking i don't want this white line of stuff all around every room of my house) but remember...you are just trying to kill them initially.... you have to live with it for a little while.... the life cycle of a roach is 16 days...so leave the lines at least that long to kill the ones that have taken up residency in YOUR place..... open all the cabinets and pantries and make a line across the back of each... put small dime size piles under the fridge and oven and if you can get to your water heater put a pile on top of that...then open all your vanities and look to where the water lines come in...see the tiny opening around the pipe....drop as much as you can thru the hole....
when you go to bed at night spoon a spoonful into all your drains (sink, bathtub)...coz roaches come out at night....do not wash down....throw a little x-tra in the basin for good measure...in the morning...just turn on water and rinse....repeat... every night (at least in the beginning...after that about once a week)

get the strips that are like giant glue mouse traps...lay them around the kitchen and bath and you'll be suprised how many become attached each night... or do as one of my tenants did and just take long strips of packing tape and turn upside down on the counters at night...she trapped tons of them....

everyones right with you being in a apt bldg you will never be able to completely rid yourself of them...you must ALWAYS keep out the baits and i would keep 'refreshing' the boric acid powder every few months for however long you live there.... in houses we have that have been infested..even after we finally combat the problem we never stop being preventative...coz all it takes is 1 roach (and they do not need to mate to reproduce) you can have millions....

if you have pets and kids...make sure you put the acid only where they cannot get to it (cabinets, under stove, etc....)

good luck....its a long hard battle...but you can beat them !

**Contrary Housewife** · 01-24-2009, 02:41 AM

Another vote for boric acid powder, it keeps out more than roaches.

I remember too that Windex (brand, not generics) sprayed on them killed the little buggers almost immediately if I happened to surprise them in the night. I had a really gross little kitchen at one place, I could shut the light off and wait 5 minutes then turn the light on and start spraying and kill a dozen before they vanished into the walls.

Another thing I noticed is they gather in the kitchen and bathroom because that is where the water is. They need water like any other living thing. When I started wiping my sinks dry I stopped seeing them around.