Cockroaches are one of the most common insect pests. These tiny creatures travel through the kitchen, dishes, and contaminate food. They are hazardous to health as they can carry germs and bacteria. Therefore, it is very important to know how to get rid of cockroaches, especially given the fact that their numbers are increasing very quickly.
How do cockroaches smell?
It is not known for certain whether cockroaches hear us, whether they have hearing. But the fact that they have a sense of smell, and it is extremely developed, is a fact. On the body of insects there are long antennae, as well as special appendages - cerci, with the help of which they can recognize various smells. At the same time, cockroaches react to them in different ways. They remain indifferent to some, while others are annoying or generally poorly tolerated by them. This perception allows the smell to be used in the fight against insects.
Recipes for DIY Sprays and Fragrance Pads
Bedbugs Recipe I:
- 1 glass of water
- 10 drops of Thieves essential oil
- 10 drops of peppermint essential oil
- 3 drops of lavender essential oil
Application: Mix everything together in an aerosol can and spray on the affected areas.
Bedbugs Recipe II:
- 1 glass of water
- 10 pots Thieves essential oil
- 5 drops of geranium essential oil
- 5 drops of cedarwood essential oil
These mixtures can also be sprayed on the affected areas before cleaning. After 30 minutes, you can vacuum.
Please note: only use a vacuum cleaner with a replacement bag and dispose of it immediately after cleaning.
Take any filler, you can use herbs, you can use cotton. Add to it:
- 10 drops of Thieves essential oil
- 5 drops of geranium essential oil
- 5 drops of cedarwood essential oil
- 2 drops of Palo Santo essential oil
Mix everything well. Fill the mixture into small bags and arrange them in the desired places. It's a good idea to take used and dried tea bags and drip the essential oil mixture directly onto them.
Professional pest control companies often return multiple times until the problem is resolved. So don't be discouraged if the bed bugs don't go away the first time! Just keep scenting your home and bed with safe and effective essential oils.
Does the smell kill or scare you away?
Most unpleasant odors scare away insects, forcing them to leave the room and not return there. This allows the use of a variety of odors, both for driving out cockroaches and as a prophylaxis.
The industry has also used odors to combat harmful insects, combining bad odors with chemicals that can kill them.
Let's take a closer look at what scents you can use to get rid of cockroaches.
Testimonials
Marina (Kolomna)
“The natural way for many when it comes to bed bugs is to turn to 'proven' home remedies to both prevent and treat the infestation on their own. I also monitored the Internet for a long time and diligently in search of answers to the questions: are there any home remedies or any other freely available means and methods that help against linen bugs?
Anton (Saratov)
“I fell for the popular belief that essential oils such as lavender, cedar nut oil, tea tree oil, neem and so on are often distributed as a home remedy for bed bug prevention. But the fact is that bed bugs are not interested in how they smell in the room, on the bed or in public, they want blood!
Anyone who thinks a bag of lavender additionally fortified with lavender essential oils in a backpack protects against bedbugs while traveling may have an awful surprise spending the night in a hostel! This is no longer funny, I brought bed bugs from trips several times. And now, as an experienced fighter, I advise everyone, if you find at least one bug, immediately call the special service with fogs. "
Herb scent
An affordable remedy that cockroaches cannot tolerate can be ordinary grass collected from the garden or during a forest walk. True, not the first grass that comes across is suitable, but one that has a specific aroma.
Small bundles of herbs can be simply spread out in problem areas (behind the refrigerator, under the sink, under kitchen cabinets, etc.) or hung indoors. You can also fill small cotton bags with them and arrange them on the shelves.
Reviews on the use of essential oils
Using a scent lamp will not only help get rid of pests, but also give your home a pleasant scent.
Remember: it is much easier to prevent the appearance of insects than to deal with them later. Therefore, at night, never leave unwashed dishes, crumbs on the table and an open trash can in the kitchen - all this will contribute to the fact that cockroaches will regularly come to you for food. And using your favorite essential oil will be a good preventive measure and will simply give your home a pleasant scent.
Inga Yurievna: “In the spring, cockroaches began to appear in the apartment. I decided not to lead to a mass invasion and thoroughly washed the kitchen cabinets, baseboards, work surface and kitchen floor with water and eucalyptus oil. The effect exceeded expectations - the insects disappeared. Now I keep a bottle of the coveted remedy at home all the time. "
Olga Valentinovna: “We recently moved into an apartment, so we inherited from the previous owners both cockroaches and bugs in lockers with cereals. We have a small child, so I immediately decided not to resort to the help of chemistry, washed the kitchen with lavender oil and put cotton pads with a few drops of the product in the corners and under the sink. And, lo and behold, it helped - insects no longer bother ”.
Note! The use of essential oils from cockroaches and reviews about them make it possible to conclude that this is a reliable, and most importantly, safe way for people and animals to get rid of unwanted neighbors. The main condition for their effective use is constant treatment over a certain period of time and, if possible, combination with insecticides.
Herbs that can repel insects
Sagebrush
Wormwood bunches retain odor, undesirable for cockroaches, even after they dry out. In addition to laying out the branches of wormwood, you can prepare an infusion to wipe the shelves, wall surfaces, stove, sink and sink with it. When working with wormwood, you will have to be especially careful: the plant has the ability to burn the skin of the hands when touched. You need to be careful when insisting wormwood: if you add more than 1 tablespoon to 1 liter of water. herbs, the solution can become dangerous to humans.
Mint
The specific mint smell that creates a feeling of freshness does not please cockroaches. Mint is used both fresh and after drying. If you have not stocked up on mint, you can buy a pharmacy package. Brewed mint pouches give off the same unpleasant odor to cockroaches as spreading plant branches.
Elder
Elderberry of any kind, both white and red, can equally help in the fight against insects.
Honeysuckle
Extremely useful in its effect on the human body, honeysuckle also has the ability to scare off cockroaches.
Laurel
The usual kitchen spice is a real danger from which cockroaches flee. Bay leaves can be spread out in different places in the kitchen, or you can prepare a tincture that is useful to add to the water when cleaning. Cooking laurel infusion takes time: from the moment the leaf is brewed (200 g and 1 liter of boiling water), at least 72 hours must pass.
Vinegar
Every family has vinegar in their kitchen cupboards. If you notice signs of cockroaches in the apartment, you don't even have to run to the store. Both essence and simple table vinegar will do.
Pros and cons
Vinegar is a strong-smelling acid, therefore it is excellent at repelling cockroaches.
Pros:
- not toxic to humans;
- great for prevention;
- when following the recommendations, it is very effective;
- is inexpensive.
Minuses:
- the pungent smell, although not harmful, is inconvenient;
- surfaces need to be treated as often as possible;
- individuals do not die, but only go to neighbors.
How to apply
To scare off the Prussians, the following processing methods are used:
- Soak a rag in undiluted vinegar and wipe down all surfaces in your kitchen and bathroom. Pay attention to what the surfaces to be treated are made of. Some materials, such as varnish or paint, can deteriorate when exposed to acetic acid.
- Mix 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar with a glass of warm water and add a few drops of essential oil to the mixture. Spray the resulting solution in the cockroach habitat with a spray bottle, paying special attention to hard-to-reach areas.
- Wash the floors with a non-concentrated solution, diluting 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar in 1 liter of water. Do not forget about nooks and crannies, floors behind furniture, stove or refrigerator.
- Pour undiluted vinegar into containers and leave in the intended insect habitat. You can also pour acid into the sink or bathtub drain.
Repeat surface treatment and mopping at least 3-4 times a week, then cockroaches will leave your apartment for a long time.
Smell of oils
It is not always when you find cockroaches at hand there is fresh or dry grass, the smell of which they cannot stand. In this case, it is convenient to use essential oils based on eucalyptus, cedar, anise, tea tree. Cockroaches cannot stand these smells. All natural plant aromas are concentrated in them, so the oils are very effective.
They are easy to use: 2-3 drops are applied to a cotton cloth, bandage or gauze, and then laid out indoors. You can also grease the surfaces of furniture, walls, doors, water drains in the bathroom and in the kitchen with a napkin with oil applied on it. It is not necessary to use pure oil, it is better to dilute a small amount in water, and then dip a napkin in the resulting solution.
There are other uses for the oil as well. You can fill it with an aroma lamp, add it to the saucers of water placed around the kitchen, or use it as an air freshener. In this case, a few drops of oil are added to water, which is poured into a spray bottle. Spraying oil and water will fill the room with a scent that will cause the insects to move away.
If the required concentration of oil is not exceeded, people will feel a delicate pleasant aroma, which will have a beneficial effect on a person. And insects will be forced to leave the fragrant dwelling. Therefore, it is useful to have different essential oils in your home medicine cabinet.
Pet owners should be careful when using essential oils and prevent animals from accessing them or treated surfaces.
What essential oils repel bedbugs
Cockroaches belong to the order of insects from the suborder cockroaches. Today, more than 7000 species are known. These insects are a very ancient species, therefore they have been fairly well studied.
It is known that they are one of the most viable insects - they can go without food for more than a month, they are very resistant to radiation. The eggs laid by the female are reliably protected from the external environment by a special capsule. Cockroaches have well-developed sense organs, especially the sense of smell. On their body are antennae with appendages (cerci), with the help of which insects are able to identify a variety of odors.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands how dangerous these insects are. Cockroaches roam freely between the sewers, the garbage chute, the basement with rodents and the attic with bird excrement. On their paws, they are able to collect a wide variety of bacteria. Everything that has been collected is carried by insects around the apartment, in particular, in the kitchen. The infection can be on the table, refrigerator, dishes. It has been proven that an ordinary cockroach can become a carrier of the following diseases:
- meningitis;
- toxoplasmosis;
- urogenital infections;
- gastroenteritis;
- dysentery;
- salmonellosis.
Also, cockroaches are able to spread the eggs of such parasites as roundworms, pinworms, whipworms, and some types of amoebas.
They cause a lot of problems for allergy sufferers. The chitinous scales that they shed during molting are mixed with dust particles, dry remains of cockroaches, get on the skin, into the digestive organs, and the respiratory apparatus. As a result, they cause dermatitis, conjunctivitis, asthmatic syndromes.
Facing an allergen every day in your apartment, the disease becomes chronic and does not go away at all. Children often suffer from these allergies.
There are cases when cockroaches bite a person, gnawing particles of the skin of the lips. Sometimes, in search of shelter, they crawl into the ear canal of a sleeping person. It is very difficult to get him out of there, since he will hide, climbing further. In such cases, the help of a doctor will be required.
Cockroaches can be dangerous for pets for the same reasons. It happens that a cat or dog eats an already poisoned insect and the poison acts on them as well.
Many would agree that cockroaches are an unpleasant problem in living quarters. They live in all regions, as they perfectly adapt to any natural conditions. Worst of all, getting rid of them forever is almost impossible unless the neighbors in the apartment building fight them. After all, sooner or later, cockroaches can return again.
There are a number of chemical and natural substances that have a strong and unpleasant odor for insects, forcing cockroaches to move away from the source as far as possible.
Advice! To get rid of cockroaches quickly and for a long time, you should simultaneously use means for repelling and destroying insects.
It is quite obvious that cockroaches cannot stand the smell of some herbs. Not all grass is suitable for repelling insects, but only one that has a sharp, specific aroma. These herbs include:
- laurel leaves;
- peppermint;
- chamomile flowers;
- sagebrush;
- wild rosemary;
- honeysuckle;
- tansy and some others.
Wormwood can be collected and spread around the house so that the smell can spread as much as possible. When the grass withers, do not throw it away - the smell of dry wormwood is also unpleasant for cockroaches. You need to arrange the stems in bags and put them in shelves and cabinets. You can make a decoction of wormwood and wipe the surfaces of furniture with it, especially in the kitchen.
Dry chamomile inflorescences, collected and dried on their own or bought at a pharmacy, must be put in textile bags and put in places of greatest concentration of cockroaches.
Peppermint has an unbearable smell for cockroaches, and a person refreshes his home with its aroma.Both fresh and dried mint will help get rid of insects. You can also use it as an infusion for wiping furniture surfaces.
The bay leaf is a real insecticide that repels cockroaches and does not harm pets. A packet of bay leaves (200 g) is poured into 1 liter of boiling water and insisted for 2-3 days. After that, the surfaces are wiped with the resulting liquid.
Tansy is one that has recently been torn off or has already completely dried out. You need to collect it when the first flowers appear - their smell has a strong effect on cockroaches. Infusion of tansy can be sprayed on the premises.
Elderberry is very toxic to insects, as all parts of this plant, except flowers, are highly poisonous. Elderberry branches are usually laid out in hard-to-reach places.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with: How to kill the queen of ants
The smell of garlic and fresh cucumber is very unpleasant for cockroaches. The garlic is peeled, and the cloves are laid out in the house. After a few days, the cloves can be changed. The smell of fresh cucumber is terrible for cockroaches in combination with aluminum. Therefore, the sliced cucumber should be placed in small aluminum containers.
Aroma oils
The oils are widely used, and correctly selected fragrances will create a high-quality repellent against cockroaches. It is a cheap, easy-to-use product.
Important! Aromatic oils are successfully used in the fight against ants, bugs and moths.
Oil should be used with care. With prolonged use, some of them cause allergic reactions, excite the nervous system, and increase blood pressure.
As repellents from cockroaches, you can use the oils of plants such as mint, eucalyptus, fir and many others.
For example, tea tree oil repels not only cockroaches, but also other domestic insects. The oil will be much more effective if you add lavender or any citrus oil to it. Can be applied after mixing with hot water, spraying or wiping surfaces.
Fir oil has antibacterial properties. Well cleans the air in the room from various microorganisms, acts on insects, including cockroaches. Prepare the composition by combining 0.5 g of water, 50 g of alcohol and add 30 drops of fir oil. Rooms are sprayed with this mixture. But it is better not to use where small children and pregnant women live.
Geranium is well known for its insect repellent odor. Pink geranium has the strongest aroma. You can buy oil or make your own. To do this, the upper part of the geranium is poured with alcohol and left in the sun for a couple of weeks. Next, the liquid is filtered and stored in a dark place. The room is treated by spraying the places with the greatest congestion of cockroaches.
Mint contains menthol, which affects the taste and gives the mint its smell. Peppermint oil is diluted with water and used by spraying the room.
You can use oils by putting a few drops on small pieces of bandage or gauze and spreading them out indoors. It is sometimes effective to lubricate the surfaces of walls, furniture, doors in the bathroom and in the kitchen with oil. It is often enough to fill the oil into the aroma lamp.
Pharmacy preparations
The drugs that are used to kill cockroaches are based on toxic substances. These include drugs with a pungent odor - ammonia solution (ammonia), sodium tetraborate solution (borax).
Borax is mixed with sugar or vanilla, and then, using starch, the mixture is brought to the state of a batter. The substrates are lubricated with this mixture and placed around the house. Cockroaches are attracted by a sweet smell, but after eating the mixture, insects die, as poison penetrates into their body.
You can do wet cleaning using ammonia. A teaspoon of ammonia is taken per liter of water, mixed and all surfaces are wiped with the resulting solution.The action of the solution does not stop even after the pungent odor disappears.
Another poisonous mixture is pyrethrum. This powder is found in some insecticides. It is made on the basis of medicinal chamomile. You can simply sprinkle the powder along the baseboards, but more often they prepare the bait. The powder is mixed with a boiled egg and sugar is added. The balls from the resulting mass are laid out around the house. The product does not have a pungent, unpleasant odor for humans and is absolutely harmless to children and pets.
Chemicals
The most disgusting smell for cockroaches is the smell of insecticides. It is considered the most effective remedy for any household parasites. For convenience, they have different forms of release:
- aerosols;
- gels;
- crayons;
- traps.
They all have advantages and disadvantages.
Aerosols are very easy to use and act as quickly as possible. However, they can be dangerous for people with allergies, and if handled carelessly, they cause poisoning. In addition, they quickly fade away.
The gels are also easy to use and effective. But unlike aerosols, they have a mushy base, not allowing the product to dry quickly. They are based on contact and food exposure, therefore they are safe for humans. Food flavors are added to the gels to attract insects.
Crayons, like gels, do not immediately begin to affect insects, but they have long-term effectiveness. As a rule, with numerous damage to the premises by cockroaches, crayons do not have the desired effect.
The traps are very easy to use and safe for people and pets. They allow you to immediately get rid of the entire population of cockroaches, which, by eating the poison, infect the rest of their relatives.
Other unpleasant odors include the smell of gasoline, kerosene, naphthalene. Using such substances, you need to dilute them with water and place them in small containers around the house. Often housewives use ordinary table vinegar, washing the surfaces with it. Cockroaches react negatively to bleach and chlorine-containing substances. They are very afraid of whiteness, which many people use for cleaning floors.
You need to understand that being poisoned by the smell, cockroaches weaken the effect of poisons with the help of water. Therefore, the water must be inaccessible to insects. Having successfully discouraged cockroaches with the help of smells from the house, do not flatter yourself - you will not be able to get rid of their larvae. It would be more correct to first use insecticides, and then use other means as a prophylaxis.
- As you know, essential oils (EOs) have long been used against insects. The whole world knows about the repelling effect of Cedarwood oil on moths. But when used unwisely, some EOs may not only not repel insects, but also attract them. For example, coriander oil attracts bees. We invite you to find out how to get rid of insects (flies, mosquitoes, ants and many others) and which EOs are suitable for this. The methods of their application depend on the type of insect. For example, to get rid of flies and mosquitoes indoors, it is better to use an aroma lamp or spray (see the special anti-insect compound for an aroma lamp). For the skin, a lotion with the addition of vegetable oil is better. For external protection of the premises from insects, fabric strips impregnated with EM can be used. To scare off ants, it is better to prepare a mixture of water and peanut butter, adding 2-4 drops of EO for each liter of the mixture. You can also get rid of ant nests by dropping 1-2 drops into one of the anthill's moves, the ants will leave the anthill in a matter of seconds.
| INSECTS: | REPELLENT ESSENTIAL OILS: |
| Earthen fleas. | Peppermint, Field Mint, Lemongrass, Lavender. |
| Spiders. | Lavender. |
| Weevils. | Atlas cedar, Sandalwood, Patchouli. |
| Snails. | Atlas cedar, Sassafras, Pine, Garlic, Patchouli. |
| Wasps. | Citronella. |
| Flies. | Lavender, Citronella, Peppermint, Annual tansy. |
| Cabbage flies. | Thyme, Sage. |
| Midges. | Citronella, Patchouli, Field mint. |
| Mosquitoes. | Lavender, Citronella, Lemongrass, Annual tansy. |
| Mole. | Lavender, Field Mint, Peppermint, Citronella. |
| Slugs. | Garlic, Atlas Cedar, Pine. |
| Gray worms (Peridroma saucia). | Thyme, Sage. |
| Aphid. | Lavender, Citronella, Lemongrass, Annual tansy. |
| Lice. | Tea tree, Peppermint, Atlas Cedar (for children, use a special anti-lice mixture in the article "Essential oils for children"). |
| Ticks. | Citronella, Lemongrass, Sage, Thyme. |
| Ants. | Cloves, Atlas Cedar, Peppermint, Field Mint, Garlic, Citronella. |
| Aleirod (whitefly). | Tagetes, Lavender, Sage, Annual tansy. |
Harsh chemical odors
Not only natural, but also some chemical odors scare off cockroaches. Insects cannot stand it if the rooms smell of ammonia or boric alcohol, kerosene or turpentine. However, these strong odors in high concentration are harmful and poorly tolerated by people, therefore, they require extreme caution when using.
Of the listed substances, ammonia (ammonia) or chlorine are most often used, which are mixed with water used for cleaning premises. You can just pour the ammonia into a saucer and leave it in a secluded place. Alcoholic fumes will be fatal to cockroaches.
Boric acid, which has the ability to kill insects, is added to special food baits.
Odors unpleasant for insects will appear after cleaning if you use water diluted with drugs such as gasoline, kerosene, naphthalene or vinegar. And if the room is being renovated, even the smell of oil paint, wallpaper glue or synthetic detergents used in cleaning can help in getting rid of cockroaches.
In addition to household products, you can use chemicals specially designed to combat cockroaches. Their action is based on the effects of toxic insecticidal fumes on animals. At the same time, the composition of the preparations is designed in such a way that a person does not feel an unpleasant odor, as is the case when using ammonia or gasoline.
Advantages and disadvantages of traditional methods
There are many effective folk ways to combat cockroaches. They are all good in their own way and have a number of advantages:
- preparation of poison or traps does not require special skills and abilities;
- unlike chemical repellents, they are not dangerous to humans and pets;
- many methods can be used by allergy sufferers;
- are affordable and sold at any pharmacy or hardware store.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with: How to treat an apartment from fleas of animals
Nevertheless, each of them has distinctive features, because of which the method will be ineffective or not suitable for you.
- Basically, all folk remedies are aimed at scaring away, and not at destroying cockroaches.
- Borax and boric acid do an excellent job of killing pests, but they can cause poisoning if they enter the body of a person or a pet.
- The freezing method is only good during the cold season. In the summer, you will not be able to lower the temperature in the room to the level necessary to destroy the pests. In addition, the method is not considered fully effective, since cockroaches can return during the warm season.
- Strong-smelling products such as geranium, essential oils, kerosene or ammonia are not expensive. However, their effect is limited only by the time they emit a smell. As soon as it wears off, the cockroaches can return.
- Alabaster and gypsum do a good job at killing insects, but they require your constant monitoring, since if the trap gets wet, it will become inoperative.
Fresh cucumber
Unexpectedly for many, the news that the smell of cucumbers is unbearable to cockroaches! But not an ordinary smell, but the one that is obtained when it interacts with aluminum. To do this, you need to cut the cucumber and create conditions for its oxidation, make it possible to connect with aluminum (for example, put on the lid of a tin can).
Oxidation will be accompanied by the appearance of a smell that is not perceived by humans. For a cockroach, this smell will be unbearable.
Danger of cockroaches to humans and pets
Many people do not attach much importance to the appearance of cockroaches in their apartment, believing that insects are not capable of causing significant harm. In fact, they are capable of delivering a lot of trouble to a person.
To understand why you need to take immediate measures to destroy the population, the information that cockroaches:
- Carried by life-threatening microorganisms. The body of the insect is small and very smooth, so that the pest can easily crawl into small crevices. First, they crawl along sewers and basements, feed on human excrement, bird or rat droppings there. Then they make their way into a person's dwelling, bringing on the paws and body those harmful microorganisms and bacteria that were present in the waste. There are more than 10 diseases that a cockroach can transfer to food and household items. These include:
- tuberculosis;
- tetanus;
- meningitis;
- rubella;
- leprosy;
- diphtheria;
- hepatitis;
- polio.
- Infected with helminths. On the legs and body, the cockroach is able to carry not only bacteria, but also the eggs of worms, which will certainly get into food if the insect comes into contact with them.
- Living Foreign Body Syndrome. This is the name in medicine for cases when an insect makes its way into small holes in the body. A special type of cockroach - the Prussians, are capable of such pseudoparasitism. Their bodies are small and they are predominantly nocturnal, which means they are able to get close to you when you sleep. Having climbed into the ear canal or nostrils of a person, they cannot get out in the opposite direction, which causes pain and irritation of the nasal integument or the walls of the inner ear. In this case, you should not remove the insect yourself. Better immediately call an ambulance or run to the nearest emergency room.
- Allergens are tolerated. Excreting excrement and shedding chitinous cover, cockroaches can infect a person with dangerous allergens that enter the respiratory tract along with dust. They are especially dangerous for young children. To minimize the risk of infection, be sure to wet mop at least once a week.
- The black appearance of cockroaches, with a large population, has a smell of rot and dampness, which permeates the entire apartment.
- They can bite. Cockroaches are not considered parasites that feed on human blood. However, if insects are deficient in food or water, they are able to feed on the external epithelium of a person, eating the skin around the lips, eyes or ears. In addition to severe mechanical damage from bites, harmful bacteria on the pest's body can enter the human blood and infect with dangerous diseases.
Pets can also be harmed by cockroaches. If you fought a pest with chemicals by eating an infected individual, the animal may be poisoned. Cats are especially susceptible to such poisons. You should not leave pets in the apartment if you decide to use poisonous substances in the fight against insects.
Smell of flowers
Plants, which usually attract with their flowering, can become a tool and get rid of unwanted insects in the house. Such plants include:
pharmaceutical camomile
Chamomile has proven itself well as a medicine. The plant is also effective for driving out cockroaches. For this, not the whole plant is used, but only its flowers.They are dried, crushed, and then laid out in different parts of the room.
Tansy
Freshly plucked, as well as dry tansy is used - a plant from the smell of which cockroaches flee, so its smell is undesirable. For the use of tansy to give the best results, it must be prepared in the summer, when flowers appear on the plant. It is at the time of flowering that tansy is most fragrant. The collected flowers are used to prepare the infusion (for 1 liter of cold water - 1 tablespoon of flowers), which is sprayed into the room.
What to do if cockroaches don't leave
If you use essential oils to fight home parasites, then you should be patient: they obviously will not disappear in one go. Processing should be persistently continued for a certain period of time (sometimes up to several months).
But if time passes, and the problem does not disappear, then you should resort to more radical methods of struggle:
- to act together with neighbors, whose uninvited tenants are also clearly abundant;
- apply several methods of control at the same time (combine insecticides and traps);
- resort to the help of a paralyzing poison (usually borax is used, which is mixed with aromatic food and the resulting poisonous bait is laid out).
What smells attract cockroaches?
Food scents can be used if traps are laid out in the cockroach room. It is not always easy to find the most optimal place for the massive attraction of insects there. This is where the smell that lures cockroaches can help.
Insects, of course, react to particles of any food, but there are foods that are most effective for these purposes.
What to put in a trap to lure cockroaches? To do this, you can use a slice of onion, a banana peel (which has just been separated from the fruit), an overripe pear, an apple, or another fruit that emits a sweetish aroma.
You can put some bread in the trap, its smell will also attract cockroaches. It is easy to make a DIY trap using these products and duct tape. You just need to spread the tape cut into parts with the adhesive surface up, and put some bait in the middle of the tape.
Cockroaches and cold temperatures
It is known that cockroaches and Prusaks cannot withstand too low temperatures. Their threshold is -8 degrees, with more severe frost, adults and larvae die. Just 2 minutes of ten-degree frost is enough for the insect to die. The method is really effective, but it should be borne in mind that in an ordinary apartment it is unlikely that it will be possible to create "frosty conditions".
First of all, choose a frosty day, with a thermometer reading below -8 degrees. Open all windows and doors and leave the room to ventilate for 3-4 hours. During this time, frost will destroy the entire population of cockroaches in the house. If you carry out freezing in an apartment, take care of the safety of the radiators and pipes by wrapping them in a warm or heat-protective cloth.
Can you get rid of cockroaches with the help of smells?
Among all the scents that cockroaches smell, there are smells that repel them. They are usually quite sharp and distinct. Now you know which neighbors insects do not tolerate smells.
The correct selection of natural or chemical agents that emit odors unpleasant for cockroaches will help get rid of intruders and protect housing from their appearance.
It should be borne in mind: having received poisoning by smell, cockroaches are trying to weaken its negative effects with the help of water. Open access to it can negate all your work.
Houseplants
Potted plants can also repel pests. The essence of the method is to scare off cockroaches with the fragrance of aromas that the Prussians do not tolerate.
Some of the most effective indoor plants are:
- Ironwood or thuja, not only perfectly refreshes the air, but also has a deterrent effect on cockroaches with the ethers contained in the bark and leaves.
- An orange tree, with a pungent smell no worse than the peels of a fresh orange, will ward off pests.
- Evergreen cypress, repels insects with a refreshing scent. Especially effective when standing near a container of water.
- Lemon smells great to humans, but damaging to insects.
- Home oleander is a poisonous plant that repels the Prusaks well. You need to take care of the flower wearing gloves, and keep it out of the reach of children.
One of the most popular plants that can ward off cockroaches is geranium. It is not necessary to put a flower in a pot. Just spread the geranium branches in the intended insect habitat. The fragrant scent of the branches will drive the population out of your apartment. Unfortunately geranium will not cope if there are already a lot of cockroaches. In this case, it is better to use it as an additional preventive measure.
conclusions
If you spot a cockroach in your apartment or office, don't despair! You can get rid of insects, including with the help of smells. However, the maximum effect can be achieved only by maintaining cleanliness, timely removal of debris, and regular wet cleaning using ammonia.
But if you need to sanitize a neglected room in which massive colonies of cockroaches live, you need to act in a comprehensive manner. Smells alone cannot completely destroy insects: odors do not affect insect eggs. In this case, you need to use special chemicals, and to consolidate the effect during cleaning, regularly add aromatic agents to the water.
Herbal preparations with a strong odor will help in the future as a preventive measure. This will make your home a cockroach-free area.
Ammonia
Ammonia has a pronounced pungent odor that irritates the respiratory organs of cockroaches, disorients orientation by impairing the sense of smell, and also, once on the insect's cover, can cause chemical burns. Pros of using ammonia:
- is not an insecticide;
- the acrid smell quickly disappears;
- is cheap and sold in every pharmacy;
- a solution of weak concentration is not harmful to humans;
- it will not be necessary to remove dead individuals, since ammonia simply scares them away, and does not kill them;
- does not require much effort to process;
- can be used in conjunction with other methods.
The agent scares off with a smell, and does not destroy cockroaches, so it may not cope with a large population. Also, the duration of the action of ammonia is limited to 30-40 minutes, so please be patient, as the herb will be long-lasting. There are several options for using ammonia against cockroaches.
Wet cleaning
Carry out a damp cleaning in places where cockroaches congregate with a rag dipped in a solution of ammonia. When cleaning, do the following:
- Dissolve 1 hour. a spoonful of ammonia in 1 liter of warm water.
- Soak a rag in the solution and wipe down all possible and hard-to-reach surfaces.
- Leave the premises for a while.
- Do a similar cleaning every day for several weeks.
For a more effective effect, spread a soft cloth soaked in ammonia in hard-to-reach places, under the sink, behind the stove and furniture. Use the same rags to plug the cracks in the walls if possible.
The method assumes that after setting the traps, you will leave the apartment. Taking safety measures, pour a small amount of ammonia into wide open containers and arrange them around the perimeter of the entire room. After that, be sure to leave the apartment for a while. Also, the poison can be poured into the sink drain so that pipes and sewers are saturated with a pungent odor.
Use a syringe or spray bottle to reach nooks and crannies.
A room in which you may not be for a long time can be treated with a concentrated solution of ammonia. Just change the dosage of alcohol when diluting the solution from 1 teaspoon to 200 ml. You can enhance the smell of ammonia by adding 200 ml of vinegar to the finished poison.
Remedies from the Prussians
Ventilation protection
On all ventilation openings, first of all, you need to install a mesh with cells of no more than 1.5 mm. This will save you from uninvited guests from neighboring apartments.
Special gel from the Prussians
"Raptor", "Cuts", "Globol", "Bullet", "Raid", "Combat" - the choice of gels is huge today. They are all very similar in efficiency and principle of action.
The gel is applied in drops at a distance of 10 cm from each other along the entire perimeter of the room.
Special boxes with holes, inside of which the poison is located. Insects, feeling the smell that attracts them, run inside, become infected, then infect their "colleagues" and die together. Ideally. In practice, reviews of such funds are not always positive. In addition, the larvae in the ooteca are very resistant to the action of the poison. But some of the insects will still die.
Aerosols from Prusaks
Special aerosols must be sprayed in places where insects accumulate and most often appear: in corners, crevices, baseboards, near door frames. However, this method is not suitable if there are children or pets in the house.
Cockroach crayons
For example, "Mashenka".
They act on the same principle as aerosols. Only in all of the above places you need to draw with chalk.
Ammonia
The Prussians are afraid of the smell of ammonia. Therefore, a few drops should be added to the water before cleaning the floors.
Boiled eggs and boric acid from the Prussians
Lobbyists of this type of cockroach control talk about a 100% effect of getting rid of the Prussians.
To prepare the mixture, you need to mix three ingredients - boiled eggs, finely chopped boiled potatoes and boric acid. From the resulting mixture, it is necessary to roll balls and spread them in places where insects appear most often.
The Prussians become infected even from a light touch, poisoning their fellows upon contact with them. It is recommended not to remove the poison immediately after the disappearance of the Prusaks, in case the insects decide to return or come to you from neighbors.
ATTENTION!
Be careful if you have children or animals in your family. Their contact with the "poison" is very undesirable for the Prussians.
And for prevention, it is better to keep the apartment clean.
Cockroaches are domestic insects that live in a cozy and comfortable place, and where you can eat without any problems. People, to put it mildly, are not happy with the appearance of such neighbors. Since from now on, you will have to share every piece of food with them. In addition to this trouble, the moment that your food is a path for red legs, which can leave all sorts of infections and pathogenic bacteria there, will constantly be disturbing. From this point on, the search for effective means to combat cockroaches begins.
In retail outlets, you can find any insect repellent. They contain chemical components with a poisonous content. For one reason or another, there are situations when such means cannot be used. These can be health problems, small children in the house and simply unwillingness to use them. Such people give preference to folk methods of struggle.
- Freezing the room;
- Use of boric acid or borax;
- Plants and essential oils;
- Substances with a strong pungent odor;
- Lure with plaster or alabaster;
- Traps.
Other effective folk remedies
Other folk remedies have a deterrent effect for cockroaches:
- Vinegar. Mixtures are prepared from it, which are used to wipe the surfaces.
- Ammonia. Its smell is very unpleasant for cockroaches.Ammonium can be used in its pure form, it is destructive for insects. But it can only be used if you send family members and animals out of the house. Therefore, a solution is often used by mixing it with water.
- Bay leaf. It contains cineole, which has a negative effect on the respiratory organs of cockroaches, therefore, when they smell of bay leaves, they try to leave the room faster.
- Plants. Wormwood, tansy, elderberry, mint possess repellent properties. From them, infusions are prepared, used in dry form.
Folk remedies
Soda, black pepper, boric acid are used to scare off cockroaches.
Improvised means against the Prussians
If you did not manage to poison the cockroaches, they can be caught or scared away. In order to scare away, ammonia, turpentine, kerosene and even essential oils of eucalyptus, anise and others are used. It is recommended to pour the presented funds into saucers or small containers, and then install them into the ventilation holes. This method will prevent the appearance of the Prussians in the apartment if they live in the neighborhood. It is better to lubricate all cockroach moves with essential oils - kitchen cabinets, baseboards, linoleum and other places where they live. Essential oils should not be used in large quantities - it is enough to lubricate the corners or drip over the baseboards.
Please note: Despite the fact that the Prussians do not like pungent odors, this may not stop them - gradually the odors disappear and, in the absence of timely replacement of the liquid, insects will penetrate into the apartment.
Therefore, lime insects can be trapped - they can be made independently from improvised means. You can get rid of the Prussians using cardboard and double-sided tape. A piece of cardboard should be placed in a place where the Prussians live to a greater extent. Pre-glue the cardboard with double-sided tape, and put an appetizing piece of food in the middle - better than a cake or pie. It is best to replace the insect trap in the morning. This is an unpleasant sight - there will be still live cockroaches on the cardboard, which cannot tear off their legs and free themselves from the sticky layer. The use of the trap for the Prussians is carried out daily.
How to prevent the problem
For the use of baits to be effective, simple rules must be followed:
- Ensure that the flooring and walls are in good condition, fill up cracks and holes, and repair decor items.
- For storing food, use containers that are hermetically sealed.
- Empty your trash can regularly, and close it overnight.
- Do not leave dirty dishes and household items in the sink.
- Clean cabinets, drawers, furniture and interior items.
- Tidy up the plumbing in your home.
Soda based recipes
Sodium bicarbonate does not taste like food, and cannot attract cockroaches, so in order to prepare the bait, you need to mix baking soda with strong-smelling food that will attract insects.
Another requirement for food bait is compactness. Powder scattered in the kitchen or in the drawers of the cupboards does not like the cleanliness of the housewives and makes cleaning difficult. Therefore, it is desirable to use a sticky binder base from which balls can be formed and spread over the places where insects accumulate.
Eating the bait, the cockroach eats a poisonous substance that kills it.
Powders
Another harmless agent for people and animals, which with its smell is capable of destroying unwanted insects, is crushed flowers of a field chamomile. Its particles, which enter the cockroach's body during cleaning the paws, are deadly poison for the Prussians and black pests.
Powdered sugar is also used as a poison, if insects are left without free access to water. But there are other methods when water, on the contrary, will even be useful. This applies to the use of cement powder or construction adhesive.Their use is calculated on the fact that once the pest enters the body, it dies.
