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DIY cockroach traps that actually work

Cockroach Traps
We all like to sit back and pretend these dirty, disgusting pests are not invading our homes… but if you’ve seen one cockroach, you can guarantee there are plenty more just like it lurking in the depths of crevices around your home. Ewww!

The mere thought of cockroaches crawling about my house while I’m sleeping makes my skin crawl. These critters spread bacteria, human pathogens and parasitic worms.

I recently came across a cockroach running for the hills one night when I turned a light on in my bedroom and I knew there would be an infestation of them in the nooks and crannies of my house.

While there are many chemical sprays, bombs, baits and the like on the supermarket shelves, these products are harmful to both humans and our pets. Not only that, but due to evolutionary systems, cockroaches can become immune to these chemicals and will even avoid the baits that have been laid down for their dining pleasure.

Because of their love of food, moisture and warmth, cockroaches tend to congregate in areas near a food or water source such as kitchens and bathrooms. Making your home less appealing to the little critters by removing their access to food and water, may help to eradicate the pests.

Unfortunately, apartments can be an issue with cockroaches finding their way from one apartment to another, but it helps to ensure that proper cleaning and sanitising of the home is conducted on a regular basis. Catching and eradicating as many of the blighters as you can will ensure there’s also a decline in numbers.

I have some strategically placed glass jars around the house that you can often see me jumping around chasing cockroaches with late at night when I get home, turn on the light and see them scurrying off to their hiding place. It’s quite comical when I really think about it (ha ha!). Most of the time I’m more cunning than they are and they end up trapped inside an upturned glass jar with nowhere to go.

But occasionally they beat me and that’s where the DIY cockroach traps come in handy.

What you will need

  • tall glass jars
  • oil such as olive oil
  • banana peel

How to make a cockroach trap

  1. Place a banana peel inside the glass jar
  2. Dip your finger into the oil and run it around the ‘inside’ of the top of the jar making sure you don’t apply the oil to the outside of the jar

Where to place the cockroach traps

Place the jars strategically in areas where cockroaches have been sighted (eg. kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc.). The cockroaches are attracted to the banana peel and climb up and into the jar. The oil slick around the inside of the top of the jar prevents them from being able to climb out of the jar. Voila! Trapped cockroaches.

Cockroach Trap

Cockroach trap after a few days in operation!

I never really thought too much about areas that cockroaches may hang out other than the kitchen, but I actually catch the most cockroaches in the traps placed into the bathrooms. Ewww! Makes my skin crawl again.

You can leave the banana peel in the jar for as long as you like. I find that the longer I leave the peel (even though it becomes blackened) the more cockroaches I tend to trap.

I got lazy once and hadn’t got around to throwing the blackened withering banana peel into the compost and washing out the jars, so I sat them in the garage out of the way as I was having guests over. A week or so later I picked up the jars only to find a dozen or more cockroaches madly running around the jar, slip-sliding back down as they approached the top.

Counting my captured cockroaches!

Counting my captured cockroaches!

 

Call me crazy (or weird), but I love to count how many roaches I’ve captured each morning in my own DIY cockroach traps placed around the house. It gives me great satisfaction knowing that I’m reducing the numbers of these crawlies whilst maintaining my chemical free home.

How to disinfect surfaces

Fortunately for us it’s easy to see sometimes where these critters have been by their faeces being left behind on benches, floors and walls. To clean the surfaces, use a microfiber cloth dipped in a mixture of soapy water with baking soda (bi-carb soda). I’d suggest wearing gloves and keep rinsing the cloth to ensure there’s no spread of contaminants. Then do a final wipe of the surface with a different clean, wet microfiber cloth.

You could also use white vinegar or a Home Made Citrus Cleaner for the final wipe down.

 

Take back control of your home and look after the health of your family by setting some cockroach traps today!

 

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