The bane of city-dwellers, roaches can lurk in even the nicest apartments or houses. Follow these tips to keep these nuisances at bay.
● Roaches generally gravitate towards the bathroom or kitchen. It is imperative to keep these areas as clean as possible. Do not leave dishes in the sink or food unwrapped on the counter.
● Wipe down your kitchen counters nightly, being sure to clean in even hard-to-reach places. Use a disinfectant spray on these surfaces.
● Do not let garbage accumulate. Store garbage in a can with a lid.
● Roaches like water, so do not let standing water sit in your bathroom or kitchen.
● Reduce the number of places roaches could hide—behind cookbooks or knickknacks. Keep your counter space as clean and empty as possible at all time.
● Roaches follow each other around by their faeces—these are the small black or brown marks you may see around. Clean all these marks thoroughly with a disinfectant.
● Mix equal parts of boric acid with brown or white sugar in a container.
● Shake vigorously to blend.
● Sprinkle the mixture behind appliances, under sinks, in corners and anywhere else roaches may like to hang out. They will carry the toxic mixture back to their nests, eat it and kill the whole lot of them.
● Leave a few cucumber peels strewn about counter and table tops at night to repel the roaches.
● Take a standard size plastic spray bottle and fill with the following mixture.
* 1 cup water
* 1 tsp. salt
* 20 drops peppermint essential oil
* 10 drops Cypress essential oil
Shake well.
Spray the solution around the floor boards, inside cabinets, and around places of roach and insect entry into your house. It will repel the roaches naturally, and is safe.
● You should consider spraying once a week in the kitchen.
● Shake the solution prior to using it each time.
● Although this is a non-toxic, eco-friendly solution it should not be ingested or sprayed near a person, or animals, eyes or mouth. (eHow)
