Barring, that is, the swift application of the underside of a shoe, which is effective but inefficient against large numbers. And there are large numbers. The little fuckers are everywhere. In an apartment in a busy part of a big city, there are going to be pests, and I accept that. But I swear the former occupant of the place must have deliberately bred them.
Now, I’ve lived with roaches before, and I’m not doing it again without first declaring personal blitzkrieg on every one I see. An exterminator is, at least for the moment, not a possibility. I do have the advantage of not having to physically reside in the place for a week or more, so toxic fumes are not out of the question. (Not too toxic, because as I understand it, making new human neighbors choke on fumes is not how one endears oneself to them.)
What should I have in my arsenal? Bug bombs are, I hear, more for flying than crawling insects, and a pain to clean up besides. According to the word of the Great Master himself, boric acid is effective, but that and roach baits are things I can put down at my leisure after I move in. If at all possible I want to make a dramatic difference soon. What else is out there?
In most jurisdictions, keeping the apartment roach-free would be your landlord’s responsibility. Are you sure you can’t talk to him about bringing in an exterminator?
I’m having the same problem, and using Combat roach bait seems to be helping. I put it behind both fridges, the stove, behind the tvs, under the dish boxes, in the corners of all the cabinets, and inside the outlet boxes. (I wouldn’t recommend the last one, unless you’re comfortable with handling electrical wires.)
It’s been about a month since I put it out, and they’re almost gone. I’m going to put some out again next week to get the stragglers.
Yup. Furthermore, unless the landlord gets the whole building treated, they’re just going to evacuate a single treated apartment, only to eventually filter back once the effects wear off.
The last time I had a problem, the exterminator used a odor-free paste that he placed in strategic locations. No odor, no fumes, no spray poison. Pet safe & I didn’t have to vacate, and it killed the shit out of those little bastards.
I mop the floor with methylated spirits, and wipe down benches and cupboards with diluted eucalyptus oil (about 10 drops to 100ml water).
Door jambs and drains get the straight eucalyptus oil treatment.
Fresh bay leaves under the fridge - when they dry out they’re just leaves, so I don’t really care that they’re under there.
Sometimes I make baits: 2/3 cup of mashed potato, 1/3 bicarb soda. Roll it into marble-sized balls. The roaches eat it, and it 'splodes 'em. I think it also sends a warning to all the friends and relatives.
It all seems to work - no roaches, no chemicals, and no concerns about the dawg.
No involving the hired guns right now, unfortunately. The owner of the apartment lives in a different state, the super of the building is on vacation until next Thursday, and I’m out of the area during all normal (and abnormal) business hours. So no one to let an exterminator in = no exterminator.
Thanks for the link, Hello Again – I will give it a try. Guess I’ll cycle that and a bifenthrin product with baits and boric acid, and start off with a good thorough scrub-down…ugh, hard work!
6ImpossibleThings, I’ve never heard of eucalyptus oil as an insect treatment before. Is it a repellant? A poison? An anti-aphrodisiac? If it also makes them 'splode the way baking soda does (and depending on how messy the 'sploding is), I am so going to use that as long-term population control.
Taken in large enough doses it’s toxic - so I guess technically, that makes it a poison; certainly in Australia anything with more than 25% of this koala vodka has to be labelled as a poison. (Not sure if that’s the case in other countries.) It’s a disinfectant as well. And a brilliant stain remover! (Just as an aside…)
Certainly it’s a repellant - though I have sprayed 100% directly on the crunchy brown suited buggers and they crawl off with a staggery death feel about them.
The baits are less messy than stamping on them - it basically causes a build up of gas and their insecty abdomen splits.
The battle continues. There are commercial baits and homemade boric acid death candies all over the kitchen. An exterminator’s come around once and is scheduled to come again. Placed in strategic locations in the closet and around my bed are cotton balls soaked in eucalyptus oil. And I’ve made extraordinary progress through a can of Raid.
I’m winning the war…gradually. Little scuttling scums of the earth are dropping but they’re taking bits of my sanity with them. This morning I found a large pregnant female slowly crawling around on my bed. Yes, right near my pillow. I did what any sensible human being would do under such conditions: panicked, yelped like a scared little puppy, and contaminated the bedsheets with aerosol insecticide.
Thanks to the wise people of the SDMB, I know how to kill them. I know how to poison their food supply and render their environment hostile. They are starting their slow march to Destinations Elsewhere. But in the meantime, how in the godsfucking name of all that is unholy do I keep the revolting things out of my bed?? I already have eucalyptus fumes permeating the air around the sleeping area. What else do I add to this? Moth balls? Bay leaves? A two-foot moat populated with geckos?
(If anyone can recommend a way to find new bedsheets on the cheap, that would also be deeply appreciated.)
First, take apart your bed and make sure there aren’t any roaches or eggs already hiding in it (among the sheets, between the mattress and box spring, etc.).
Next move your bed away from any walls.
Make sure none of the bed linens are touching the wall, floor, etc.
Then surround all parts of your bed frame that touch the floor with glue traps.
Be careful not to step in the glue traps. This may not be practical if you have any pets that might step in the glue traps.
They absolutely eat this in preference to any other food once they smell it. And it stays poisonous after they die so when they crawl back to the nest and the other roaches eat them the cannibals die too. It has a poison that no known strains have become resistant to. It will not harm humans or pets. Unless you have pet insects, of course.
And a growth regulator to keep any newborns from reaching sexual maturity.
I put the IGR down every three months just in case.
This combination knocked out an infestation that had resisted the efforts of three professional companies over almost 18 months. :: shudder ::
It’s threads like this where I get to post this story about once a year.
We had a roach problem once, a long time ago. The resilient bastards creeped me the hell out. I made the mistake of sharing with my wife that as a kid going camping I was paranoid about daddy-long-leg spiders crawling into my mouth while I was asleep. I now realized I had updated this fear to being worried about those nasty roaches crawling on me at night while I slept.
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.
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One morning I woke up to my wife screaming at the top of her lungs “Oh My GOD, Enright3, THere’s a roach crawling on your face!” There was as small crack in the curtains and a narrow strip of sunlight was blinding me. I bolted upright in bed, and immediately did what any sane person would do. I started screaming “Where?? WHERE??? Get it off!!! Get It OFF!!!” While slapping the shit out of my own face over and over and over … and over.
I then realize my wife is laughing her ass off as she says “April Fools!” Yep, it was April 1st, and my wife just just got me to kick my own ass in payment of several jokes I’d pulled on her over the years.
